Last week we at Fashion Addicted Foodies had a fantastic opportunity to attend an Evening of Tapas with Omar Allibhoy at his Westfield White City tapas bar – Tapas Revolution. I am no stranger to Tapas Revolution as a while back I declared Tapas Revolution to be the best tapas bar in London, so you can only guess that I – accompanied with Kris – jumped on the opportunity to sample some of the new and old-favorite dishes from the Tapas Revolution menu; and to meet the ‘Antonio Banderas of Cooking’ (that’s what the invitation said, but I like to think him more as the ‘Spanish Jamie Oliver’) Omar Allibhoy.
Omar Allibhoy founded Tapas Revolution a couple of years ago and now has one at Westfield (White City) and one in Bluewater (Kent). A new addition to the Tapas Revolution family will open its doors in Shoreditch later this year. From the beginning of the tapas evening it became clear that Omar is very passionate about food and has an impressive knowledge of it. But then again he was trained by the legendary Ferran Adria of El Bulli. If you have never heard of Ferran Adria or El Bulli – shame on you! Ferran Adria is considered to be the best chef in the world. So, Omar has some serious chops! During the Evening of Tapas I learned about olives, jamon, a pig that looks like a sheep, tomatoes and pomatoes; but most importantly – how to make the best Sangria. In a nutshell: make a sugar syrup, add fruit into it and cook, then vacuum pack the syrup with the fruit and let it soak up to 14 days, then add that to red wine. And just like that you’ll have more flavourful Sangria – like the one you drank in Spain.
During the evening we sampled dishes from the new menu. The menu at Tapas Revolution changes three times a year to accommodate seasonal items. The new Shoreditch tapas bar will have a different menu than the Westfield one making it a must-visit place. Omar is dedicated using Spanish ingredients (like tomatoes, apples etc.) at his Tapas Revolutions as they have more flavour because in Spain they ripen longer in the trees than in the UK. These full flavours are what make Tapas Revolution dishes irresistible. As Omar says: ‘Even if we are located in a shopping centre, we do not have to serve ‘shopping centre’ food.’ The very simple tomato (and pomato) salad we had was one of my favourite dishes of the night as the flavour of the tomatoes (and pomatoes) was so rich and sweet – like you would have just hand-picked them from your garden. Not to mention the ‘bursting with fruit flavours’ Sangria which was a firm favourite with everybody.
Here’s a glimpse of the dishes we tasted at the Evening of Tapas with Omar Aillibhoy.
Accitunas Hojiblanca Partidas
(Hand-crushed and brine-cured olives)
Fuet
(Catalonian cured pork sausage)
Pan de la Casa
(Toasted bread topped with a tomato and garlic sauce served with Jamon Serrano)
Ensalada de Tomato
(Salad with yellow tomatoes and red pomatoes, olives and red onion to be enjoyed at room temperature – Spanish style)
Croquetas de Jamón
(Deep-fried Iberico ham croquettes)
Gazpacho de Sandía
(Traditional gazpacho with a hint of watermelon)
Arroz Negro
(Black rice with prawns and squid, served with milk-based Aioli)
Alcachofas con Salsa Romesco
(Baby artichokes prepared with oil and garlic, served with Romesco sauce)
Pulpo a la Gallega
(Steamed octopus with potatoes and pimentón paprika)
Pimientos Rellenos de Setas
(Stuffed piuillos peppers served with Wild Mushroom Béchamel sauce)
Crema Catalana
(Traditional dessert of Spain; made with vanilla pod, cinnamon and lemon)
All gone and way too fast! All the above dishes were shared with three people – except the dessert – and that was more than enough food. The brilliant thing about tapas is that a couple of small dishes shared with 2-3 people will fill you up and instead of being ‘stuck’ with one dish you get to taste a mix of dishes. Who would not love that?
If you feel a sudden urge to try some of these dishes at home, not to worry as Omar has written a book filled with easy and mouth-watering tapas recipes – including Crema Catalana and Aioli. Or the easier option is just to pop into Tapas Revolution, order some Sangria, sit back and enjoy any of the above tapas without sweating in the kitchen. Sounds like a plan, right!!!
This post was brought to you with Tapas Revolution but all thoughts, reviews and opinions are our own.
Photos: Fashion Addicted Foodies
