Review: Relish Modern Tapas

When our schedules match up, which doesn't seem to be very often, two of my good friends from high school, Alli and April,  and I like to get together for dinner or drinks.  They both live in Lebanon which is not very close to me, so we try to find somewhere in the middle.  In the past we have ventured to Silver Spring House in Montgomery, which is okay but typically a lot of middle-aged men hanging out which is not always what we're looking for.  We have also hit up Fox and Hound which has a nice patio in the warm weather.  This past time, we decided to try somewhere new.  I had read a couple reviews about Relish Modern Tapasand thought we'd give it a try.  I had read a lot of mixed reviews about this place on urbanspoon.com, so I was anxious to formulate my own opinion.

If you are not familiar with tapas, it is just a Spanish word for small plates or appetizer/snack portions.  I had never done "tapas" before, so I wasn't quite sure how this was going to work.  Of course, it was a rainy night when we went, but there was plenty of parking close to the door in the parking lot.  Relish is located in a small shopping center behind the movie theater in Deerfield.  When I walked in, I was glad to see April had already snagged us a spot.  The inside of Relish reminded me somewhat of a cafe and kind of like a sit-down Chipotle restaurant. The tables were metal-like and the acoustics weren't great....meaning, a lot of noises echoed and it was kind of loud for not many people being in the restaurant. 

I had seen online that they have happy hour specials for house wine at $4 and free hummus during happy hour too, Tuesday-Friday.  I went for a glass of the house cabernet and April tried the house chardonnay.  I was pleased with mine, but April wasn't in love with hers.

Our waiter promptly brought out our hummus as we waited for Alli, which is very normal :)  The hummus was disappointing.  I didn't think it was very good at all.  I believe it was the red pepper hummus, but I have had better from Kroger.  This had little to no flavor whatsoever, except for the chips.  The chips were warm and had a bit of seasoning to it which was a saving grace to the hummus. 

Alli arrived and we all looked over the menu for awhile.  There were options of sides, salads, appetizers, and entrees.  I was a little taken aback by the prices.  I would think for a "tapas" restaurant, the prices would have been a little more affordable to try a variety of dishes.  Many of the entrees were $13-$18 which I think is high considering they are "small" plates. 

We ended up deciding on a variety of plates: I ordered a side of the potato spheres and the signature chorizo in medjool dates.  My friends ordered french onion soup, the signature salad, mediterranean flat bread, and stuffed breast of chicken. 

The potato spheres were fine.  They were served with a side of wasabi sour cream, which really just tasted like a spicy ranch or something.  These were $4.25. 

The french onion soup was pretty good!  However, it was just a cup portion. It had plenty of carmelized onions and cheese. 

The chorizo with medjool dates were also pretty good.  There were 4 wrapped in bacon and topped with a tomato pepper sauce. The dates weren't very apparent in the dish, however.  These were soft and had were pretty spicy.  I liked these the best of all the things we ordered.

Next was the flat bread.  This was pretty good as well!  It was crispy and the feta, peppers, and herbs were a nice blend of flavors. There wern't many olives at all, which didn't bother me because I don't like olives.

The salad was just okay.  Pretty typical salad. I thought it was a small portion for a side salad to share. 

April and Alli really liked the stuffed chicken. It was stuffed with ham, cream cheese, asparagus, and roasted peppers. I thoguht it was pretty good overall, maybe too many things inside though.  I liked the sauce that was atop the chicken,but once again, I thought $13.95 for just a chicken breast was overpriced.

We had ordered a couple more glasses of wine.  Our sever was very attentive and prompt with all our food and drinks.  He offered a lot of suggestions and made sure we were happy the whole time.  I think every table is also given free "sugar" type cookies for dessert.  This were thin and crunchy, not bad , but VERY buttery.

The verdict: I thought this place overall was okay.  Between the three of us, we had plenty to eat and our bill wasn't terribly expensive; however, I still thought it was over priced.  It was a lot of fun to try lots of different things which was defintely a plus.  I like sharing, so this was something fun and different.  I don't know if this is a place to go with two people or even more than 3 or 4.  I don't think any of the food was really worth the price, but it was tasty.  I would recommend this place to go for a drink or two to grab a small bite to eat.

~Kate

Food: 2.8

Service: 3.5

Overall Experince: 3.5 (We enjoyed ourselves!)