Restaurant Review - Cava

Wine night this week brought us to a place we had been wanting to try for a while: Cava. Cava (the word Cava is actually the name of a drink - the Spanish equivalent of champagne) is a tapas restaurant located down a quaint brick alley in downtown Portsmouth. I have to say I am very torn about this one. As a lover of all things Spanish and, in particular, Spanish food, I really, really wanted to love this restaurant. Let's start off with the positives:

1. The decor and ambiance: The decor was modern and sleek, but somehow manages to be warm at the same time. Most of the seating is bar seating, either overlooking the chefs in the kitchen (which I love), or in a small wine bar area. There is also a nice brick courtyard which I'm sure would have been lovely had it not been unseasonably cold and raining cats and dogs. The ambiance is great...think of a cozier, more intimate version of Prezza in the North End, but with a bit more character. Especially nice for Portsmouth area restaurants.


2. The wine list: While on the pricey side (see more on that below), it has a very nice selection of Spanish wines, some of which are pretty rare and hard to find. They have a huge selections of wine by the glass, and also offer 2oz and 4oz tasting portions if you like to sample a flight. I had a Verdejo blend that I really enjoyed, especially since I can't usually find Verdejo in this area.
   
3. The food has a lot of potential: Generally the consensus was that the food was very good, our problem was with portion size and price (again, see below). Three of us shared a plate of serrano ham and manchego cheese crostini, a crab and avocado dish, and prawns in a tomato-garlic sauce. All tasted very good, but on to the cons......

The portions were so small that after those three dishes not one of us had made even the slightest dent in our appetite....the portions literally afforded us two small bites each of each dish! And they were expensive!!!! Everything was extremely expensive, including the wine. I will be the first to admit that I probably spend way too much money eating out. I have no problem paying what some would consider exorbitant prices for an exceptional meal. However, I need to feel like the value is there, and with Cava it felt as though they just didn't get the price/portion balance correct. This is a really unfortunate situation, because the food is great and there are no tapas restaurants anywhere near Portsmouth. For a place so warm, I thought the service didn't match...so that was disappointing as well.

So, in summary, I was deeply saddened by this experience. For a restaurant that has so much potential, I just don't see how they will last very long trying to charge Boston prices for tiny portions in Portsmouth. We decided we will give it one more go on a night when we're not particularly hungry.....kind of a sad statement for a restaurant.