Maricarmen Tapas Bar, Ancoats

Our first visit was on a Thursday night and it was fairly quiet in Maricarmen. There was only us and another table of four. Pedro our host was welcoming, letting us chose the table that suited us.

Once settled we were given their extensive menus.

The menu at Maricarmen was not your run of the mill tapas selection. Yes some of the usuals were on there but there were also a lot of options that we hadn’t tried before.

Here were the menus in November 2023

For my drink I chose the Marianito Special Cocktail. The ingredients were Vermouth, Cointreau, Gin, Angostura. It was served with a slice orange and ice. The cocktail was the colour of whisky and had a sweet delicious orange tang.

My husband had the Alhambra Reserva Lager, which is a very easy to drink smooth variety.

We then moved on to a bottle of Aquitania Albarino Bernon white wine. This was a crisp wine with apple and citrus taste A perfect match for the Spanish Tapas dishes.

Then came the food…

First to arrive was the bread with tomato. Lovely soft crusted bread which was comfortable on the mouth to eat. Covered with delightfully fresh tomatoes which had been blended with zingy garlic.

Alongside this we had the Gambas Al Ajillo – prawns in garlic, olive oil and chilli. The prawns were cooked to perfection. I liked the fact that most of the shell had been removed. I had expected a little more heat from the chilli but as with the bread they were gorgeous.

We couldn’t resist having the Patatas Bravas. These were halved crispy new potatoes with a fruity tomato sauce and creamy alioli.

With the Patatas Bravas we also had Castellana Meatballs. Normally when we have Tapas were almost always have the Albondigas. As that wasn’t an option at Maricarmen, we went for these instead. The meatball was made from lamb mince rather than pork or beef. The meatballs were then covered with a creamy white wine sauce and some crispy onions. They were nice but think we would have preferred the traditional Albondigas. For me, the flavour was more Greek than Spanish.

The final dish we ordered was Iberico Pork Cheek

It was melt in the mouth with a silky vino tinto sauce and crispy salty kale. Our only regret is that we didn’t save any bread to mop up the exquisite sauce. Pedro did offer to get some but by this point we were full.

During the evening, we spoke extensively with Pedro about the different dishes we had ordered. Once the evening was over we also spent some time talking with Jose, the chef behind the dishes.

Our first visit had left us wanting more so we decided to return. This was in February 2024 on a Friday night. This time the restaurant was almost full. The menu had some slight amendments but was still as broad as before.

Second time around, we decided to have the Bread with Tomato and it was as splendid as we remembered.

We also ordered the Las Croquetas Del Dia as recommended by our host. They were filled with a wonderful creamy cheese and bread mixture and topped with some Spanish ham and parsley.

Our next small plate was the Lagarto. This was extremely tender Iberico pork sliced and placed on a bed of truffled cassava puree. A winning combination!

For the finale, we ordered the Cachopo. This was no longer featured on the main menu but was offered as a special. This dish comprised of matured sirloin, which was filled with Serrano ham and Payoyo cheese. Covered in breadcrumbs, the steak is then fried and accompanied with small potato and Padron peppers.

Since it’s removal from the main menu, the sirloin steak reduced from 400 grams to 200 grams. We had to count our blessings that had happened as we really couldn’t have fit anymore food!

This dish was extremely rich in flavour and very meaty with the combination of the steak and ham. I’m glad we tried it but we probably wouldn’t rush to order again. I guess that’s why it is a special rather than featured on the main menu.

We thoroughly enjoyed the food on both trips to Maricarmen and will certainly be going there again.