Tapas Tuesday at Ceviche

The last time I visited Jeff down in Tampa we decided to try out Tapas Tuesdays at Ceviche. Tapas Tuesday’s big appeal is $4 tapas, $4 sangria, and live salsa music.  

Jeff and I had a busy day and didn’t get there until about 8:00.  We’d been told there was valet parking if you get there before 7pm – someone can correct me if I’m wrong.  Ceviche’s was packed, which was good sign when trying out a place for the first time. 

Live salsa music was playing inside, we put our name on the wait list for a table, got drinks and then hung out on the patio-deck awaiting our table. 

It was a hot night but we had cold drinks, good company, and Ceviche’s had a fun up tempo atmosphere.  We waited about 30 minutes until we were seated at a table inside. 

Bread with olive oil & pesto

Inside the restaurant was hot, loud, and filled with people.  It was hard to talk across the table, but the salsa music was good and the restaurant décor had a vibrant, yet at-home flavor.

We were immediately served bread with olive oil and pesto – which is a nice change from the standard butter or simply olive oil you usually find at restaurants.  No cheese in the pesto, and it was fresh and fantastic.

The vegan and the meat eater found numerous options on the menu.  We ordered five tapas dishes:

Baba Ganoush – described as roasted eggplant with tahini, garlic, olive oil, served with toast points. 

Corazones de Alcachofas – marinated artichoke hearts, sweet onions, hearts of palm and caper berries.

Pipirrana- “beautiful salad with faboda beans, crispy cucumbers, capers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and onion in Jerez vinegar.

Champinones del Monte – Grilled and marinated woodland mushrooms with garli, olice oil, fresh herbs and sherry.

Calamares Frites – Tender squid lightly dusted in seasoned flour and fried crispy, served with lemon and paprika aioli. 

Corazones de Alcachofas on the left, Baba Ganoush on the right

I found the baba ganoush to be mostly tahini and the texture not consistent throughout, it was almost just tahini butter in places.  That being said, I couldn’t taste any eggplant, though I presume the eggplant gave the dish it’s light and fluffy consistency.  It had a nutty flavor and I preferred it with the veggies rather than the toast points. The toast points don’t do it any favors and Jeff simply did not like the dish at all.

 

Corazones del Alcahofas

The capers, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and onions in the Corazones del Alcahofas were an excellent combination together mixed in a light oil and vinegar marinade.  The vegetables were tender and had a refreshing crisp flavor.

  

Pipirrana Salad, eggs on Jeff's side, cucumber on mine.

The Pipirrana salad was indeed a beautiful array of colorful vegetables.  It did come with hard boiled eggs, but I just turned them towards my meat eater’s side of the table and we shared the salad. The vinegar on the salad was just the right amount and overall the salad had great flavor. The faboda beans and capers were excellent additions that really made the salad. 

Champinones del Monte

The Champinones del Monte can best be described as the best marinara sauce you’ve ever had, prior to it being sauced. This was probably my favorite and a great blend of veggies in oil and vinegar.  

I was most impressed with the freshness of all the dishes and how light the oil and vinegar were - just enough to compliment the veggies and blend the flavors.  The marinades were never heavy and oppressive.  Just right.

  

Jeff with his Calamares Frites & Sangria

Jeff will have to add his comments [here] on the Calamari Frites – we took notes in the restaurant but I can’t read his writing and wouldn’t want to confuse “dusting” with “disgusting.”  I do know, however, he had some strong words for the baba ganoush. 

As we enjoyed our meal and the night went on, it became significantly less noisy with fewer people and Ceviche's was really quite pleasant.  The best features of Tapas Tuesdays were the live salsa music and $4 tapas – and of course good company makes it all the better.  I highly recommend you try it out, but get there early!