Restaurants / Restaurant review
Picaro, Chandos Road: ‘Imagine the cinnamon challenge, but smoked paprika’ – restaurant review
The new tapas restaurant on Chandos Road is in a foodie haven but has fierce competition. Alongside its well-known neighbours, Picaro is only round the corner from local legends Bravas and Muino, so it has to be good if it is going to compete.
Having fought tooth and nail against their awful booking system to secure a table, we arrived to an awkward welcome from staff who looked genuinely confused by the arrival of customers. I commend the fact that Picaro is a family run business, but it might have been advisable to train the children before putting them on front-of-house. Nevertheless, they were sweet and the kitchen aromas smelt promising.
Hilariously, my enquiry about the menu’s driest white wine resulted in a confused conference behind the bar and three plastic shot glasses of wine to taste. I felt almost mocked by the sight of Snobby’s across the road.
is needed now More than ever
Picaro promises authenticity and dishes from different areas of Spain. The menu, a comprehensive list of 22 items plus specials, has everything you’d expect and prices range from £3 to £22.
The four chubby fingers of chorizo in cider (£7) that arrive first are unctuous, indulgent, spicy and sweet. Next, three slithers of baguette with a rather pitiful piping of aioli (£3.50) which teeters on the vinegary side of enjoyment.
The chunky slice of Spanish omelette (£3.50) is fridge cold. It’s tasty, but I feel cheated. It could’ve been plucked straight from the picnic shelf of Sainsbury’s. The anaemic accompanying breadsticks could be one of the children’s lunchbox leftovers, and topping it off is a small bucket of mayo-fest which I think is an attempt at a Russian salad.
Can anyone help identify this salad? It’s on the loose in Redland
Deep fried aubergine with honey molasses (£8.50) are lightly battered, savoury and sweet but they’re not a patch on the towering plate of joy you’d get for half the price in Bravas. The batter is oily and they need more molasses and a spritz of citrus to truly bring out the flavours.
The dishes certainly looked the part, even if they didn’t all taste it
The breaded mini squid (£12.50) is one of the more forgivable dishes, crunchy and plentiful. But it’s not the fresh seafood sensation I’d hoped for, transporting me more to the frozen aisles of Iceland than the sunny shores of Spain.
With a squeeze of lemon, the squid was one of the better dishes
I’ve never found patatas bravas (£5) particularly inspiring and Picaro’s version didn’t change that. Imagine the cinnamon challenge, but smoked paprika.
The Basque padron peppers (£4.50) were almost there; a few more minutes over a flame and a more generous dash of salt and they’d be the perfect snack to accompany one or several shots of white wine.
Sadly there’s little I can say about the promised prawn and ham croquetas (£6) as they never turned up.
In a bid to end on a high we ordered churros (£5.50). Initially I was pleasantly surprised that they’d salted the batter, but I slowly came to resent this too. Concerning when the dessert tastes more like the ocean than the fish dish…
The churros were pleasantly crispy but overly salty
The optimist in me will tell you these are teething problems. I love the ambition and the family run element is truly endearing, but Picaro needs to up its game if it is going to earn its place next to its culinary rivals on Chandos Road.
All photos by Meg Houghton-Gilmour
Picaro, 19 Chandos Road, Redland, BS6 6PG
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