Cobras y Matadors. The Spanish tapas house that failed.
[Oh, the asparagus circa ‘07 had cheese instead. The sensible choice of course - pic via Caroline K. of yelp]
Every girl has her team. A trusted starting line-up of restaurants (and/or men) who are delicious, aesthetically pleasing and (usually) reliable. And every once in a while, the players slip up and open a spot for try outs. Last night was one of those nights.
Having been in the mood for tapas and flowing wine all day, I freaked out when both Tasca and Bistro LQ decided to be closed on Sunday. Who closes on Sundays? Better yet, who cooks at home on Sundays?
Fuming and almost heading over to Angelini (yikes. waking up the quarterback), Cobras y Matadors caught my eye. Oh Cobras y Matadors. I’ve heard of you and your fun and delicious tapas. You’d make a fine substitute for Tasca tonight.
Hmm. Your menu is certainly bold. I mean, having 15 things TOTAL on your menu with over half of those items being ‘Grilled Mushrooms’, ‘Lentils’, ‘Asparagus’ ‘Tomato Toast’. I understand it’s tapas but I didn’t expect a menu of side dishes either. What’s worse is that you proceed to tell me that the only menu items with substance - steamed mussels AND cod fritters - are out tonight. And you don’t have a wine list.
No worries. We’d love to get an overpriced bottle from the store next door and luckily we did cuz I don’t know how I’d be able to stomach your food dead sober.
I’m sorry but your chef has to go. Seriously. Walnut vinaigrette on top of asparagus and charging 8 dollars for 8 spears? Forgivable if tasty but it wasn’t. It was like sugary peanut butter on top of a roasted asparagus. Pan seared whitefish was nicley cooked but floating on top of the most acidic white bean concoction. Some beans were undercooked, some beans were overcooked. Just an overall bad dish. The flat bread/pizza was decent but how can you go wrong with cured meats and mushrooms? The skirt steak was cooked a perfect medium rare but was flavorless and the corn salsa tasted like the one from Trader Joe’s. In my heart, I’m glad we didn’t order the risotto of the day - arugula and tomato risotto sounds like another failed experiment. Even though we were both still a bit unsatisfied and not quite full, we opted to leave rather than get more food.
Serves me right. Now I know how it feels to fuck the waterboy.
Cobra y Matadors
7615 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 932-6178
