El Colmado

The space was really cool, inside of a wanna-​be food market.
Had I seen the bar that opens out onto the street I would have sat there, but the interior one was good.
Service at the bar was great.
I got these things and really liked them:
Octopus croquettes
Serrano ham
some tomato bread that goes with the ham
fried bruselas
the cheapest brandy they had ($ 7)
A little spendy for what you get.

I happen to have a bit of an obsession with Gotham West Market. Affordable, casual atmosphere with trendy, reasonably priced food. El Colmado, however, seems to be the exception to the rule. The server was curt and inconvenienced when asked for opinions on what to order. The food, though prepped quickly, was entirely overpriced. We ordered the Gambas Al Ajillo, for $ 14, which came out and consisted of four tiny shrimp, the size of quarters in a pool of oil. That’s $ 3.50 pre-​tax PER each tiny, underwhelming shrimp. We also ordered Chorizo cooked in red wine. This was $ 11 and didn’t make up an entire sausage. Needless to say, I’ll be returning to GWM sooner, rather than later, but steering clear of El Colmado.

Stopped by here to eat at the counter with our pup and baby.
It was fine. Ordered the lamb meatballs and potatoes and a pitcher of sangria.
The lamb had a nice kick to them and the potatoes with the aioli sauce were also good.

Not sure about food but sangria tastes like cranberry juice and seltzer. A pitcher for $ 40 is not worth it.

No wonder this bar is always empty and only gets a few patrons when Cannibal’s bar is full.
Sangria was un-​flavorful. Service was mostly horrible. They took our menus and plates after we ordered a drink, assuming we weren’t going to order food without even asking us. we had to stop the waiter after he grabbed my plate. I was embarrassed to have picked the spot. The huervos al horno was actually delicious but I am never coming back. Sat there for 15 minutes with empty sangria glasses and no plates in front of us before the bartender gave us our check.

Service is fantastic, and tapas were great. Only comment is that I was surprised the Embutidos (meat plate) did not have either Serrano or Iberian Ham. A bit disappointed there. Still service trumps it, as does a complimentary offering of fruit infused wine after my meal. (I would not expect it… but you never know.)

After taking in a movie, we decided that we really wanted ice cream from Ample Hills — but we also hadn’t really eaten much of anything else, and we figured that it’d be smart to eat a proper meal before diving into ice cream. So we took a look around Gotham West and ended up deciding to park ourselves at El Colmado’s counter. I think the waiters scan the bar and figure out who just sat down, as we didn’t have to say anything before someone was there with a food and drink menu. All of our food was served pretty quickly, and the wine menu was pretty solid — I had an excellent red from Mallorca that had a smoky, spicy aftertaste that worked really well against some of the more flavorful plates.
While there is a brunch-​specific menu on the weekends, we ended up only doing the daily paella special off that menu and selecting everything else off the regular menu or the chalkboard specials. First up was an octopus /​chorizo croquette that was excellent flavor-​wise, with the chorizo really lending a nice spiciness. Unfortunately, I think it was overcooked a little, as the outside was definitely fried a bit long and was a bit firmer than most other croquettes I have had. The same was true of the lamb meatballs that came next — cooked a little long — but the flavor was still amazing on them, especially with the spice of the mojo picon and the yogurt offsetting the heat. The toast it was served with (which was crisped and drizzled generously with olive oil) was a perfect complement as well, making the whole plate my favorite of the meal. The tortilla was very well-​prepared as well; served at room temperature, it had the right amount of potato, making it a firm, substantial plate without being too heavy. The mushroom toast, served with a sunny side up quail egg was great too, with the sauteed mushrooms really popping with the egg adding a bit of creamy goodness to each bite. Last, but not least, was the paella. To be honest, this was a bit more disappointing, largely due to the fact that there wasn’t much served with the dish itself (no meat or seafood; the rice was cooked in seafood broth, but it was not very strongly flavored), and the crispiness on the bottom wasn’t done enough. I did like the eggs on top (it was a brunch dish, after all), but this was more of the one off-​note on the meal, relative to everything else.
Some things could have been executed better, but overall I enjoyed my experience here quite a bit. There are plenty of other items I’d like to try out sometime, and the casual backdrop of the rest of the market makes it a nice spot to have a casual meal (although they will give you the check once you are done, with the implied expectation that you cannot sit there for as long as you please).

Three times here and each time I walked away thinking «I have to find a way to live in Spain!» I love sitting at the bar where the service is attentive without being overbearing. The tapas come at your pace, and they are all delicious. The olive oil is a star in every dish with enough garlic and chili to make it like a sauce that you want to dip your bread into. The wines pair beautifully with the food. Just make sure you don’t walk away without ordering the shrimp (gambas al ajillo) or the lamb meatballs (albondigas), which definitely have a Moroccan kick.

Stood at several places along the not busy bar and then for several minutes at the «order here» spot. Guy behind the counter was so busy chatting with a female patron and studiously avoiding eye contact that he couldn’t be bothered to even acknowledge me or the other patrons who were clearly awaiting service. Lame.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Excellent spot to go to for some tasty tapas and wine and personable friendly servers! The food is absolutely delicious!!! Myself and my boyfriend tried the octopus and chorizo croquettes, devil eggs, Spanish cheese of the day, which came with bread, slices of apple, and some mango jelly, and grilled bread with tomato. This was a first time visit and definitely not the last!!!

