Haizea

Summary

We were stoked that New York City has reopened indoor dining albeit @ 25% capacity. Yeah, some people say it’s not safe, but they are usually the same people that go visit their friends and family. The restaurants, believe it or not, do an excellent job sanitizing and giving space to diners and each other. Today was Valentine’s Day, and they had a few prixe menu options. We ended up going with Cupid’s Arrow Menu which we shared and was just a tasting of many of their items on the menu.

We opted for eating indoors, and they had us seated at the very far back of the restaurant where it seems a bar would eventually be. There are stools and rollable blinders that can separate patrons from each other. In front of us is a counter top with a window that nearly covers top to bottom. The bottom has a small slit such that the server can take and serve us food/water.

The shrimp was a starting course. The shrimp was good and flavored with the typical Spanish flavors. The whole shrimp with shell is edible, so no need to take apart the shrimp and get your fingers dirty.

The wagyu beef tartar (tartar de solomillo de wagyu, huevo de codorniz, emulsion de crema fresca & alcaparras) came with wagyu beef tartar, quail egg, créme fraiche emulsion and capers. I don’t think there was anything especially unique about this dish, but it was quite good. The tartar was very fresh and flavorful, and the yoke from the quail egg provided a nice layer that encases the flavors. The bread was a very light and fluffy toast. Mixed together, it was a nice snack bite. The capers and cornichons had the typical pickled flavors and was a nice compliment.

The grilled giant red prawn (carabinero a la plancha) was quite interesting and was served with a side of chimichurri. I’ve never seen this before, so I was expecting it to be super sweet. Because I’m now accustomed to eating the outside shell, I was shocked by some of the salty exterior. However once you gave it a little dab of chimichurri on top, it was very harmonious, and some of the sweetness of the meat came through. The prawn’s head had quite a bit of “juice” that was rich with a blend of head cheese flavors and paprika. You can eat some of the head shell with this and dab a bit of chimichurri. The combination was very flavorful.

The grilled octopus (pulpo, espuma de patata & mojo picon) was slow cooked Galician octopus with potato foam and mojo picón. They gave us a small sample of the octopus leg, and it was very tender and full of that grilled aroma. The potato foam and red sauce mixed together created a nice kick to the octopus leg. For me, I always love Spanish grilled octopus legs, and this was no exception.

The baby clams (coquinas en salsa verde con angulas) was baby clams & tiny eels in a Basque green sauce (?). I am not sure if this is truly the Basque green sauce, but this was similar to a garlic butter broth which was quite delicious especially with the bread soaked in it. They actually gave a pretty good amount of clams despite them being small. In some ways, this allowed it to be rich in flavor and tender. On the other hand, it required some work to pick out the clam meat since the shell was so small. There were some larger clams that didn’t open, but in a big batch I guess that’s likely to happen. The tiny eels had a subtle sweetness to it and had a mushy noodle texture.

The suckling pig (cochinillo al horno, terrino de patata & panceta, tximitxurri de espelette) was slow cooked tender suckling pig, potato bacon terrine, and (not served) in a spicy Basque sauce (?). The suckling pig was really good. Be warned that the pork flavors are quite strong and may be construed gamey. But the meat and the texture was sublime. It was similar to cuban roast pork textures. The potato bacon terrine was a little on the salty side due to the pancetta on top though it was an excellent counterbalance to the natural flavors of the pork. The menu says there was a spicy basque, but I didn’t taste anything spicy so I think it was omitted.

The chocolate mousse (goxua de chocolate & espuma de chufa) was a caro chocolate mousse, yogurt & chufa foam, and fruits. The berries were all very fresh, but of course the star of the show was that chocolate mousse. It was a perfect balance of sweetness.

Note again that we shared this tasting, and it was surprisingly enough such that we were not full nor hungry. Just like any tapas place, your miles may vary depending on you and your body. However, we were very pleased in the end.

Because this restaurant has only ever been opened during the pandemic, it’s made it difficult for them to be true to their ingredients. I feel some of the ingredients don’t quite match what it shows on the menu, but nonetheless everything was quite good. I think the regular menu was condensed, but I saw some charcuterie leg holders in the back that seem to hint what will eventually come on the menu.

Final Verdict

There are very few Spanish Basque restaurants in the city. If I was being perfectly honest, I don’t really know what types of flavors are different between the Basque regions vs other Spanish regions. However, the food here was quite delicious and flavorful. When the city reopens even more, I think this restaurant will become more popular and will be very sought after.

Yelp Jabs

I scheduled ahead for 7:30pm pick up my dinner, now is 8:06 still awaiting for my order…….what’s the point giving the option to schedule the pick up time, I understood it’s NYE it’s busy but not even a phone call letting customer know pick up it’s going to be delayed?!

Keep in mind that this is a very small restaurant and if it is busy, set aside your expectations. What’s the point of complaining about this on a busy NYE night for a small restaurant in NYC?

We know that they are just newly opened but a mistake like that should not happen specially for the price of the dish

I agree here, and it just goes to show how difficult it is opening a NYC restaurant. For our night, there were some ingredients missing, but understandably it would’ve cost more to reprint all the menus than to communicate that some ingredients would not be there. I think they are still working through some kinks, but I think they will eventually figure it out.