Encasa

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  5      Service  2      Value  1     

Average tapas at extortionate prices. The quantities for the price you pay are unbelievable. We were left very deflated by our visit. Not really something we felt we could complain about, just generally ripped off. It seems to trade on its location and past-reputation. Won't be back.

Jan 11, 2009 

4.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  5      Value  5     

We visited this restaurant a few months after a recommendation (and a voucher in the entertainment book) and must say, we were quite disappointed. Having made a 6.30 booking, upon arrival (albeit at 6.40) we were told we had to leave by 7.30 pm What the? Upon clarifying that we did not book the theatre special, we attempted to order paella only to be told we would have to wait up to 90 minutes, ok then, we passed on the paella (I’ve never cooked paella before but does it really take that long?

Especially for experienced chefs with ingredients probably already prepared?). We ordered few tapas dishes (garlic prawns, chorizo sausage, fried potato etc) and had to order pizza as nothing else on the menu appealed. There’s something odd about eating pizza and seeing pasta on the menu at a Spanish restaurant, it’s like Encasa cannot determine what type of restaurant it wants to be.

The food was average to say the least. The fried potatoes were quite nice and also the sangria but everything was not very tasty. It was either tasteless (garlic prawns) or super salty (chorizo). Service was adequate, the waiters are efficient but not really friendly but that’s ok. Also, the restaurant is super noisy, squashy and shabby looking. All this makes for quite a disappointing experience. There are better, real Spanish restaurants a short walk away. We won’t be coming back.

Jan 02, 2009 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

I absolutely love this place - its definitely one of my favourite restaurants. It's a small place so when its busy it gets awfully noisy and pretty stuffy. But the food is just too good so you just want to go back for more!

We always order a few dishes from the specials board along with the good old favourites like the patatas bravas, chorizo and the lamb skewers. I've yet to try the paella but whenever we're there we can't wait the 40-50minutes it takes to cook it so we pig out on the tapas instead. I'm not a huge pizza fan but the 'Popeye' is really nice and the steaks are pretty good as well. No matter how full we get we always make room for dessert. Off the menu the Berry Fantasia is always a must and another from the specials board never disappoints.

Despite what MissXDiner commented about the sangria, I think its really nice and not too over powering. The staff have always been really helpful and although its not the best service I've ever had I've never walked out of there thinking it was the worst. And besides it gets so chaotic in there that its understandable that they would get flustered from time to time.

I would recommend going in groups of 4-6 as it'll be more cosy. Anymore than that and its hard to be social. And its always a good idea when ordering tapas as you'll get to try a larger variety of dishes and its always good value for money.

I would also make sure you book before going to ensure that you get a seat. I call a few days in advance to make sure there's room for the time that I want. Otherwise you'll have to make do with whatever time they have left - which means that they will also rush you when the next booking arrives.

Have been here many times before and there will definitely be more times to come!!

Dec 29, 2008 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  9     

Love this restaurant, my favourite for tapas in the city. Love the prawns in tomato salsa with the bread for dipping in the sauce. Been a number of times, was impressed by the paella, pasta on last visit was very good. Also liked the chorizo and lamb dishes, with obligatory sangria of course!

Dec 16, 2008 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  3     

I must say, I chose to eat at this place last Saturday because of the good reviews listed on Eatability! I have tried many Spanish restaurants around town and had never been to Encasa, so when I read that it received good reviews about their food, I thought “why not give it a try!”… To add insult to the wound, I bravely recommended this place for my partner’s father’s birthday, in which seven of their family members attended. Boy do I wish I kept my mouth shut!

Our first impressions of this place were very poor. The place looked dilapidated and hectic. We had reservations for 7.30 pm and arrived at 7.25 pm. When we were approached by a waitress she asked for our booking details and in a huff said “oh you’re early. Just wait and I’ll let you know when your table is ready”. I have never had to wait for my booked table with being a whole 5 minutes early. So we waited until she realized we were just standing there, came back to me and said, “Are you that booking for 7.30 pm?” I answered “yes”. (Wow talk about short term memory loss!).

We sat down and immediately noticed out plates were rather dirty. My boyfriend’s plate had dried up sauce on his. Before we could re-act, a friendly waiter asked if we wanted any drinks. We ordered a jug of sangria. When the sangria came, I was wondering where the taste was? It was the weakest and most unimpressive sangria I have had. I don’t think they put the correct amount of wine or spirit as there was no buzz, it tasted like punch. Another waitress noticed us wiping our plates and said “what’s wrong with your plates?” we explained that some were dirty and she exchanged them.

