El Porron
“Excellent food, amazing sangria (they have white, red and a cava sparkling), cava was delicious and refreshing.”
“Next The Gambas al ajillo are simple yet also tasty beyond belief, they are the best shrimp in garlic I have ever had.”
“We tried the sweetbreads, scallops, veal meatballs, octopus, squid, clams and tuna salad.”
El Porron
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Stopped in here for drinks and a bite while we were in the area. I love me some tapas but this place didn't do it for me.
Nice big, spacious restaurant, but it lacks that typical cozy, cramped vibe of a tapas bar. Also, the clientele of this restaurant is definitely on the older side. We ordered a pitcher of white sangria. BIG mistake. That had to be the worst sangria I've ever had. It literally tasted like watered down white wine with apple and orange slices in it.
We ordered a couple tapas to share. Sweetbreads in a garlic sauce with vegetables and a stew with tripe, chorizo, pigs feet, and veal. Portion-wise, they were fairly large for tapas, but they were just okay. The stew was the most interesting with all the different meats, but everything kind of tasted the same. I've had much better sweetbreads from other places.
Service was pretty good though.
I've never been here in person but my friend just picked up some dinner (we were in a paella mood) and it was pretty freakin' amazing. By the time the food arrived, it was still deliciously warm. He ordered the Paella Valenciana- perfect mix of seafood and meat (chicken, veal, chorizo, monkfish, mussels, squid, calms, scallops, shrimp, and veggies). The order for 2 was HUGE btw- came in a pretty large platter and felt like it could've been perfect for 4. Not too greasy/heavy like some paellas can be- rice was light and all the additions only made the dish more wholesome without feeling like I've been hit with the worst food coma afterwards.
Bread that came with was whole wheat (!!) and dipping it into our side dish of shrimp with butter/olive oil was absolutely perfect.
Next time (and there definitely will be a next time), I'll try to dine in if I'm in the area.
Came here for lunch on a weekend. I opted for the shrimp entree and it did not disappoint! Absolutely delicious.
The overall menu definitely satisfies various palates and will absolutely come back another time to try different tapas options.
Delicious but a tad bit pricey is the best way to describe this place, the atmosphere is nice and romantic, while the wait staff is patient, was here pretty much past their closing time and not once did anyone shoo me out or remind me it was time to go.
Ordered the sweetbreads, pulpo (octopus) and the meat balls. The sweetbread were okay, a little tough and chewy but really enjoyed the garlic kick that came with the dish, the meatball was okay, didn't really astonish me in anyway but was not bad either, my favorite thought was the octopus. With a healthy dose of olive oil, paprika, sea salt and a sprinkle of cilantro? the octopus was incredibly soft and tasted extremely fresh, while the olive oil paprika and sea salt pair beautifully together to give the octopus an extremely generous taste of olive oil with a hint of heat from the paprika.
overall a decent place, and I really appreciated the fact that they did not shy away from the more unconventional types of proteins like sweetbreads and tripe etc. Would definitely come back as the octopus was some of the best I've ever tasted, and the rest of the items on the menu have me extremely curious
This review is very long overdue. My dad and I come to El Porron quite often because of the tasty tapas, wine, and lovely staff.
Now, my standards are very high when it comes to Spanish food. Blame it on the Spanish blood in me. So while El Porron's tapas and paellas are very good, they aren't the best I've ever had.
I recommend all the go-tos, from the gambas al ajillo to the grilled chorizo. The seafood paellas are also yummy.
The staff is just incredible. From the chefs to the hostesses.
In sum, if you're in the neighborhood and looking for a quality Spanish restaurant, this is a solid option.
We tried the sweetbreads, scallops, veal meatballs, octopus, squid, clams and tuna salad. All were perfectly prepared. Nothing was even a hint over cooked, which is easily and often done with most of those dishes. All had really great flavor and spice. Most tapas restaurants offer variety without the ability to execute perfect dishes. This place is an exception. I'll admit my bar for tapas restaurants is low but there's a reason the place has been around for 60 years.
Pluses for the comfort of the seats and modern looking interior.
Nice spot. I had a blackberry mojito which was delicious. For tapas, I shared a skirt steak one and a lamb lollipop one. Delicious but both were a little on the salty side. Shared seafood paella as the main, and it had good flavor but lacked the right texture – it was like straight-up rice and didn't have the chewy, browned aspects of paella that I'm used to. There weren't any "burnt" bits to scrape off the pan, if that makes sense. Anyway, overall it was a good experience but nothing super special. 3.5 stars.
I live in the area and was looking forward to trying this place. It was sadly quite mediocre. My nephew and I ordered five tapas and creme brulee. The creme brulee, salmon, and chicken were quite good. The quail, tuna, and artichoke hearts were fine, but not great. There are so many amazing tapas places in the city, and this just isn't one of them. I'd suggest going to Boqueria up the street on 2nd.