Octapas

I've had food in Spain previously so I was a bit disappointed when the food here is not as good despite the generally positive reviews. Personally, I preferred the paella from Marche instead which comes at a more affordable rate. Only food I really enjoyed here is the bacon wrapped prawns which goes well with the Sangria. Service is good and the staffs are attentive, but I don't think so I'll be back...

For a more detailed review with photos, please check out http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2011/05/octapas-spanish-tapas-bar.html

What used to house The Tapas Tree is now Octapas Spanish Tapas Bar. According to the grapevine, there was a slight change in management, which resulted in the revamping of this beloved Spanish institution. This restaurant is the reason why I love Spanish food. I'd never had Spanish food until The Tapas Tree came along to our sunny shores. While the decor is largely the same, the menu has had a mini re-haul. Rest assured the quality of the food has been maintained, if not improved. All the dishes we sampled that night were pretty fabulous. We had a thoroughly satisfactory meal.

We had:

1) Pan-fried Snapper ($15.50) thinly coated with a flour batter and flash-fried, so the crust was delightfully crisp and golden, while the fish remained moist. Spanish romesco sauce, a heady mix of olive oil, pinenuts, almonds, roasted garlic and sweet red peppers, was drizzled over the fish for a little kick and spice

2) Skewered Scallops ($16.50) plump, sweet and succulent, seared so it was still juicy, wrapped in serrano ham for flavour & topped with romesco sauce. The last time I ate at The Tapas Tree, the scallops were very sad and tiny. Clearly, the change in management has done the scallops some good

3) Sauteed Mushrooms ($9) - also a hit, cooked in sherry to bring out its natural sweetness and garlic and olive oil for aroma

4) Spanish Omelette ($10) - probably the least exciting dish of the night, but still fairly delicious. The omelette was densely packed with softened potatoes and onions, a relatively mild and delicate dish

5) Carne Paella ($36) - a meat-lovers dream loaded with chorizo, ham, pork, beef and chicken chunks. The rice was lovingly infused with rich stock and saffron for that gorgeous golden hue, flavoursome and tasty, so good you can pretty much eat the rice on its own. My only gripe was the less than juicy beef, and that chicken breast meat was used. Chicken thigh would have been a lot more juicy while the beef could have a little more fat.

Went to Octapas a few weeks ago.

I like the plac because the service is good and prompt, and most importantly, the food is good.

For drinks, I had the Spanish Fly and Long Island Iced Tea. It's really worth the price because Octapas wasn't stingy on the amount of alcohol.

We ordered quite a number of tapas to share. Here's our list:

- Beef and Pork Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

- Sautéed Artichoke Hearts with Serrano Ham

- Sautéed Shrimps in Garlic and Olive Oil  (x2)

- Minced Chicken stuffed in Roasted Piquillo Peppers

- Beef Tenderloin Cubes sautéed in Olive Oil and Garlic (x2)

- Chicken Breast in Cream Sauce

- Grilled Lamb Cutlets

- Deep Fried Battered Squid Rings (x2)

For detailed review and photos, you may visit my blog at MyDailyMoo.

Was walking around Clarke Quay with 2 friends not looking for anywhere in particular and was drawn to this place by the cool sign outside, which is a s*** topless Spanish mermaid with Octopus tentacles!

We sat inside because we were told that the live band were coming on soon and wanted to see what they were like.

We weren't overly hungry so only ordered a few tapas dishes. The bacon wrapped prawns were absolutely delicious, the beef tenderloin could have been a little more tender, but their garlicky taste was lovely. The ham croquettes were tasty, but not particularly memorable.

The jug of white sangria we ordered was fruity, refreshing and went down far too quickly! Sure enough, the band came on a short while later. The lead singer had a lovely smile and a great voice. What was nice is that other members of the band also sang when the song suited their voice better. By 10.30pm the place was really rocking and we were having a really good time.

We'll definitely be back.

I was recently at Clarke Quay after dinner with a few girl friends and as I mentioned before, had a great time at The Pump Room! What we did after a few drinks and dance there was we then moved on to Octapas. We carried on with lots more red Sangria which was delicious and although Octapas is a tapas bar (not a club!), the band there was fantastic and we carried on dancing in the bar!!! It was a really great girls' night out!!!

Four of us dined here on a Saturday afternoon as they were one of the few places along Clarke Quay who didn't close for the afternoon and we fancied eating tapas because of the amount of different dishes you can share.

We over-ordered I'm afraid, but it's easy to do.  We had beef and pork meatballs, spicy potatoes, chicken with cream sauce, garlic mushrooms, garlic bread, prawn wrapped in bacon, chicken croquettes and extra bread..............and then more garlic bread and more garlic mushrooms!  Everything was very tasty, the mushrooms in particular were lovely; sweet garlic, cooked just right, not overdone and not raw in the middle and slightly caramelised too.  

The only things I wouldn't order again were the chicken croquettes as they were a bit spongy in the middle and not as tasty as everything else.  The bread was slightly disappointing too as it wasn't soft, it'd been hardened in the oven I suspect (probably a restaurant trick to keep it from going stale too soon) - we would have preferred soft bread.

We also had two jugs of Sangria and a few soft drinks.  The food and the soft drinks aren't too badly priced for Clarke Quay, but I do think they overcharge for their Sangria at $65 per jug..........how much is a cheap bottle of wine?  About $15 and that's not wholesale either and nor do they use a whole bottle in each jug I'll wager!  I think $45 would be more realistic price.

