Azafran Tapas - Surry Hills

Azafran Tapas

My friends moved to Surry Hills not long ago and as Eatability can tell us, there are many many places to eat in this vicinity. For this particular night, we had decided on Azafran Tapas, a small cozy Spanish eatery.

We had decided on 7 plates to share between the 4 of us with a selection of seafood, vege and meat dishes.

One of my favourites of the night was the kingfish ceviche ($18). The citrusy cured kingfish was piled on top of a layer of blood orange chunks with another layer of avocado salad underneath. Blobs of pickled cucumber and crab meat decorated and artified the dish. In all, I found this really fresh and really refreshing. Whilst there was subtle sourness from the citrus and the pickled cucumber, a certain tanginess, and sweetness from the seafood bits which may actually sound like an odd mix of flavours, it worked really quite well together.

Kingfish ceviche - $18

Another dish was the Jamon Serrano aged 18 months with extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top ($12). The dry cured ham was thin but bought along with it quite an intense flavour hit. What I would have liked is perhaps some breadsticks with this LOL.

Jamon Serrano aged 18 months - $12

There was also the potato sofrito ($10). Chunks of potatos intermixed with roasted tomato and mushy red capsicum and finely diced spanish onion. The glob on top was smoked paprika and saffron aioli. This was pretty average - just potatoes with aioli, a combination which can't really go wrong.

Potato sofrito - $10

Another winner for the night was the scallops ($21). Presented nicely, the scallops were cooked to perfection. Lightly seared on both sides but definately not overcooked or rubbery. The other round thing next to is was the smoked chorizo. It was quite a good thickness for a good bite of chorizo. On top of the beautifully cooked scallop was the red pepper confit. The scallop and the chorizo were both sitting on top of a dallop of corn puree. Mmm... deliciousness!

seared scallops with corn puree - $21

Another dish we ordered was the pan fried garlic and sherry wild mushrooms ($9). A mix of different mushrooms made it interesting, with some mushies being more intensely flavoured than others. But all in all, the mushrooms were pretty ordinary.

pan fried garlic and sherry wild mushrooms - $9

Dish number 6 was the leek and manchego cheese croquettes ($15). Four golden brown mushy cheesey croquettes sat on top of stringy apple and celery. Drizzled on top was a cider vinaigrette. Interestingly mushy, the leek taste was really really subtle but the apple salad was a huge shout out and slightly overpowering.

leek and manchego cheese croquettes - $15

The last and biggest plate of the night was the lamb tasting plate ($29). This was a huge plate of a trio of lamb stuff (yes - I don't eat lamb). There was the braised lamb shank filo cigar on one end with some small yoghurty looking paste on top, the lamb cutlets with a bed of warm eggplant and tomatoish salad on the other end, as well a a roast lamb loin with chorizo coins in the middle. My company said that it was OK. I guess that means unspectacular?

lamb tasting plate - $29

For dessert, we opted for their blackboard specials - 3 scoops of gelato or icecream for $10. There were 5 flavours to choose from - the chestnut, strawberry and red wine, pineapple and orange blossom, poppy flower and olive oil. Olive oil?!?!?! Well, we had to try. We ordered all the flavours between the 4 of us. The olive oil icecream tasted kind of like the asian white rabbit lollies mixed with honey. Not olive-oil-like much at all. The poppy flower was also nice but again, just a smooth sweet flavour. The pineapple and orange blossom one was one of the best gelatos of the lot. Refreshing and refreshing and refreshing. The pineapple flavour was the one which stood out. Mmm... yum. The chestnut flavour was also quite good. However, it was really really chestnutty. Crazy chestnutty with chestnut bits and crunchy toffee chunks throughout. Intense chestnut flavour. The last but not least was the strawberry and red wine gelato. This was very strawberry flavour but it wasn't too awesomeness.

trio of icecream and sorbet - $10

In all, this Spanish restaurant was small but cozy. Food was good and interesting - better than most other Spanish tapas places I think. Definately should give this place a try - especially the scallops and kingfish. YUM :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 30/40

Azafran Tapas
555 Crown St
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9319 2976