Not that Complete

One of my dearest friends was in town tonight so we started the evening checking out the Silver Lake Wine. If it was anyone who was going to enjoy that place, it was Les. Randy, one of the owners was very personable. Tastings happen every Monday, Thursday and Sunday for a small nominal fee. The environment is very chill and completely unsnobish. I'd definitely go back there considering my knowledge of wine doesn't really extend from what Les and other foodies have recommended to me.

Second stop for dinner was Cobras and Matadors. Apparently, Lenny Kravitz likes to hang out at the Hollywood location. Les spotted an actress from Crossing Jordan...eh...whatever. Same thing can be said for the dessert there but let's start at the beginning, shall we?

First of all, I'm starting to love eating out on Mondays, Sundays and Tuesdays. They're the slowest nights of the weeks to eat out! No fuss, no crowds and no excuse for bad service. Don't make me have to put a server in place for bad service.

Cobras and Matadors is strictly a tapas bar/restaurant. Well, more winebar than anything else. The list of tapas we had for the evening include sweet chili shrimps; game hen with apples, a few other fruits and some kind of wine reduction; artichoke with goat cheese; paella (as a tapas, not entree); asparagus with some kind of nuts and machego; soca (chickpea crepes); tortilla de papa and something else I can't quite remember now. The story about Jeff's Mormon Spanish teacher explaining the definition of "wey" or "pinche" is clouding my memory at the moment. Overall, the tapas were pretty good. It was totally the dishes I was expecting, traditional but with a few twists here and there. (For those looking for a more traditional Spanish restaurant, check out Spain Restaurant on Glendale Blvd., on the way to the 2.) Overall, the tapas weren't that exciting either, particularly for the price. I've had tapas in San Francisco that have been better and cheaper. We brought our own bottle of wine so the corkage fee was $15. Sangria was optional but we chose to finish our new bottle. Maybe nex time, if I never find a better Spanish restaurant. The desserts could have been passed. $5 for two scoops of ice cream that was no where near the quality of Maggie Moo's was muy terrible! I think the only thing relatively good about the desserts was the Mexican chocolate that was used for the chocolate syrup dip for the chocolate churros, which could have been passed, as well.

Let's turn to environment, shall we? I think they only had four cds on rotation and had nothing to do with the environment of the restaurant. Um...Spanish music at a Spanish restaurant...what a novel idea! Too bad they didn't think of it. It went from some kind of electronica cd to Les Nubians, who I dearly love and adore, to some kind of Dixie Chick-esque disk and something else that I can't remember right now, either.

For those of you looking for good Spanish tapas, this is an ok place but I've been to better. I think Cobras and Matadors is more known for the ambience and scene more than anything else. So try at your own risk.