Spanish Diner

Summary

We were visiting the Edge, which is a touristy spot where you can see the NYC area from 100 floors above, and in this COVID environment, it’s been hard to find some decent outdoor restaurants. We had passed by this place, which is a Jose Andres restaurant, and it seemed interesting. It’s a quasi-indoor place in that you’re eating in the building, but the area feels like you’re in a garage. The garage doors open facing outside, and there are plenty of fans to circulate air. We saw that they spaced out all the tables distantly from each other, so it seemed fine to sit down and eat. This is the Spanish Diner at Mercado Little Spain in the Hudson Yards block.

This is the sangria roja “La Sueca”, which is just fruity spiced wine on tap. It’s rather mild and not as fruity as I’d like. But it’s OK.

There are 2 appetizers here.

The first is the pan con tomate y anchoas de Santoña, which is anchovies from Santoña served with cristal bread and brushed with fresh tomato, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. This was actually really good. The acidity from the tomatoes was a nice complement to the salty anchovies. The tomatoes themselves were very bright and fragrant.

The second is the vaso de gazpacho, which is simply Spanish chilled tomato soup served in a small glass and topped with croutons. This was surprisingly very good. I didn’t think I’d be a fan of cold soups, but this one worked well for a hot summer day. The soup had a little acidic bite to it with some hints of the tomato sweet side coming from behind. Be forwarned that after these 2 appetizers, we were both fairly thirsty.

The bocata de jamón y queso, is cristal bread with serrano ham, chef’s daily selection of Spanish cheese, brushed tomatoes, and extra virgin olive oil. The bread was a tad too crispy for me, as it was crunchy on every bite and narrowing into the burnt spectrum. The ham though with the cheese was a pleasant combination. The cheese tasted of goat cheese. Normally, I am not a fan of this, but it was a tolerable and quite delicious combination, especially with the tomato spread. The brushed tomato spread is similar to our appetizer.

The canelones gratinados con foie, which is chicken, pork, and duck foie gras baked pasta with béchamel sauce and cheese, is a fairly heavy dish but pretty good. It was definitely on the saltier side, but that combination alone should speak loudly on what you’re eating. It’s essentially a very creamy and rich pasta dish with fatty proteins. The meat was a nice mushed medley.

The fricando de ternera, which is a traditional Catalan beef stew with mushrooms and white rice, reminded me much of American stroganoff. The meat was pretty good, but as you should all know, I dislike mushrooms. My partner liked it because it reminded them of back home, but some of the meat was a little fatty for them. The sauce was good for them, but the dish was also fairly salty.

The ambiance was for the most part pretty mellow, and there was a very nice early fall breeze coming in. They have COVID screens between tables, and tables were spread way more than 6 feet apart. Definitely visit this place while it’s at smaller capacity as you can enjoy it more in peace. If it hasn’t already pre-pandemic, I think this is going to be a popular place especially for brunch.

Price wise, it’s surprisingly very affordable especially in this area.

Final Verdict

If you’re looking for Spanish food near Hudson Yards, this place will match that. Just be warned that it is a bit salty, so you will be thirsty later.

Yelp Jabs

I will agree with the other yelp reviews and say that the service can be inattentive and menus were a little complicated to figure out ( too many items and it was mostly in Spanish)

It’s complicated because you made a poor choice of not taking Spanish for your foreign language class option in (junior) high school. I thought it was pretty easy to figure out, and I’m not even latin!

I am ever weary of food halls, and while maybe my experience at Spanish Diner is a consequence of bad ordering, I just simply wasn’t a fan of virtually any of the dishes that my friends and I ordered.

I have not visited here prior to the pandemic, but I don’t think any of the dishes sounded out of this world. So I think part of it was just setting expectations. Neither the sandwiches themselves nor the entrees are going to blow your socks off.