Eating tapas at Ole Restaurant can be as light or as filling as you want, with a long list of tapas and more substantial plates (raciones). The atmosphere is casual, relaxed dining and the staff are very friendly and helpful with the menu, not to mention the food being delicious. Here’s what we had:

• chickpea fritters with hot sauce (bolitas de garbanzo)
• crispy spiced potatoes (patatas bravas)
• beef cheeks braised in pedro ximenez, green pea and radish salad (mejillas de carne)
• tomato, rocket, walnut and manchego (ensalada de tomate y manchego)
• Spanish cold set custard with warm toffee and blood orange (crema catalana)

The beef cheeks were the stand out dish of our selection—the meat was soft, melt-in-the-mouth and oh so rich, and the pea and radish salad was a good fresh palate cleanser so you could keep going back for more of that dark, decadent goodness. The crunchy patatas bravas were also brilliant for soaking up the pedro ximenez sauce leftover on the plate. Yes, it was that good! They weren’t lying about the hot sauce for the chickpea fritters (thankfully there’s sangria) but everything we ordered was delightful.

Will we be going back? Yes, definitely. We simply have to try the Spanish classic—paella—and there were three types on the menu. There were also many more appealing tapas and raciones to sample so at the very least we’ll have to make a second trip.

Recently we caught up with friends for dinner at Simpatico. Quite simply, this place is brilliant. Despite a small hiccup with our table not being reserved, that was sorted at once and the food and service throughout the evening was faultless.

It’s not immediately obvious from reading the menu that the dishes are designed to share but the staff were very helpful and quickly explained how it works, making recommendations on what the stand out dishes were and how many we should order for the number of people dining.

There were four of us, so we ordered six delectable dishes:

• tart of caramelised red onion and goat’s cheese
• seared scallops w crab, sweet corn, baby basil and hazelnut dressing
• witlof, pear, gorgonzola and walnut salad
• beetroot cured salmon w granny smith and goat curd
• slow roasted pork belly w green papaya and nam jim (Thai salad dressing that’s hot, sour, salty and sweet)
• sautéed prawns w dill and galangal dressing, pickled carrot.

Of these, the pork belly was definitely the favourite. It had been cooked to perfection: sticky, savoury pork that you barely need to chew, it literally melted in the mouth. The crackling was incredible, giving great crunch that beautifully complemented the softness of the meat. And the green papaya salad was slightly sweet and tangy, which broke the richness of the dish. Delicious! It was so rich, though, I’m glad it was only tapas…

Everything else was wonderful too. The flavours and textures were just superb. The produce was really fresh and the way each dish was served highlighted that. There was no place to hide in fancy sauces, just pure taste from premium ingredients. It meant that at the end of the meal we felt like we’d eaten well and healthily, without being too weighted down by fat and carbohydrate.

I look forward to going back sometime soon to try some of the other dishes on the menu.

Sipping a glass of wine and enjoying the atmosphere, for us this is really about winding down after the working week and chilling out to the sounds of cool jazz.

When we’ve had our fill of the live music it’s time to fill our bellies, and we wander down Melbourne Street to the wonderful tapas and wine range at Era (South Brisbane).

Era has been around since late 2006. Before that the owners ran another great Brisbane restaurant, Circa.

The tapas selection is mouth-watering. Our favourites: lamb pastilla with minted yoghurt, goat cheese and pancetta parcel with fig, goujons of flathead with tartare sauce, manchego cheese and herb croquettes, and tomato tart with rocket and parmesan. Plus, there are plenty of others to choose from and the menu changes regularly.

The balance in each dish is perfect. Take, for example, the lamb pastilla. It is savoury with just a hint of sweet; the filling is soft but the filo pastry on the outside is golden with a bit of crunch; and the lamb has beautiful spices complemented by the cool, creamy minted yoghurt.

All of these delights are beautifully presented in reasonable portions on a platter to share. And it feels positively decadent tucking in to such wonderful food with a good bottle of white or red wine.