Fino Wine & Tapas
39-13 Bell Blvd.
Bayside, NY 11361
(718) 229-1330
So, unfortunately I've been very busy and have not had time to update foodie. I feel awful, but at the same time, I did not want to just write when I had a few spare moments just to write a mediocre blog. Not to say this is the stuff of Aristotle, but I care about what I write and want people to enjoy this blog. Anyway, enough babbling. Here is a blog that's been well past due, buon apetito! (And I also apologize about not having pictures. Me being the ever terrible photographer could not get the right lighting and being that it was so dark in there, the photographs look like edible blobs).
It's always great to research places on-line, whenever unsure of an area. This is what I did when I was choosing a place for Rich's birthday. I was bored with Italian, just ate Greek and since Rich is kind of new to food experimentation, I was not going to pick something overly exotic, especially for his day. When I read about this restaurant, I was excited to take him here. It turned out to be a very romantic setting with dark lighting, good for couples.
As for the wine, they offer an extensive list. And, if you don't know wine too well, such as myself ($8 Cabernet Sauv makes me happy!), a knowledgeable server is there to help. Well, let me bite my tongue-- for all I know he just picks a random wine and suggests it.... it just so happened, we liked the suggestion! It was a half bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, too bad I don't remember the name :(
So, as the resto name says, this is a tapas place. They also serve regular entrees, but I really wanted to at least sample some of their tapas offerings. It is relatively expensive with small servings and I wouldn't suggest going here everyday if you're on a budget, but for this occasion, I was happy with our meal, so it was money well spent for the birthday boy. We ordered the Mushroom en Croute, aka, mushrooms on toast. I loved the crunchy bread and the meatiness of the mushrooms. I am also a garlic lover (no vampires near me!) and the amount of garlic on the toast and in the mixture added enough spark to compliment the savory mushrooms. We also sampled the grilled lamb chops with chickpea puree. I was excited to get this because I don't eat lamb very much, as I have not cooked it, but I do enjoy it. When it arrived at the table, it was a bit anticlimactic, as the portion was incredibly small. However, the small cuts of chops were compensated by the great salty, char-grilled flavor with a little bit of spice that was offset by the creamy chickpea. It was very Mediterranean and I felt that I should be on a sailboat in Greece... wonderful!
As for our entree, we were also please with our choice. However, with one stipulation- when our NY Strip steak was presented at our table, we were expecting a beautiful, full cut of meat, but what was given was steak already sliced into portions. I was initially disappointed because I thought that was rip-off and I was afraid that they maybe didn't let the meat rest, letting the juices run out of the steak. But my anger was quelled by the great flavor! The accompanying dipping sauce was sweet, almost balsamic-like, and the cheese was creamy and slightly tangy, like Roquefort blue cheese; when eaten together, it was a wonderful marriage of flavors. The one exception to the flavor was the overabundance of herbs, mostly rosemary, on the steak, but it was easily forgotten after dipping it into the sauces. The steak came with roasted herbed fingerling potatoes which were also excellent. We also needed a veggie for the meal, so we ordered braised Brussels sprouts with bacon. They were good, but mine are better :) It turned out to be a surprisingly excellent meal and i absolutely savored my last bite of the dish. I'm going back for seconds. Also an exciting tidbit- they change their menu, so you can never get bored!
