La Nacional Tapas Bar
“my friend and i shared the chorizo, tortilla, patatas bravas and the platter with ham, cheese and cured chorizo.”
“Onto the food:
– Patatas bravas – the potatoes were cooked perfectly.”
“Yum yum – great tapas and fantastic sangria an a no-frills, plainly decorated blink-and-you-miss-it basement level location on busy 14th street.”
La Nacional Tapas Bar
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I am now on a mission to patron any restaurant that's associated with the Socarrat family.
I went on a Wednesday night. The place was chill and not packed. If you like sweet drinks, I recommend their sangria. Sweet with fresh fruit (not like some places that have fruit that's been sitting around for about a month).
Papas Bravas – crispy on the outside and starchy on the inside with just the right amount of sauce on top.
Pan con tomate – not too salty and full of fresh tomato flavor.
No idea what sauce was in the pulpo dish but yes- get it.
For the main, we split the arroz negro. Again, we were able to order the paella the way we wanted. No shrimp (allergies) and no extra salt (because squid ink is already salty). Perfecto! I love the crunchiness of the rice. So… good….
For dessert we got the almond cake. A nice break from chocolate =-)
Nothing special about this place. It's ok.
Pros:
-Good Paella
-Tasty Sangria
-Friendly Waiters
Cons:
-Place was big but completely empty (on a Friday night)
-Bad Decor
-Dark and Dingy looking
-Tapas aren't all that great
I wanted to leave as soon as I sat down. I felt trapped. This place needs a makeover ASAP. I will not be returning.
I would give this place 3.5 stars if I could.
Came here for a dinner event with my company team. I totally wouldn't have noticed this place if I weren't with others. There is a small sign that leads to stairs down to the restaurant. We had about 35 people in a party room in the back. The place is kind of small for large parties, and wished the room was cooler.
For drinks I got the red sangria, which was pretty good. It's not water down and flavorless like some places I've been. We got rounds of food. We tried a lot of the menu, all decently good. Although I wished the paella had less rice and more of the other stuff (we had 4 different types to try xD). Overall, better than most places I've been for tapas.
We weren't able to get into their main sister restaurant Soccarat I believe up two blocks.
The place was in a wierd Basement. The dining area at least looked better. We had the meat and cheese tapa. The paella was huge but it was good. Meatballs okay. Overall, it was okay-good.
Nacional is your typical whole in the wall. Nothing special to look at but serves authentic, delicious tapas.
Patatas Bravas is one of my favorite Spanish dishes. Basically wedge fries smothered in a creamy, spicy sauce. Nacional has the perfect fry to sauce ratio.
I also had the Picho Moruno Con Tosta Y Picadillos grilled marinated pork loin skewers with toast topped with chick peas. I was sad that there were only a few of these to split between my friends and I.
We wanted to a hearty entree so we had the Paella de la casa (shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, squid, chicken, beef, green peas, & piquillo peppers). A little bit of everything type of meat/seafood. Served right on the skillet at the table.
The best part though, I must say, was the café bombon. It is coffee in dessert form; super sweet and creamy (just the way I like it).
Can not wait to go back and try some more tapas.
I came here recently with a group of friends and we had a great time. We were a big group and had no problem getting a reservation on a week night but I imagine you would have to book further in advance for a weekend. The sign outside is small so I almost walked past it.
I had the mushrooms which were nicely seasoned. I had the vegetarian paella which was good but I would have preferred more saffron in the rice, I didn't taste any.
One dish had French fries, egg and cheese, it was okay. The potato dish we had was pretty good.
I do not eat sausage but my friends said the sausage dish was excellent, they ordered four of them! They also enjoyed the board with meats and cheese.
Admittedly, I did not eat here but I feel justified in telling you why I walked out. We arrived at the location at 3:30pm on a Friday afternoon. It is a small-ish location with low lighting. Almost cave like.
I walked in with my dining companion and upon opening the door, we were hit with the most foul odor. Think of a backed up sewer in a South American country. No way is a restaurant ever supposed to smell like that. I thought it may just be the rug or something but the further I walked the more the smell stuck.
Maybe they were having issues? Either way I'll have to wait a long while to forget that smell before going back to try the food.
Not too crowded. Very, very Spanish. Great seafood tapas – we had whole grilled sardines, octopus, and garlic shrimp, followed by zarzuela and paella. I really recommend the zarzuela, kind of a Spanish bouillabaisse, and the marinated octopus which is very tender and not rubbery in the least. We also had a delicious spanish cheesecake for dessert. Glasses of wine are tasty and affordable enough.
The waitress, who appears to have a certain notoriety in these Yelp parts, was really very nice, if foreign (I had called earlier to ask about a corkage fee and had to describe it to them.) It was very European — and I didn't mind this — in that she was very authoritative about the way we should eat her country's food. She drove our decision to get both zarzuela and paella instead of just one, and very carefully left us alone as we finished up our meal. This kind of attitude is rather anti-American, but was refreshing for me. The American meaning of good service is to read the customer's mind and come at the right times unannounced. The European meaning is to leave you alone until you summon the staff. I know she was paying attention as she was always checking up on us while walking by to take care of other stuff.
In short, I felt like I was in Spain, and not on West 14th, so mission accomplished. I like this place, and I hope they stick around for longer than they already have. 🙂