encasa, haymarket

To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting much from Encasa when I first saw the bright yellow words in comic sans font on the sign hanging in front of the store.

But boy, was I wrong!

It's a cozy a little place, nothing too fancy and the great thing is - it's perfect for large parties (Just make sure you call up to reserve a table because it can get extremely busy!). And since you have a group of people, you can order more tapas dishes which allows greedy people (like myself) to taste a bit of everything instead of being stuck with just one large entree.

Sangria Jug ($21.00):

Spanish tapas and sangria go hand in hand right? We couldn't resist ordering a jug (or two) of it to share. Plus, it's always fun trying to pick out the fruit at the end.

Champinones al Ajillo ($10.50):
Sizzling garlic mushrooms.

The amount of garlic served with these mushrooms makes this the tastiest method of defence against vampires or anyone, really. Both the whole and chopped baby button mushrooms are perfectly fried so that its firmness is retained. I loved how intense the garlic flavour was and you won't go wrong ordering some crusty bread to soak up all the earthy, garlicky olive oil at the bottom.

Seafood Pizza - Medium ($19.00):
Prawns, calamari, mussels, crab, octopus, fish 

If you're looking for a filler dish, you can't go past Encasa's pizzas. The crusts are consistently crunchy with an extremely enjoyable soft, bread-like base and the toppings are great!

Chorizo a la Sidra ($12.00):
Spanish sausages poached in cider. 

We ordered the chorizo poached in cider as opposed to the usual grilled chorizo by accident and surprisingly, it's equally as good. Instead of pieces of salty, charred and smokey chorizo, this version is much sweeter and unbelievably tender.

Patatas Bravas ($10.50):
Fried potato with garlic mayonnaise and spicy tomato salsa. 

Potatoes are probably one of my favourite vegetables. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew ... or fry them like this - I'll love it. These golden cubes of potato are faultless and were just perfect with the creamy garlicky  mayonnaise and thick tangy tomato salsa. This definitely won the dish of the night title for me.

I don't know enough about Spanish food to tell you how authentic the food is at Encasa but I do know for sure, I'll be coming back here for more tapas! And yes I've learnt my lesson to never judge a restaurant by its sign ... even if it is in comic sans.

Encasa 
423 Pitt St
Sydney NSW 2000
t: (02) 9211 4257
w: http://www.encasarestaurant.com.au/