Service was OK - the guy who was working was very friendly and helpful, the waitress not so much - she seemed a bit miserable but they guy told us they were open until 2am and this was about 2pm ........perhaps she had a long night ahead of her!

It was also a bit hot outside as it wasn't breezy - they need to do something about the fans as none were pointing at any of us (ceiling fans in those big white dome things they've got there would be better)

I would go again, but I think I'll skip the Sangria next time and just have a beer instead as it's cheaper.

I had a massive tapas craving & decided on Octapas after reading the reviews. My visit coincided with the F1 weekend & the alfresco area was packed, although we did manage to snag a table. At close to 11pm with such an impressive 'dinner' crowd, I knew I couldn't have gone very wrong with my selection.

Famished as we were after watching the F1 qualifiers, we quickly got down to ordering the beef tenderloin in garlic & olive oil, spicy prawns in garlic & olive oil, grilled squid with balsamic vinegar, a serving of chorizo as well as garlic bread, which was recommended by the waitress.

The beef did not disappoint & was very tender, just as previous reviewers had mentioned. The garlic prawns were very fresh & I liked that the chilli padi added a kick to the dish. There is also a non-spicy version but being the Queen of Spice meant choosing the former.

Special mention goes to the grilled squid with balsamic vinegar. I was a little apprehensive of how it would turn out but the freshness of the squid was fortunately not masked by the balsamic vinegar and managed to retain its natural sweetness beautifully. It was grilled to perfection and cast away my displaced fears of it being rubbery. Kudos to the chef on this one!

The dishes that didn't quite hit the spot were the chorizo & garlic bread.The chorizo was hard and someone with dentures would definitely fight a losing battle with it. My bf ordered the recommended garlic bread as he needed a bit of carbs but both of us felt it was so blah we could've done a much better job at home. There was a very slight hint of garlic on it although it was obviously coloured yellow from the garlic spread. For a moment, I thought I had ordered plain HARD bread with melted butter. Definitely not something I'd recommend. It was a good thing I had my sangria with me to soften the hard bread.

Speaking of sangria, I would highly recommend the red sangria, which was the only one I had that night unfortunately. I would have loved to try the rest but the red sangria was too good to deviate from.

Octapas is a place I have no qualms returning to. It's not the best place for tapas but it definitely hits the spot when you have a major tapas craving just like I did.

The old Tapas Tree is back - well, a more concise version that is. The same people that started Tapas Tree years ago have now returned with a more streamlined menu. At a recent tasting, I had the opportunity to try the new key items.

Recommended to start with is the Toasted bread topped with Augbergine, Peppers, Onions and Parmesan Cheese ($9). The toppings blend well with the crispy toasted bread. Be sure to eat this warm.

If you like your stuff a little mushy, a must try is the Minced Chicken Stuffed in Roasted Piquillo Peppers ($14), which has a pleasant soury finish.

The Bacon-wrapped Shrimps with Tomato Salsa ($14.50) is another dish to try here. The succulent shrimps make an addictive meal and if you are sharing, be sure to take your dining partner's share before he or she knows what they are missing out on.

For squid lovers, be sure to try the Grilled Squid with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction ($15.50), in which only fresh squid is used and lightly grilled to ensure that a little of the seafood after-taste still remains. Nicely executed.

One dish that was disappointing though was the Paella Marisco ($38 for two). While loaded with nice seafood, the rice came out oily and tasted more like olive fried rice.

End the meal with the traditional Red Sangria ($14) while waving to the tourists streaming up the Singapore river. I found the White Sangria a little too sour for my liking.

Have been very looking forward to this dinner. I have chosen the outdoor seating as we wanted to enjoy the breeze along the Singapore River.

I ordered 4 types of Tapas:

1. Chicken Croquette

2. Egg Omelette

3. Beef in garlic & olive oil

4. Squid in balsamic vinegar

All of them are just lovely. I was so tempted to order more tapas, but I got to rememeber to save the stomach space for the seafood paella & sangria.

The paella is awesome. Juicy and fragrant rice, generious portion of seafood, fantastic! Thou the prawns in the paella are a little disappointing, overall, it was worth it.

Sangria was just so-so. But it's just something we have to order when enjoying Spanish cuisine. :)

It's pretty obvious that they are under staff. With full house in-house and at the alfresco area, probably they need more service staff.

Whilst walking by the riverside in Clarke Quay with friends we couldn't help noticing the flow of sexy Spanish dressed waitresses emerging from this outlet to their decking area.

We took a seat on the deck to watch the world go by and ordered a jug of Sangria which was fruity, tasty and had far more of a 'kick' to it than expected!

We then ordered a Seafood Paella, which we were informed would take at least 30mins as each was freshly prepared. It seemed a little long to wait, but in reality as we sat there drinking the time passed quickly and this dish was certainly worth a 45min wait once we'd tasted it - beautifully coloured rice with a traditionally burnt bottom, laced with all manner of delicious seafood from prawns to mussels to squid.

As well as the paella we ordered a range of tapas. The goat's cheese with serrano ham on toast (which unfortunately this came out first) was a real let down, but the other 6 items we tried were truly amazing. Highlights being the bacon-wrapped shrimps, ham croquettes, and the beef tenderloin in garlic.

The logo for this outlet was excellent - a sexy topless Spanish girl merged with an octopus drawn in a retro tattoo style. Look out for the waitresses wearing a tattoo of the design on their shoulders. We even received a tattoo in our bill slip as a memento, which was a nice touch.

We'll definitely be back to collect more!