La Cicala

Came here with a friend after work on a Friday. We ordered a bottle of Chardonnay (59++, quite reasonable), which came with two free tapas. We weren’t allowed to choose the tapas, which turned out to be pumpkin cubes on bread. One tapas consists of one slice of bread with pumpkin cubes. What a joke.
Never mind that, we ordered two tapas ala carte. The shrimp one came in a small pan, with bread. Delicious, mopped the sauce up with bread. There was about 6 shrimps in there. Oh well.
Next up was calamari. Overly greasy, with a very thick coating. Mediocre.
I am not sure I would come back, unless my friends wanted to.

It was fairly empty for a Tuesday lunchtime, we were here for restaurant week lunch! Woohoo. Food took a little while to come, still. Our server was most jovial and very helpful in recommending dishes (we did one restaurant week set and two a la carte dishes.)
I guess tapas restaurants in Singapore have small portions and high prices (certainly not as expensive in Spain) so was a bit surprised by how small everything looked! Same went for Kaixo though. Anyway, the piquillo pepper soup was pretty good with croutons and chorizo, but somehow reminded me of pizza hut (tomato sauce?). Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. Like a fellow reviewer said, the «paella» was more like risotto (which was a bit disappointing because I was anticipating actual paella), and certainly tasted very seafoody. Went well with the crispy squid! Only half a measly cherry tomato though, that was a bit sad!
The dessert was definitely not sweet at all, which I assume is good in a way because it’s kind of more healthy, but I’m sure there was a lot of cream involved. Props to the restaurant though, they gave us two desserts even though we only ordered one restaurant week set! Pretty impressed by that :)
Our two ala carte dishes were asparagus with sea salt (nice charred taste) ($ 12), and yogurt grilled chicken kebab ($ 13 and there were 2 sticks). Didn’t find the chicken particularly special, reminded me a bit of tandoori chicken.
Really nice atmosphere and good place to hang out, although I’m a bit ambivalent about the food.

I love tapas restaurants but this one is nothing to write home about. Their menu was impressive with a variety of great options. However, the dishes did not live up to their descriptions. I found the meatballs to be the worse of the items we tried. They were dry and flavorless. We also ordered paella, which I was really looking forward to. But again, I had my hopes too high. It was hearty with the right flavors but did not knock our socks off. I think I will stick with tapas restaurants in Seattle where they really kick it up a notch!

Made my reservation via the ever trusty Chope, but based on the crowd when I got there, I don’t think you’ll need one… still, I always think it’s better to be safe than sorry right?
My date and I only ordered tapas… think we had 9 to 10 in total, and the ones that really, really stood out? The char grilled wild oak dancing mushrooms with truffle salt (or maitake mushroom, as stated on the menu). I kid you not. The name may sound incredibly exotic, but because of the thin, frilly nature of the mushroom, it grills really well. The earthy flavour of the mushroom, smoky grilled flavour, and just a pinch of truffle salt. Delicious. We actually ordered this twice because it was so good.
We also ordered the cured Atlantic octopus, grilled peppers with sea salt, grilled pork balls, croquettas, king oyster mushrooms, glazed pork loin, the pastilla, aaaand I can’t remember what else. Think we ordered one or two more items.
There weren’t any dishes we didn’t like, but beyond the mushrooms? There weren’t any we loved either. Pretty hit and miss I suppose.
What I would say is definitely worth coming for is their Gin and Tonic menu!
It’s something like 20 types of gin, each with matched with a different tonic water (well, the types of tonic are reused, but they don’t just match them haphazardly apparently) and then enhanced with something extra. My Hendrick’s came with premium tonic, cucumber and raspberries. The cucumber was an excellent addition and really added depth to the drink.
I’d actually rate the food 2 stars, but am upping it to 3 just because of the gin and tonic menu… what can I say? I’m a big fan of my G&T.

Came for Restaurant Week last month, but ditched that set when we saw the menu!
Couldn’t resist the draw of paella — the mixta was gorgeous! So full of prawn-​flavoured goodness and had baby octopus and chorizo in every bite.
We got some tapas too, to satiate some itchy mouths before the paella came, and boy, did we pick well! The eggplant with goats cheese was grilled just so, and the honey made everything work. I’m a sucker for deep fried food so hello croquetas — when I see something breaded, I’m thinking YES. Plus when I see chorizo in it? Really easy choice.
If my greedy self didn’t order that massive paella, I’d gorge out on that massive tapas menu. Oh wait, perhaps it was my wallet protesting too. That’s not to say things aren’t pricey, because they are… a little. But that doesn’t mean I’m not coming back. I just have to find my rainy day piggy bank first.

I’ve been to La Cicala on several occasions for both lunch and dinner. Overall, it’s a very good choice for Spanish food. It does have a gastronomic bend towards it’s food, which I usually do not prefer for spanish/​tapas fare, but it still delivers above the pack. Paella may be the best in Singapore.