El Teatro Tapas review – Spanish fare at Capitol Kempinski

Note: From 15th January 2021 onwards, all dining establishments at the Capitol Kempinski hotel, including El Teatro Tapas, will no longer participate in the Love Dining programme.

El Teatro Tapas review

Believe it or not – this is the first time my husband and i are visiting a Spanish tapas place in Singapore! Here’s my El Teatro Tapas review – This post features the Spanish tapas dining establishment at the Capitol Kempinski hotel.

Of course, the American Express Love Dining programme gave us up to 50% off when we dined in.

While selected American Express credit cards come with love dining privileges, my favourite is the Platinum Charge card, – it’s lifestyle benefits are practically unrivalled

Location: Capitol Kempinski Hotel

The arcade area at the Capitol Kempinski hotel has a cute row of restaurnts.

The setting here is made to mimic the al fresco style, but the area does have an enclosed ceiling and feels partially indoors. Thankful for the slight air-conditioning in Singapore’s hot weather!

Note: other Love Dining establishments in the arcade area include Frieda (German), La Scala Ristorante (Italian), and Chalerm  Thai (Thai). Inside the hotel itself, 15 Stamford by Alvin Leung (Modern Asian)

Enter El Teatro Tapas, and their wines and some desserts will be on display.

Inside the seating area, a theme of red and white graced the tables.

Menu

The word ‘tapas’ hints of Spanish appetizers. Traditionally these are small savoury dishes, akin to a snack or small serving. 

However, some of the dishes can resemble a full meal on its own – when we enquired with the server, he mentioned that some of the more filling items (e.g. items predominantly meat, paella) are sufficient for one adult. Tip for this place – if unfamiliar, do clarify with the staff what’s the serving size before ordering.

To qualify for Love Dining benefits here – each adult has to order at least one qualifying items. Here, Love Dining qualifying items means something either from the Hot Tapas or the Paella section. Once this criteria is fulfilled, the entire food bill (but not drink) will be given Love Dining benefits. 

To view menu, either click on the images below (courtesy of Capitol Kempinski hotel) to enlarge pages, or check out the following link for the Menus at El Teatro Tapas.

Food – Smaller Bites

As we wondered if this place would have a bread basket of any sort, the server – surprise! – brought us a complimentary bowl of little green peppers instead.

Roasted Little Green Peppers

These were well-roasted and lightly seasoned with salt – the original flavours of those peppers were truly magnified by the cooking process. Savory and not at all spicy, we loved them down to the little seeds inside.

And then, came the first Hot Tapas dish.

Champinones Al Ajillo – Garlic Mushrooms

Doused with a very generous serving of olive oil, the aroma hit us immediately. The mushroom and garlic slices, well-seasoned and simmering in olive oil, happily sizzled away. Piping hot – the dish though simple was simply divine. Dip the bread in olive oil for an extra oomph.

Food: Larger Portions

(Note: The garlic mushrooms and all dishes listed here are either from the Hot Tapas or Paella sections – but this blog entry has partitioned the food as such to reflect serving sizes)

Suckling pig lovers – listen up. This is a must-try!

Cochinillo Crujiente Con Patatas Y Pure De Zanahoria: Suckling Pig with Potatoes and Mashed Carrot

In my humble opinion, there are three Nationalities that do pork well – the Chinese (roast pig or siew yoke!), German (pork knuckle… check out Frieda’s pork knuckle, also at Capitol Kempinski!), and the Spanish (suckling pig).

The pork doesn’t look like much in pictures, but don’t underestimate it

For this El Teatro Tapas review – i got to admit, the pork here blew us away. It was so very soft! The skin, crispy but not chewy, was a real icing on the cake. A slice in the mouth literally bursts with the crisp of skin and juice of tender meat. 

Suckling Pork – so, so, good

My husband is one of those guys that MUST have carbs in his meal, so his pick of the day was a black squid ink paella:

Paella De Arroz Negro: Black Paella

Traditionally, Paella, or saffron rice, is prepared is a huge ginormous black pan where rice is cooked alongside tons of seafood, vegebales, and/or meat. The flavours of the ingredients then get infused into the rice. But here, the black squid ink and seafood paella was served in a very cute cast iron kind of claypot style dish. 

Squeeze Lemon Over. Mix it all together. Yums.

It tasted as good as it looks – black rice that tasted like the ocean grilled, and lifted with the acidity from lemon. If you love Italian risotto, the paella is a rice dish worth trying.

Next up was some lamb chops.

Chuletas De Cordero Con Verduras A La Parrilla: Lamb Chops with Grilled Vegetables

I’ve had really good lamb before at various dining establishments, so I consider myself discerning when it comes to lamb

The lamb here, people, takes the cake. Earlier I thought that nothing could beat the suckling pig – but boy was I wrong. The lamb here is the TENDEREST lamb I’ve ever encountered in SIngapore, even out-performing the French version I’ve tried at Brassarie Les Saveurs at St. Regis hotel.

Chosen doneness: Medium. This impressed us so much, we almost didn’t notice the natural greasiness of lamb. Oh gosh I have died and gone to Lamb Chop heaven.

I’m so glad that these lamb chops came at the end; it felt like the server had saved the best for last, haha. It was so good that my husband even ordered a glass of wine to go with the dish – and he does not typically indulge in drinks in the middle of the day!

Want some Love Dining?

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American Express Platinum Charge Card (Image source: American Express)

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Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on this page are that of Happy High Life and may not necessarily reflect the position of American Express. Happy High Life is not responsible for any decisions made by readers. The terms and conditions for credit card applications may be subject to change by American Express. Readers are recommended to check with American Express or its partners; the list of all benefits of the Platinum Charge Card can be found here.

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