One type of meal that I haven’t had in a while is Tapas. The great thing I love about tapas is the ability to share food with friends and family, allowing you to try a great many more dishes than when eating a normal meal.
The Copo Cafe &Diner in Drummoyne, Sydney is a tapas bar at night and my boyfriend and I decided to check it out Friday night. We have passed this cafe/diner on various occasions, but have never been in, but it always looked tempting and inviting.
We booked online for 7.30pm and there is plenty of free parking outside the cafe on the street, making it easy for anyone that drives.
We were greeted by a waiter when we arrived at Copo Cafe & Diner who showed us to our table. We were seated on a long table at the end, and the other end was laid out for another couple. The cafe was about half full when we arrived and if you like live music then there was a guitarist in the corner which created a pleasant atmosphere.
The waiter brought some tap water to the table whilst we decided what to eat and drink. The drinks list was quite extensive with a variety of wines by the glass and bottle, as well as cocktails, beers, soft drinks and spirits. You can also BYO wine, with a corkage fee of $5 per bottle.
We decided to have a glass each of the Malbec ($9), which actually was very nice and easy to drink.
The menu had a large selection of different tapas dishes and we ended up starting with the Pita Bread with Dukkah and Selection of Dips ($10), Zucchini Fritters with Feta & Horseradish – Copo’s favourite ($16), Pan Fried Chorizo ($16) and Patatas Bravas ($12).
The good thing about having tapas is that the dishes come out as they are ready, which gives you breathing space between the dishes. More time to digest! However, for those who like to eat a mixture of dishes at the same time, then this might not appeal to you so much.
The first dish that arrived was the Pita Bread and Dip. There was a good amount of bread and dip to enjoy including oil, dukkah, guacamole and humus. Each dip was very tasty and complemented each other well.
The Zucchini Fritters were the next to appear, and these were equally as tasty and a good size. There were four fritters altogether, making it a good dish to share. It’s no surprise that this is their favourite dish, I found it extremely moreish and definitely a firm favourite. In a word - yum!
It wasn’t too long until our Chorizo arrived at the table in one of those small cast iron pans. There was only about 12 pieces of chorizo, which for someone who is a massive chorizo lover, is not enough! However, it had been well cooked and extremely flavoursome. I just would have liked a few more pieces.
Finally our Patatas Bravas arrived in another small pan and this was coated in a spicy tomato sauce which had a bit of a kick to it. I loved these potatoes though, they were cooked perfectly and not too hard and the sauce was to die for. I would definitely have these again and recommend this dish.
During this time we decided to order one more dish – the confit duck for $26. This took a little while to come out, but when it did we were both really disappointed. For $26 I was expecting a lot more than a whole heap of salad and one tiny confit duck leg. We practically had two small mouthfuls each of duck and that was it. The salad wasn’t anything special – just lettuce, cucumber, onion and radish tossed together. As this is a tapas restaurant, with an emphasis on sharing food, I would have expected at least two confit duck legs, not one – at least we weren’t sharing this between four people!
After this last dish we decided not to bother with dessert. There was only two to choose from anyway. The service was friendly, but a little slow and lacking in places. The waiter brought out a bottle of tap water, but forgot glasses. We had to politely ask him to bring some over.
Overall, the food at the Copo Cafe & Diner was nice, but is quite pricey, so I wouldn’t be coming back in a hurry. They do serve breakfast though, so I might give this a go at some point and compare how this fares.