Unfortunately they no longer have the black rice with uni :(I also got there Saturday night to find that they ran out of anchovies for their anchovies toast. I got the seafood rice, which was just okay. The rice was overcooked (not al dente) and could have been more flavorful.
The best part of the whole experience was Asha, who helped me make my selections and was an absolute delight to talk with as a fellow foodie. I’ll plan to come back to Gotham city market and here to try out other items — I think I need to sit and have an entire tapas experience rather than just picking one dish.

I’ve been here in a Sunday night. The service was good, and the wine was great, but the tapas didn’t really impress me. There aren’t many vegetarian-​friendly options, so I ordered the cheese of the day, and olives.
When the cheese came I was surprised because it was a tiny little piece of cheese, with lots of bread to maybe make volume, I don’t know. It was OK, but not what I expected.
The olives were not tasty, some quite «hard», nothing like real Spanish olives.
If you’ve been to Spain or to actual good Spanish restaurants before, you might be disappointed here.

Went to this place in Gotham West Market and was NOT happy.
First, the waiters were pretty rude and dismissive when we only ordered deviled eggs and a bowl of nuts to snack on – this was one stop of many and we weren’t trying to eat a whole meal, which apparently makes us a giant waste of time. I should add that the bar was not even close to full.
The deviled eggs, which looked delicious from their place on the counter, were truly one of the most disgusting things I or my sister have ever eaten. We both eagerly took a bite, then both spit it out and turned a bit green. We are not picky eaters, they were just horrifically terrible; I felt like we were being pranked. When I asked the waiter what was in them, he was like «Why didn’t you read the menu?» I assured him I did read the menu, but it simply said «deviled eggs» — it made no mention of the fact that they had smoked shells (WTF?) and were mixed with very fatty fish (again, WTF, why would you do that to a poor deviled egg, and then why would you sit it out at room temperature for hours?) Eventually, the waiter conceded that perhaps the menu should specify that these were «smoky, fishy eggs» (his words), and took them off our bill. The only star is for him taking them of the bill — the rest of the experience was just icky and bad.
I would avoid this place and check out one of the many other delicious, lovely, more reasonably priced places in Gotham market.

El Colmado is probably the fanciest offering in the upscale Gotham West Food Court, offering quite small but quite refined tapas at some priemum prices. It would get a bit painful to have an entire meal worth of food here, but as a place for a snack and a glass of wine after work (or before eating somewhere else) it’s a very good option.
No one is going to give this place an award for innovation, as standbys like patatas bravas, croqueta de jamon and fried calamari dominate the menu. There’s a deft hand in the small kitchen, so the fried bites come out perfectly crisp and ready to be placed in the mouth. There’s a really nice wine list, although I opted to pair my snack with the beer available elsewhere in the complex.
Having this place as part of a larger food court negates the weakness of showing up just for a snack. El Colmado can stick the tapas it does well, and there’s no need to stretch into dishes that might be less successful. Quite well done.

Definitely the best in Gotham west. In the summer they open the outdoor seatings as well. Imagine a the summer night breeze, chatting with your bestie with nice wine and yum tapas… life can’t be better.
Grilled octopus is the best!

Had a great time here. Here’s what we got:
— Sangria — thumbs up! Fruity and exactly what you would want during a summer day.
— Happy hour oysters + cava — nice deal, and they are good enough for the price!
— Albondigas — these were absolutely lovely, get these! Plus they are a most fun word to say!
— Mixed meats — these were great and fun, but not that exciting.
This is a fun place because you can sit at the bar and watch them make the food. Love it!

First stop at Gotham West Market and it set the bar very high. The service was impeccable and on point with wine and ordering.
The wine was superb. This is most definitely one of the better wine bars in the Times Sq /​Hells Kitchen area. They have a number by the glass, which were slightly pricey but worth it, and by the bottle.
As for the food. Pan con Tomate was perfect as such a classic dish and executed properly. It was not bruschetta, but the proper way of rubbing the tomato on the toast. Very good, even with the early season tomatoes.
The lobster paella like dish was out of this world. The saffron rice had immense flavor, but had a disappointing amount and size of lobster bits in it. The clam and mussels were nice accompanying it.

El Colmado reminds me of my vacation in Barcelona, where I chowing down tapas and washing it down with Cava.
El Colmado set up reminds me of eating at Mercado de la Boqueria where I can see all these fresh seafood right in front of me and I can watch my food prepares by the chefs.
Happy Hour Special Weekday 3 – 7 pm, for $ 11 you can get ½ dozen of oysters with a glass of Cava or $ 1 shuck which is quite a good deal. Sadly the feature oyster Montauk Pearl was just so so but luckily Cava was great!
Grilled Langostino ($ 5 each) was perfectly cooked but Sadly the Crudo of the Day: Sea Trout ($ 13) was not up to par .
Food is a hit and miss overall with the item we ordered.
I really enjoy the atmosphere and it was so much fun sharing tapas with friends!
They also have Late Night Special too… More Cava please!

I really enjoyed my experience at El Colmado — great choices for wine, knowledgeable bartenders, and really great tapas. I’d say it’s just a touch on the pricey side; however, I think the price is definitely warranted considering the ingredients are authentic and top notch. I tried the serrano ham, mixed olives, and shishito peppers this time around and look forward to trying more of the menu next time I stop by.

We actually had a good experience here, the bar was open, the service was good, and the oysters and the Queso Marinado was really good. The only thing that was not good was that we weren’t there on a weekday to take advantage of their HH specials. I mean a ½ dozen oysters and a glass of wine for $ 11 sign me up. We will definitely be hitting this place on Fridays from now on.