Malabar Spanish Cuisine

Memorable dining experience awaits at Malabar

I like to think of myself as someone who is well traveled and open to the possibility of eating at every local establishment possible. Having lived in Rhode Island for a few years, growing up in the DMV and going to culinary arts school, compared to your average Joe, I have eaten foods I would have never dreamed of eating.  There is one thing about Charlotte that I love and don’t remember in any other city I have lived. It’s different from your average food festival where you pay for gold coins that give you just a “swalla” of food, as my mother would say.  It’s a full meal with all the trimmings. It’s Restaurant Week. 

Restaurant Week in Charlotte means I can eat at some of the city’s most exclusive restaurants, get some of the best service and only pay $30. Needless to say, I love restaurant week. Two times a year I indulge in some of the best food the city has to offer and rarely am I disappointed. I have one rule, though – I must dine at a place I have never eaten before. 

This time my food buddy and me choose Malabar Spanish Cuisine on North Tryon Street.  Malabar is tucked away on the side of Ri-Ra almost as an afterthought, surrounded by Luce, Port City Java and steps away from the Hearst Tower. Walking into Malabar may cause some hesitation, because it looks like you are walking into a side door. Directly in front of you is the bar and then to the left you see the service staff gathering drinks for other customers. The problem is that there is no hostess stand, which causes confusion about where to go and who to talk to.

When you look to the right it seems that the restaurant is large with plenty of seating, but then you realize that you are looking at a mirror. Malabar is very small and there is little room to maneuver around the wait staff, the other patrons and those milling about the bar. This is not a place for small children or large parties. Despite these slight deficiencies, Malabar is a welcoming place. Gerardo, who in heavily accented English, seats us and asks if we would like something to drink.  We decline and get down to the business of choosing our meals.

Since it is Restaurant Week, we choose two tapas each, an entrée course and a dessert course. We are served complimentary bread and olive oil. While I usually skip the bread course, I can’t resist a piece of it dipped in the olive oil. The bread itself is nothing stellar. It tastes much like a flavorless baguette. The olive oil, though, is quite good. It’s fruity, sweet and very light. I have little time to savor the flavor because soon after our first course arrives. I order the sautéed clams, chorizo and saffron and the mussels served in a spicy red sauce. The clams are served in a clay pot filled to the brim with clams swimming in a thick tomato broth. The clams are tender and delicious. There are a few pieces of the chorizo, but they taste a bit dry.  The broth is extremely flavorful but a little too salty.  Like my friend says, “If you say it’s salty, it’s salty.” This time she’s right. The mussels are served in a similar fashion and even with a similar broth, but thinner and much more flavorful. The broth had an aftertaste that was spicy, but welcome. Like the clams, the mussels are tender and delicious. Both of these dishes are served with bread to soak up the broth. 

Our entrees arrive and we examine our fare. I order a Spanish-style fish stew, which has mussels, clams, baby octopus, calamari, shrimp and Monkfish all swimming in another tomato broth. It is safe to say this tomato broth is the same broth from earlier. The monkfish sits on top and I eat it last. The mussels and clams are as delicious as before and I devour those first.  The calamari, while a little chewy for my taste, is still great. Now, at hearing there was baby octopus in the stew most people would have become squeamish and given the entire dish second thoughts.  However, I like to think that I have an adventurous spirit and I’m up for anything.  The baby octopus looks like the tentacles on calamari, but with more legs. Since I love calamari, I am not fazed. I dive right, in expecting a chewy consistency. Much to my surprise, the baby octopus is extremely tender and almost melts away when I bite into it. It is so good, I almost regret sharing some with my friend. The shrimp are next to eat on my mental list. There are about three large shrimp in the stew, average for the size of the bowl. However, one caveat, they do not take the shell off the tails of the shrimp, which to me is slightly annoying because now I have to tug, and pull to get every bit of shrimp. Nonetheless, they are still worth the work. The final item to eat is the monkfish. I have been searching my mental food experiences to see if I have ever had monkfish. The answer is no, but I am sure that it will not be my last. Monkfish is a whitefish that’s thick like meat. It has its own flavor, which is not fishy, but it also seems to take on the flavor of the dish it is in. I’m glad that I save this for last because besides the baby octopus, it is my favorite component of stew. 

The final course of the night is dessert.  Let me just say I have never been a big dessert fan. Although it seems that I can never turn down a piece of cake, I can always take it or leave it when it comes to dessert. Since dessert is part of the meal, I will take it. Our choices are sweet empanadas, chocolate café mousse, churros and chocolate, tres leches cake and flan. We both want the churros, but we are informed that they are sold out. Since we figured you can’t really go wrong with chocolate, we both order the chocolate café mousse. It’s served in a little miniature glass layered with the chocolate mousse on the bottom and the coffee mousse on the top. The coffee mousse covered in chocolate shavings is light and airy. The chocolate mousse on the bottom is much thicker and has the consistency of pudding. The combination, though, is good enough. This is not one of Malabar’s finer points of the menu, but it is a nice way to end the evening. 

So what if it’s not Restaurant Week and you want to try Malabar? Lucky for you all of these dishes are on the regular menu. It will cost you slightly more than $30, but if you are out for a night in the town, $50 to $60 for two is what you will spend on dinner. If you add alcohol to your meal, expect to spend about $10 to $20 more. This little spot is definitely one where I will take out-of-town guests and even some Charlotteans who need to venture out of their comfort zones. Malabar Spanish Cuisine is on my “eat and repeat” list.