(smartshanghai)
Updated: 2006-10-23 09:21

Located in the middle of Dongping Lu by Ulumuqi Lu sits the long-established Azul Tapas Lounge/Viva New World Cuisine. This little Spanish delight has been offering many classic and new age Spanish and Latin American dishes for some time now, reeling in loyal patrons in search of tasty food in a very mellow and completely relaxed environment. On this past Tuesday and Wednesday though, Azul/Viva's head chef, Eduardo Vargas, hit the kitchen with innovation and recreation on his mind, and hosted back-to-back food tastings to introduce a plethora of new additions and changes to the tapas menu.

Befitting the rather interesting and diverse line up of new dishes, the two day sampling was so forth named, "Little Foods from Latin-America, Spain & Near There" Having spent a good deal of time travelling around Mexico and Latin-America - and living the majority of my life in the southwest of the U.S - I have acquired an insatiable taste for foods of this variety.

Over two days around 30 new dishes were presented covering a vast range of culinary approaches to the Spanish, Latin-American, and Mediterranean, cuisines. Although I immensely enjoyed the majority of all the dishes, my favorites included "Potato 'Huancaina Style'(a very tasty and rich potato dish with a nice spiced kick), the "Spanish Mushrooms" (with chopped onions, peppers, and spices in delicious brown sauce),. But hands down, my favorites were the "Seared Beef with Horseradish-Parsley Mojo" a truly delightful serving of perfectly tender beef exploding with flavor, and the "Peruvian Flan" a heavenly flan with impeccable texture and taste.

As for the environment - I really liked the large couch like benches with cushioned walls, mixed with the dim lighting and vivid music. I could not have been more comfortable while eating and after I could have easily just leaned back, and taken an after-dinner nap.

Azul Tapas Lounge / Viva New World Cuisine
Tel:021-64331172
Address:18 Dongping Road near Hengshan Road