Ole!

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Joey contemplates his enormous beer...

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I'd been dying to get back to this popular Spanish Tapas restaurant in the mall since my first visit with friends Jeffrey and Minda a few months ago. Then, we munched on cold cuts and appetisers while enjoying a couple of beers. This time, Joe and I headed for the main course menu with something a bit more substantial in mind.

According to the menu, the owners are not Spanish, nor have they lived in Spain, but they were inspired to open Ole by their love of Spanish cuisine. Not having been to Spain myself, I am unable to comment on the authenticity of the food, but I did notice a couple of Spaniards sitting at tables outside, and that's a good sign.

As a starter, we ordered a dish of artichoke, ham and onions in olive oil, served with garlic bread. I'd had this dish before, and liked it so much I even learned to make it at home. This time it was a little heavy on the onions, but still really good.

For our main course we ordered chicken skewers (sorry I can't remember the Spanish names) and chicken breasts in a mushroom, wine and cream sauce. This is where we made our mistake, if you can call it that. Both dishes were very large, and had we known in advance we would have ordered just one and shared it between the two of us. The food was excellent though, and the waitress was happy to box up what we couldn't finish so that we could take it home. Evidently our friends at the next table experienced the same thing, as they came over with a plate of delicious seafood spaghetti which they too were unable to finish.

Ole is pretty pricy, but bearing in mind the size of the portions, it balances out. Unless you are particularly ravenous, one main course will probably be enough for two.

All in all, we thought this place was great - friendly staff, efficient service, nice ambience, and of course, good food.

We'd definately recommend this one.