When it came time to order our waitress had to repeat our order a couple of times. We ordered a few tapas’, bruschetta, a few mains and the seafood paella. The waitress advised the paella would be 45-50 minutes. We said that’s fine and asked to bring out the other meals as they come. She said that the mains would be out soon and the paella would come out last which suited us fine.

Out of the tapas which we ordered Chorizo, meatballs and lamb skewers, the chorizo was nice, but the other 2 were bland. The bruschetta was just a piece of bread where we had to rub the onion and tomato on the bread and drizzle the olive oil on ourselves. The bread wasn’t even crunchy, it was soft.

Then the waiting game... After about an hour after we ordered we asked the waitress where our mains were. She gave us an uninterested look and said, “Yes yes I know. Let me check”. Firstly she gave us attitude, and then she didn’t even go to check, she wondered around and even gave herself a break and had a drink. Another 20 minutes or so pass. My boyfriend’s parents were not amused and the guys on our table were starving, so I asked with more authority how long it would be.

She now sounded a little more sincere and said, “I will check”. She did check this time and advised that our mains were now being cooked (?) and the paella was nearly done. So the paella comes out first, which was very wet and the seafood tasted old and bland. My mum makes better paella! This means the mains weren’t being made straight away. We ate the paella before our mains came out! About 2 hours after we ordered them! Some mains were just steak?! Thankfully the guest of honour liked his steak, but I was so ashamed to bring them here.

For our wait, the waitress apologized and said she would give us some sangria’s for free. We ordered a total of 4 and they gave us one for free. Wow. Poor service, average to poor food, the atmosphere was run down, the bathrooms were wide open so eating guests could see in(!?), dirty plates, long wait for food. This place was shocking! I won’t be back.

Dec 15, 2008 

4.8 Average

Food  7      Ambience  4      Service  5      Value  3     

Yes the food is very good. I'm not really into thick pizzas slavered with cheese and oil, but of their kind these are some the best. The Seafood pizza comes loaded with tender Calamari, Fish Octopus and Prawns so no complaints there. And all the tapas I've had there has been more than satisfactory if not spectacular (better than most on Liverpool St perhaps).

However, the place is just too crowded, loud and hot for lunch during the warmer months. Save it for an informal dinner with a large group of friends. And although the service is efficient it's hardly attentive or warm. Biggest drawback is the set menus: We were told because we had a party of more than 10 for lunch we had to have a set menu, which is understandable for a place this busy I guess.

However, the 10 of us, at $19/head, received 5 large pizzas, three salads and exactly one piece of garlic bread each (we paid for drinks seperately), quite enough food, but which a quick perusal of the menu prices shows we got less than $14/head worth of food! We would have been better off to just order a la carte if we were permitted to. Surely a breach of some sort of trade practice?

Dec 09, 2008 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

The sardines, the garlic and tomato pizza crust and the meatball tapas are superb. Very filling food, friendly and honest service. It was good to be told in advance that some foods would take quite a while to cook so we could order something different.

Dec 04, 2008 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Went last night for a friend's 21st, had a big group 30 or so and so we were on the set menu ($27). Entree was garlic bread and salad with roasted capsicum, nothing special about these. Tapas menu = potato, prawns in tomato salsa, chorizo and garlic mushrooms. Have to say that we all stuffed ourselves silly before realising that the mains (pesto and pizza) were still due for arrival (thinking desserts were the next stop!).

Food was definitely tasty. Chorizo, watch out for the very charcoaled bits (makes you think of colon cancer with every biteful!) but so tasty you still eat it. Pizza was nothing out the ordinary so my recommendations are pesto and tapas. Definitely very filling (maybe because the other girls on my table ain't daintily and I didn't). Had so much left over that I asked for doggy bags to give to the homeless people of Sydney!

Nov 22, 2008 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  9     

We have been going to Encasa for about 10 years. Service not quite what it used to be but generally ok. Food great, though a more specials which are changed monthly would be good to see especially for the Tapas eaters. Very good value for money.

Nov 21, 2008 

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  8     

I went with a group of friends the other day. There wasn't anything special about the pizza, but the pasta was nice. Does anyone know of any special deals they have had with this restaurant when they book with a large group, say about 30 people? is the set menu filling?

Nov 01, 2008