Tapas at Casa Mono

Casa Mono
(17th Street and Irving Place)

If you're ever in the mood for Chinese/family-style eating but minus the Chinese food, look no further than Spanish tapas!  I know of 2 places in the city that serve great tapas - Alta (on 10th and 5th) and Casa Mono.  Today's review will cover Casa Mono, where my fiance and I enjoyed the pleasure of dining last night.  To summarize our meal in one phrase, all of the tapas are served with contrasting but extremely complementary flavors which make for a delicious, unique and memorable dining experience!


There was a little bit of drama that ensued before our arrival at our final destination.  Our dinner reservation was at 5:30pm (hey, early birds catch the worm!) which meant that we'd have to leave work at 5 on the dot.  On an average Friday, that is no problem, but I almost had to work late because of missing data for a client report... through no fault of mine, of course.  I called Casa Mono and they said their standard policy is to give a 15 minute grace period, but after that, they would have to let my reservation go.  Fortunately, I ended up only having to work until 5:15, which gave us exactly a half hour to get from Midtown West to Union Square!  I had decided to dress up a bit yesterday and so I was wearing boots with 3-inch heels... as you can imagine, that did not make for easy walking/trotting/running down the streets of Manhattan and tunnels of Grand Central!  Fortunately, the 7 and 4 trains came within seconds, and we actually made it to Casa Mono no more than 5 minutes past 5:30.  PHEW.  I had already missed a prior reservation at Casa Mono (which I was originally going to with my sister but then I fell ill) and I was not going to let that happen again!  Not after I booked this reservation more than two weeks in advance!  So phew... all was well in the end.  Now back to my review.


I adore Irving Place (quiet, quaint, near to Gramercy Park...) and Casa Mono lies in the heart of it.  It is a tiny, darkly-lit and intimate restaurant of no more than 10 tables.  There are also two bar tops - one in front of the open-air kitchen and one by the drinks.  My first time at Casa Mono, my friend and I sat at the bar top in front of the kitchen and it was a delight to watch all the food being prepared! 

 

(I stole the above picture off a Google search... I'm not sure how my fellow patrons would've felt about me taking flash photos in the darkly lit restaurant!)

I didn't know this until recently, but Casa Mono is owned by Mario Batali and was awarded one Michelin star in 2010!  Prices are fairly high (expect to pay around $15 per dish) but the flavor combinations are amazingly complementary and synergistic.  Also, due to its size and popularity, Casa Mono gets booked up VERY fast... I don't even know if it's possible to make a reservation on Monday for a dinner that upcoming Friday.  Your best bet is to plan ahead... way ahead, like I did (and I still got stuck with a 5:30 table).

After some good ol' fiance-to-fiancee decision making (where he chose the skirt steak and then knowingly deferred to his better half!), we ordered:

• Duck egg with mojama - this is one of Casa Mono's specialties and for good reason!  The duck egg is served sunny side up on top of cured ham and the most delicious potatoes.  A MUST-TRY!
• Chopitos with white beans and salsa de tinta - chopitos = fried baby calamari.  I never thought white beans would go so well with calamari but hey, it was a burst full of flavor!
• Skirt steak with onion mermelada - this was my least favorite, as I thought the steak tasted a bit gamey... however, hubby-to-be enjoyed it very much.  I did like the salsa that came along with it, as the flavors complemented very well.
• Quail with gingered cranberries - they gave us a whole quail with wings and legs outstretched atop a pile of cranberries and stuffing.  Again, the salty and sweet flavors went together very well. 
• Crispy pork belly with greenmarket apples and guindillas - this was another one of our favorites!!  This was our first time trying pork belly and it was sumptuous.  Crispy... fatty... soft... it had the perfect texture.  It's not something you would eat a lot of, but this plate came with 4 small pieces, which was enough to get a good taste for it but not enough to get sick of.  The apples were a great contrast.  Mmm... I would recommend this dish as well!  

5 dishes ended up being the perfect amount for the both of us.  I don't think we could have handled anymore!  We also had 2 glasses of Merlot and for dessert, we shared the torte de chocolate with apricots... a great way to clear the palate!  :) 


M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (it's dark and intimate... but I can't say the decor is especially unique.  Tables are somewhat crammed so my elbows actually brushed the patrons to my left and right, who were technically at separate tables.  I would also recommend dining at the bar - it's entertaining!)
Food: 4.5 out of 5 (again, the flavors were extremely complementary even in areas that you would never deem possible... calamari and white beans?!  We loved the originality of each dish on the menu - it's not everyday we find pork belly or duck egg at a restaurant.  We tried many new foods and combinations last night!)
Service: 2.5 out of 5 (nothing spectacular, but nothing horrendous)
Value: 4 out of 5 (we spent $135 total, so it wasn't cheap.  However, the food is a delight and we were mmm-ing the whole night!)
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5 (the food says it all, my friend)
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5

Bottom-line: We loved it and mark our words, we will be back!  Maybe next time we will have the courage to order the cock's combs and bone marrow!