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I recently had the pleasure of visiting Pintxo (pronounced “peen-cho”) in New Farm, which is a relatively new little establishment that has all the things I love about a laid-back Friday night: it’s got a great, relaxed atmosphere; you can sample a variety of flavours in bite-sized packages; it’s BYO; and it’s stumbling distance to my home. “Pintxo” (from the Spanish “pincho”, or “spike”) describes the delightful bite-sized morsels that are traditionally served up on skewers or toothpicks in Spain, Basque Country and throughout Latin America.

Before visiting, I spotted Pintxo on several of my local walks around New Farm, and with each passing, I really just felt as though I ought to be in there. It has a very warm and inviting feel about it, with a modern decor comprising of rich timber finishes, and reds and yellows to get the (culinary) palette going. The restaurant itself is divided into two parts: the smaller side of the restaurant is a regular table service, and the other larger side features a long, large shared table with a sushi-train-style conveyer belt (done beautifully in stainless steel) and high stools scattered all around the table for guests to sit at.

We arrived with our Peroni and perched ourselves at one end of the table, which was already filled with a few groups. Food is either plucked straight from the conveyer (and the quality control seems good, so you’re not getting tepid snacks), or you can order anything else from the waitstaff. The menu is packed with delicious snacks organised by price (ranging from $3.50-7.00 each), and we ordered a variety of pintxo.

We kicked it off with Beef and Lamb Empanadas, crunchy crispy fried little parcels of pastry and meat (second image, bottom right). Not far behind were the Chorizo en Sidra and Scallops in Cava. The Chorizo (above) is cooked in a sweet cider with onions, and has a spicy kick to it — I enjoyed it thouroughly, but my dining compadre found it a little too hot to handle. The Scallops in Cava (top image on the right), however, was hands down the dish of the night. The scallops themselves were enjoyable, but the Cava (a light, creamy champagne sauce) they came served in was soooo creamy and delicious. It’s a shame it wasn’t accompanied by a spoon, because we spent the rest of our meal dipping the backs of our forks into the bowl and licking the sauce off them. Sure, not necessarily the most civilised behaviour, but see if you can resist once you’ve tasted that Cava for yourself!

Other tasty morsels included the Setas (mushrooms stuffed with Jamon Serrano [literally Mountain Ham, a dry-cured Spanish ham] manchego cheese and onion), Classic Croquettas (crispy bechamel and potato balls), and Banderillas (a skewer of potato, egg, tomato and olive). The only thing I would steer clear of are the Churros — they looked so tasty, but they were a little too thick, and the resulting ratio of dough to sweet dipping sauce was quite underwhelming. In spite of this, there were plenty of other dishes on the menu that I would happily go back to try. Pintxo was definitely a winner both on and off the menu. The shared atmosphere is very social and relaxed, and provides a great way to unwind at the end of the week. The BYO option, combined with the delicious “take what you want” menu selections means Pintxo can be a very economical night out with plenty of variety. Just ask for a spoon if you get the Scallops and Cava!

Pintxo Spanish Taperia
561 Brunswick Street (accross from the new Rivoli shopping plaza)
New Farm
Queensland, Australia