Socarrat Paella Bar

Cuisine	Spanish
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	6/10
Last Visit	July 14, 2022
Location	New York: Lower Manhattan (Central)

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General Notes

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Spanish restaurant emphasizing paella, as the name suggests. On the pricier side, but the food is pretty solid, particularly the paella. Their socarrat is indeed incredible -- the socarrat at most places I've been to has actually been too crispy for my taste, but theirs had the perfect texture. Lovely flavor, and with some minor exceptions the additional components like seafood were cooked very well. I came here at around 7:30 and I was originally concerned b/c the restaurant was nearly empty. Then I turned around an hour later and the restaurant was completely packed ... NYC restaurants really do operate late.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★☆ Paella Pescado y Mariscos -- shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, cockles, white fish, snow peas, peppers, tomato sofrito. A few of the scallops tasted slightly odd (maybe the seafood wasn't super fresh?), but overall pretty great!
• ★★★☆ Paella Soccarat -- free range bone in chicken, chorizo, shrimp, white fish, squid, mussels, cockles, fava beans, peppers, tomato sofrito. Everything except the chicken (which was overcooked, dry, and had bones) were absolutely delicious, especially the chorizo!
• ★★★☆ Pulpo a la Gallega -- Galician style octopus, creamy potatoes, paprika oil. Octopus is cooked beautifully, nice smoky flavor from the sear (although the exterior crust is a bit lacking). Potatoes are solid too, although mashed potatoes is odd in combination with the octopus.
• ★★☆☆ Tortilla Espanola -- classic Spanish potato and caramelized onion omelette, padron peppers, tomato toast. Solid dish, nothing particularly noteworthy
• ★★☆☆ Coles de Bruselas -- crispy brussel sprouts, chopped almonds, sweet and spice glaze. The brussels are cooked beautifully, the almonds are a nice touch, the sauce is OK but a bit too sweet