Encasa - Sydney

After long long long discussion about where to eat out, the final decision came down to Encasa.

Why?

Because it is bookable compared to small Thai places.
So, spanish it was.

Encasa

Although we had booked for 7.30pm - we were still told to stand outside ... long enough for me to hear my stomach rumble.

When our table was ready for our hungry crowd, lot of food was on the agenda - along with jug-fulls of Sangria.

Sangria

As I was unable to be everywhere on our hungry table, I only taken a sample of the food we ordered that night. And since it was tapaz style, for some dishes, I could only rely on my friend's reactions to gauge the yumminess of the dish.

There was the Gambas con Alioli ($12) which translates to grilled prawns which smell deliciousness. As my friend ate with such delight - sucking the juices from the prawn-head and piling fresh made garlic mayonnaise on the meat, it must have been pretty alright! (that - and the fact that one of my non-seafood-eating friends actually ate one)

Gambas con Alioli - $12

As previous visits to Encasa had taught us that the normal chirozo's were super oily, we opted for the alternative - having the chirozo's soaked in cider - Chirozo a la Sidra ($10). Although to me, it felt just as oily, it was still tasty!

Chirozo a la Sidra - $10

A small Garlic Pizza ($4.50) with a tomatoey, garlicy base was picked by someone on our table. It smelt nice but looked less impressive (size-wise) when compared with our large Finca pizza ($20.50). The Finca was topped with chicken, pesto, roasted red capsicum, onion and olives. The roasted red capsicum looked (and tasted) too much like sun-dried tomatoes so I couldn't resist the urge to pick them off my slice and pass it on to my lovely friend on my right. As for the olives... I managed to grab a slice that didn't contain any!!! :)

small Garlic Pizza - $4.50

Finca large - $20.50

There was also baby octopuses (octopii???) grilled, and drenched in oily herby nice tasting stuff (Pulpo a la Plancha - $13). It was very nice and tender and juicy.

Pulpo a la Plancha - $13

I know that this chicken skewers dish looks quite expensive for $11 - but really, there used to be another large clunck of chicken on it! But as I was too emersed in the food on my plate, I was too slow in catchin the photo before my fellow friends digged in. Nonetheless, when my friend slowly and delicately ate this Pinchos de Pollo con Mojo ($11), which is chicken skewers with sauce comprised of red capsicum, olive oil, cumin and vinegar, she described it as "lemony, herby, and mmm".

Pinchos de Pollo con Mojo - $11 (there were three of them)

Now for my favourite vege-based dishes. There's the Tortilla Espanola ($7) - omlette with potato and onion, the Patatas Bravas ($8) - fried potato with garlic mayo and spicy tomato salsa, and the Champinones al Ajillo ($8) - deliciously sizzling mushies drenched in herby, garlicy sauce. Yes, I do realise that everything seems to be described as herby and garlicy, but that's seriously how it seems like to my taste buds!

Anyway - the tortilla tasted pretty average - not much more than a potato bake minus the cheese. The potato's with garlic mayo were deliciousness as was the mushies. Everytime I eat the mushies, I feel super unhealthy as they seem to soak up lots of oil - but, I still couldn't refrain from eating them.

Tortilla Espanola - $7

Patatas Bravas - $8

Champinones al Ajillo - $8

I guess the bad thing about spanish places is that they seem always very cramped and very echoey - so much so that I struggled to hear the person who sat infront of me (who really, was less than 1m away). You could call this "vibey" or you could call it "noisy, stuffy, and headachy" - depends on how you look at it. The service wasn't instantly there when you needed it, but they sure were busy!

Ratings
Food - 7/10
Service - 5/10
Ambiance - 5/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 23/40

Encasa
423 Pitt St
Sydney 2000
Tel: (02) 9211 4257