Earlier this week a friend took me to Iberico for dinner. I have been wanted to go here ever since I moved to Nottingham but haven’t really had the opportunity. I have heard so many great things and for it to be rated 14th of over 1100 restaurants in Nottingham I was expecting it to be incredible. Maybe we didn’t go for the right stuff but in all honesty I was underwhelmed.
It was a quiet Monday night and we were shown to a table of 2. It was in a corner, right in front of a pillar. My friend had to squeeze around the pillar in order to sit down, and then I sat down. The pillar left about 4 inches for me to be able to move my chair, and every time my friend needed to go to the toilet, I had to get out of my chair and move it for him to vacate – nightmare.
The table was about half a metre from the next, and so we overheard the couple next to us chatting – we were literally joining their table.
We haven’t seen each other for a while, and although we chose drinks with speed, we were slow to order our food. The waitress came over 3 times, approximately 90 seconds apart each time. Each time asking if we needed any help, and was extremely condescending.
It was a bit of a relief to order and for her to stop approaching us.
First out was the Catalan Bread. Huge slabs of chunky bread with garlic, tomato and herbs. It was tasty and extremely garlicky which I love, however lukewarm at best. The padron peppers were incredibly salty, which I loved but my friend commented that it was a little too much.
Next up was the chorizo cooked in Rioja. I dislike red wine, and thankfully you couldn’t taste it at all. The chorizo was nice but nothing special.
Then came the star of the show – the spicy miso salmon. It was delicious, but the ‘spicy’ is misleading. It had no heat, or any spice, and I am a spice wimp! But it was cooked perfectly and presented beautifully with pieces of pickled ginger.
The lime salt and pepper squid, usually one of my favourite dishes in a tapas restaurant, was bland and undercooked. The garlic allioli was flavoursome though.
The food came out quickly, a dish at a time. I have read some complaints online about the timings of the dishes, but thankfully as it was quiet there wasn’t a wait.
Overall, the food was OK, but in all honesty I’m disappointed that a restaurant I was so looking forward to visiting, just didn’t ignite my tastebuds as I expected.
I don’t expect to return any time soon.
