[Sneakeater]

Off-topic, and I've said this elsewhere, but the exact same thing happened when Jason Neroni took over at Porcetta.

There was nothing remotely "molecular" about his food there. But because he had previously succeeded Wylie Dufresne at a restaurant at which neither of them -- neither Wylie nor Jason -- had cooked "molecularly", you read all these notices of "molecular comes to Brooklyn."

It's just hunger for an angle, I guess.

[Wilfrid1]

With all the talk about how badly located Pamplona is, I kind of overlooked that it's right next door to the 28th street 6 station. This make it a very easy lunch option. They are doing a decent trade, but it's also easy to walk in. Same menu as dinner, but the tapas selection could hardly be less expensive anyway. The pair of montaditos topped with chorizo, shrimp and cheese is a Chinatown-dumpling-level bargain at four bucks.

[Wilfrid1]

Off-topic, and I've said this elsewhere, but the exact same thing happened when Jason Neroni took over at Porcetta.

There was nothing remotely "molecular" about his food there. But because he had previously succeeded Wylie Dufresne at a restaurant at which neither of them -- neither Wylie nor Jason -- had cooked "molecularly", you read all these notices of "molecular comes to Brooklyn."

It's just hunger for an angle, I guess.

Incidentally, I just happened to notice that the Observer review of Pamplona is headlined "Running Away From El Bulli".

[Orik]

They're not making enough of a big deal of using arroz bomba, and they won't be in business too long if they keep serving some reasonably elaborate "tapas" for $5, but it's really good food and the place is now only a little strange.

[Wilfrid1]

I also ate the burger, and wasn't hungry for a looooong time afterwards.

Pictures of the patty oozing suckling pig fat at the Pink Pig.

[Lex]

I was part of a group of 4 who visited Pamplona on Saturday night. In short, we thought it was all fine but few things were really memorable .

Tapas - chickpea fries, cod croquets, the meatballs, the bacon wrapped dates, and the bocadillo de jamon.

The bacon wrapped dates were truly good - we should have ordered more of them. The rest were a solid OK but this was all stuff that could have been served anywhere.

Mains - Paella, the hamburguesa, and the slow cooked chicken.

Lets start at the top. The burger was very good indeed. The blend of beef and pork lent a great mouth feel to the dish and the barest touch of chorizo gave it an added kick.

The slow cooked chicken could be circum-speak for sous vide. Certainly I've never had chicken that tasted this way - it was almost silky on the tongue, the texture smoother than any chicken I've ever had. That said, I found the dish more technically interesting than truly satisfying. The accompanying chard was fantastic - forkfuls were passed around the table and it was a unanimous winner.

The paella was supposed to contain rabbit, chorizo, mussels, and shrimp. A smattering of shrimp put in an appearance but the rest were MIA.

FWIW, the crowd was a mix of ages ranging from the mid 20s through the mid 60s. We arrived at 7:30 and left about 2 hours later. Only 1 table was unfilled while we were there. People now seem to have figured out how to find it.

The consensus around the table was that we'd return if we needed a restaurant in the neighborhood but the ratio of hits to also-rans would keep us from making it a destination.

[Wilfrid1]

I don't know what happens in the kitchen sometimes. A Chowhound post a few weeks back reported similar disappointment with the paella, but then Moira Hodgson at the Observer got the same great one I did.

(T)his paella, served for two, is superb, made with tender pieces of rabbit, spicy chorizo, squid, mussels and shrimp, all perfectly cooked.

[Steve R.]

Here's the problem as I see it. You have a friendly place with a good price point and a very good chef in the kitchen. But nothing says "come back often... make this a regular rotation place". It's all fine but I wont be telling folks to run there. Too uneven and strange.

Case in point: the paella is a mystery to me. It's listed in the "to be shared" section and is $30. Orik is correct... they need to sell the bomba rice more. The dish isnt overly large, but it is filling. The shrimp made a very fresh tasty appearence but, as Lex said, the rabbit was a rumor. Maybe more like "a rabbit passed this way when I was cooking". Two mussels apiece (shelled), no chorizo (but clear chorizo taste in the dish). No visual presence, it comes off as a shared rice dish... but, at $30, you better appreciate the bomba rice and the cooking skill.

The tapas were, indeed, underpriced and they will go under if they dont do something about this. No need to do apps. if you're splitting tapas and 5 tapas dishes set us back only $30 (4 people). The dates should be 4 pieces instead of 3 and they should go at $8 or so, not $5. As I said, the paella was listed as "to share" so the 3 entrees the 4 of us ordered averaged only $15-17pp. No way to keep this place afloat on that.

The drinking was funny (strange funny, not haha funny) too. Ginny and I were at the bar before we met up with Lex and Deb. I had a $10 blood orange marg. that was very good and she had a large pour of $8 old vine red (cant remember details) which was also quite good. Served with chorizo popcorn, this was way underpriced by even Brooklyn standards. At Tempo or Applewood, I'd be paying $25, not $18. Then, at the table, a bottle of (different) old vine wine was in the $40s, wasnt anywhere near as good as her glass and was served chilled. These bottles were overpriced. Are they just asking for people to order by the glass and lose $$ or what?

Get them a person knowledgable in the business to consult and they'll do fine. Stay like this and it's already on my death watch list. Which is too bad.

[Sneakeater]

no chorizo (but clear chorizo taste in the dish).

Hey. Maybe it's molecular or something.

[Lex]

An additional point. In an earlier review (I can't remember which one) they mentioned that the wine prices started in the $20s. On Saturday I noticed that the lowest priced bottle was $40. Our bottle was $44 or $48 which all would have been well and good but the wine wasn't particularly distinctive. Deb and I thought that we'd both had plenty of bottles priced $10 - $15 less that we liked better. They need to take a walk over to Otto and look at an example of a well chosen wine list that pleases at all price levels.

[Orik]

Get them a person knowledgable in the business to consult and they'll do fine. Stay like this and it's already on my death watch list. Which is too bad.

This version of the restaurant seems like it's run by someone much more knowledgable than the previous one, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. More in PR and pricing (and the chairs, they still have to go) than in the kitchen, I think.

[nuxvomica]

oh, i was just going to say how excited i was to be finally going in a couple of days but this puts a bit of a dent in the enthusiasm. i loved Urena, esp. the early incarnation and went there a good 10 times or so. they were messing too much too quickly with the wine list then as well - we had the good fortune to order a fab $25 red a few times but then they were out of it and the replacement was not only more expensive but much less delicious. hmm, guess we should get the red by the glass, then?

or perhaps they got so bashed for the decor the first time that they're putting too much time & energy into it this time?

[Lex]

I actually liked the room. The lighting was pleasant and I had no problem with the chairs. For that matter neither did anyone in our party. The service was very attentive and pleasant - a major plus.

You may have better luck by ordering differently. Certainly you might want to split that burger - it's seriously good. There may well be some other gems on the menu waiting to be discovered.

For the price point , we thought it was all fine. Had we paid $40 a couple more for our meal we would have felt ripped off. As it was even for what we paid we thought there should have been more high points, especially in view of Urena's reputation.

[Wilfrid1]

I was there not much more than a week ago, and there were certainly wines under $40. Very odd.

[Steve R.]

I was there not much more than a week ago, and there were certainly wines under $40. Very odd.

Several whites, no reds. Do they change everything daily????