OTRA — Restaurant in Providence

I was really excited to try this restaurant after seeing the high reviews and the fact that it’s one of the only Spanish tapas restaurants around.

I’ll start with the positives. What a beautiful restaurant! The decor and ambience are a 10. The hostess and waiters are LOVELY and knowledgeable and attentive.

The less positives. Huge red flag when a restaurant doesn’t post their prices online. I completely agree with previous post from Farrah about the cost relative to portion size. This is by far the most expensive restaurant I’ve visited in RI and most of Boston. The quality of the ingredients is excellent but it’s the flavor that doesn’t ring true. Some things were good but nothing was great. The flavor isn’t authentic Spanish. The paella was particularly disappointing as was my other go-to, the gambas. The drinks were over priced as well for small pours. I would return if the prices decreased or the portions increased, but in either case I hope they find a way to bring more authenticity to the cuisine.

It didn’t help our experience that we parked out front and had our car broken into while we dined, which happened to others this night as well.

With that said I am still looking forward to trying its sister restaurant, Bacaro. The ambience there looks even more magical, if...

My friends and I went there this past weekend..The atmosphere was nice..the restaurant was beautiful..it was clean... though beautifully presented/plated ,I felt the tapas were hit or miss.. we loved some and hated some..i know they areTapas,but the portions were very small for the price...I am a very picky eater and dont eat anything undercooked,so keep in mind that you need to specify how you would like the food cooked..the steak and scallops came out medium..I did send the scallops back(they did replace) and the steak brie sandwich was good but I couldn't eat it because it was served on the rare side..we all felt the squid was rubbery and didnt pair well with the sauce....many of the tapas we had were served on a garlicky creamy thick sauce..they also are no strangers to salt...though the sauce was tastey,we did experience some flavor fatigue from the sauce...they did have some darn good drannnks! As for service..it was ok..our waiter did not check in much to see how we liked the food, or see if wanted another adult beverage.overall it was a fun experience,not sure if I'd go back..but I'd say it's a great spot for a date night or girls...

This place is about 3.5 stars but I cannot do half stars here!

Let’s start with the good: the service is very polite and attentive. There is a lot of attention and care given to people joining.

Let’s get into where Otra can improve: The flavors of the food are pretty good, but not outstanding— the flavors seem pretty standard, especially given that there are other tapas locations nearby that are better flavored and valued. Second, the portion sizes for the tapas are laughable at best. Most of these tapas are not meant to be share and seem like they’re meant to be molecular gastronomy sized instead. This is the priciest tapas place for amount of food and is probably stingier than some spots in Boston. For example, we ordered a lamb chop tapa that was so small, it was three bites. It cost 14 dollars! I’m sensitive to the cost of overhead and supply chain constraints but that seemed like an excessive markup to me. Most of their other dishes fell under a “surprisingly small, even for tapas” kind of vibe for me.

Otra is a nice place to try but I don’t think...