I was on the eastside (an infrequent occurrence for me these days) tonight and your and @PeonyWarrior’s posts about Bar Siesta were fresh in my mind, so we sauntered over for a late dinner around 8:15. The place was essentially full then, but there were just a couple open tables so we were seated without a wait.
We really enjoyed the food. It’s much better than say Teleferic in Brentwood. It feels more sophisticated and refined than my other Spanish stalwart, Manchego in Santa Monica.
Our server mentioned the menu changes a lot based on seasonality and what the chef likes at the farmers markets, which explains the absence of the broccolini you ordered. We did get the patatas bravas with the same romesco - great sauce as you mentioned. One quibble with the patatas - they had too much seasoning on them. Having lived in Spain, I prefer the standard patatas bravas where the potatoes are relatively unseasoned, and the flavor comes from the aioli and romesco. Still, they were enjoyable, I just would have preferred less seasoning.
We also ordered:
Beans:
A very simple dish of perfectly cooked white beans sitting in oil. So simple, so delicious.
Croquetas de jamon y queso:
I categorize croquetas into two styles.
Style A, where everything is blended/processed into a goop of varying consistency, but a goop nonetheless.
Style B, where the cheese is goopified, but the jamon comes through in small specks of solid material.
These were Style B, which is extremely rare in LA. I don’t know if I’ve ever encountered this style in LA before. This style comes with more risk, as the jamon specks can be too small that you wish they were goop, or too big that they overwhelm, or the consistency of the jamon specks can be too chewy as to ruin the croqueta. Happy to say that the jamon specks were the perfect size and consistency. These were fantastic croquetas.
Pan con tomate
Good pan con tomate requires a concentrated, bursting with flavor tomato layer spread evenly across a delicious piece of thin and soft to semi soft bread. The tomato layer must be sitting and saturating the bread, but NOT seeping through it and creating a soggy mess. The tomato here was fantastic, full of flavor with a hint of sweetness and acidity, but neither one overly so. The bread was bub & grandma’s…I believe focaccia - maybe not traditional, but checked all the requisite boxes, and we all know their bread is great. This was a fantastic version of pan con tomate, magnitudes superior to the soggy flavorless mess at Teleferic.
Gambas (shrimp)
4 head on peel and eat shrimp. They didn’t disclose the peeling requirement, in case that’s a deal breaker for anyone. These were good, but left something to be desired. The oil could have used more flavor, perhaps some heat.
Lamb
4 slices of lamb loin on a skewer. All the flavor the shrimp was missing, the lamb had in spades. Beautifully cooked and perfectly tender, super flavorful. Some of the best lamb I’ve ever had.
I ordered the same draft beer as you, and agree that it was a great beer and a perfect accompaniment to the meal.
I would say this is one of the more enjoyable new restaurants I’ve been to lately. I’ll certainly be back later this year to check out the latest menu and try new dishes.