La Boca — Restaurant in Santa Fe

Update September 2024

We checked in for our reservation at La Boca after an event nearby. We were an hour early for out reservation, but no problem, we were seated right away. We started with a lavender collins and a bottle of Naveran Cava. The cocktail was delicious, the sparkling wine was divine! All food dishes were super, including the manchego frito, sardine toasts, shrimp with ajillo chilis, seared yellowfin tuna, mussels and artichoke hearts. Tapas for all, and all we’re over the top delicious! If forced to identify favorites, the sardine toasts, shrimp and mussels stole the show! A dessert plate of gateau basque, a cheesecake-like dessert in crust topped with whipped cream and sour cherries. An amazing dinner. Shout out to our waiter Matteo, he was great! Attentive but unobtrusive. Thanks Matteo, great job! Highly recommend La Boca, you gotta get there, it’s great!!! Pics explain it all…

September 2023

OMG ... why have I missed this place for years? My loss! We stopped by La Boca for dinner this evening after our final event of the annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta. Everything was fantastic... food, service, atmosphere, fellow diners! If this place isn't on your "must do in Santa Fe" list, you're missing out.

Service: attentive but not intrusive... perfect!

Atmosphere: think small tapas bar on the coast of Spain... perfect!

Food: awesome! more below...

Fellow Diners: like an intimate European cafe, the tables are arranged so that you can constantly interact with fellow diners while you're there. An amazing dining experience, as you chat with folks from all over and compare notes on food, beverages, lives, families, etc. Loved it... perfect!

Food: we started with a Spanish Dry Martini, followed by a nice bottle of Albarino with dinner. We started the food courses with the roasted beet salad, which was terrific. Super fresh, the dressing was a bit tart, amazing! We followed that with the potato croquetas, "fried Bechamel" croquetas with Manchego cheese... delightful! Finally, we opted for one of the specials of the evening, a paella made with squid ink, squid and shrimp... wonderful... the shrimp was a bit "fishy" but overall, the dish was fantastic! We concluded our gastronomic journey with the Gateau Basque, a delightful light dessert, a super light crust, and little custard inside the shell, and marinated cherries on the top. A wonderful finish to a great meal!

In case it's not obvious, we loved this place! Chef James Caruso was on the floor throughout the evening, keeping tabs on things and checking in with regulars. Loved to see that! Highly recommend La Boca, it's now on our "must do" list in...

Tried to get in to Pasqual's, couldn't. Staff there enthusiastically recommended la Boca. I didn't go to New Mexico for Spanish Tapas, but definitely will do again, and will recommend la Boca to anyone & everyone with ears and a palate.

Everything we had was spot-on, and that in itself speaks volumes. No salt dish at the table, and nothing was left wanting for it.

Every dish seemed designed on a macro level, to play it's part in the big picture. The challenge for any Chef is to balance a dish, so it has all the elements you'd want. Sweet, savory, sour, umami. Spice, some crunch and soft melting textures.

La Boca understands pairings, on the macro. This dish is crunch. This dish is savory. That dish cleanses the palate. The flavor profiles leave room for the wine to complete the picture. They excelled at long term strategy that way, which is everything you'd want out of a Tapas experience.

The mussels and Morcilla were the real standouts on the plates. Mussels were perfectly soft, not a single rubbery bite. The Morcilla, well. Not sure if I have words for that. It was juicy, almost bubbly like a crepe, even with a solid char on the sliced surfaces.

Our bartender was exceedingly professional, yet warm and intimate. But not intrusive. I wanted to fold some Sherry into the courses and had to ask for selection help: they had many options. She recommended Gran Barquero, a 25 year Oloroso. Took my breath away.

We dropped some largesse on this meal, easily the most I spent on a meal in New Mexico this week. And I feel like we were undercharged. The same meal in LA or NYC would have cost four times as much, and probably would have had some textural flaws or unbalanced seasoning.

I really can't remember the last meal I had where I couldn't find a fault. The casually understated grace of execution, composition and hospitality can slip under your radar if you're not actively noticing it.

La Boca is worth actively noticing. And often, if you are fortunate enough to...

Ok let’s talk about the good things first. They have very decent service and vibes. If that’s all you’re looking for when dining out, then be their guest. Otherwise, I beg you to read on:

We ordered the mussels dish, which seems to be popular. When they served it, we almost thought someone was eating stinky tofu. I had a mussel — it smelt unfresh and tasted unfresh. So we didn’t eat on and the manager came over. She told us the mussels arrive freshly every day and that’s what mussels are supposed to taste like. We wanted to argue that’s not the case but since she didn’t charge us the dish we didn’t argue on. Anyways, if that’s the quality of mussels local people “enjoy” all the time, I PITY them, tremendously.

We also ordered shishito peppers, cauliflower, and the sautéed shrimp. All very boring tasting and bland. The shrimp does have a perfect texture but I want the flavor to come further through. Their baguette — oh my goodness if French people see it called a baguette they’ll be so infinitely enraged. That density — seriously????? Please have some decency to call that that house made bread instead! There’s no inner structure at all, no “bubbles” whatsoever.

And last but not the least, we got the classic paella. They took the mussel out because we complained about it. But guess what, it’s pretty much just tomato stewed rice with some proteins accidentally thrown in. There’s no complex flavor. There’s no soccarat at the bottom of the pan. And we ordered a single person portion but still humongous — if I have that for breakfast I’ll be full for a whole day.

I’ve not been to millions of Spanish tapas restaurants but I did visit a couple in New York and DC so I’m confident to say I know what decent Spanish tapas are like. Anyways, maybe come here for drinks and vibes and service just...