A trip, which intended to be quick, turned into a long dinner at El Colmado in the Gotham West Market.

After strolling around, and checking out various eateries in the Gotham West Market, I realized I still had another 30 minutes before my dinner date. I decided to get just one drink at El Colmado before heading a few blocks over for dinner. After perusing their wine list, I noticed they had oyster happy hours. Each weekday from 5-7pm, El Colmado has a daily-featured oyster for only $1 each. So I started with one drink and some oysters.

This particular day the featured oyster was the mayflower from Massachusetts. This oyster was a pretty small variety, but packed a briny punch. Even better, El Colmado also had a happy hour special of 6 oysters with a glass of Cava for only $11.   After having my taste buds teased from the oysters I decided to try just one more thing – Iberico ham croquet served with a quince jam. (See main imagine) This was a revolutionary moment for me, and a phone call had to be made. “Drop everything and come to the Gotham West Market and eat this food with me.” That’s almost exactly how my phone call went.   With a quick change of plans, my date met me at El Colmado and we were on our way to a fantastic evening of gastronomy.

The Food Run Down at El Colmado

Here is what we ordered: a tortilla Española, the Jamon Iberico platter, fried Shishito peppers, and the pulpo a la plancha. It’s difficult even to write about this now without my mouth watering. I’d have to say that the Iberico platter was by far the best thing we had, they did not skimp on the ham. The platter also came with bread topped with tomaquet and a selection of olives. Each element of the platter was amazing on it’s own, but nothing can stand up to Jamon Iberico. El Colmado treats the jamon with the decency it deserves; freshly hand cut into beautiful slices and not messed with.

I love Shishito peppers, so we had to get those. They were heavily salted, as the menu states, so if that’s not your thing, ask them to go light on salt, because these peppers are not to be missed and necessary when having a dinner of mostly meat and potatoes. The pulpo was presented beautifully and was equally as tasty. The tortilla was ok (because it was served cold), but that didn’t stop us from gobbling it up!  We also ordered a bottle of their Rioja wine and it was both delicious and well priced.

I’m glad that I made the call to stay at El Colmado for dinner and ditched the plans for burgers. Our server Dana was very helpful, patient and attentive. El Colmado is definitely a great place to head to if you love tapas. They have a casual atmosphere, but combine that with good prices and great food and we’ve got a winner. I can’t wait to head back and once again cancel my plans for the rest of the day.

El Colmado at Gotham West Market
600 11th Avenue (between 44th & 45th St.)
New York, NY 10036

For More information on El Colmado check out their website