Update (3 June 2011): Since this review was written, we’ve returned to Bilbao several times (what can we say, we love their terrace and are big fans of Estrella beer…) and have noticed a significant improvement across the board. Whether this was in response to our original review we don’t know; perhaps they just had teething issues in their first few months. In any event, this is clearly now a far better restaurant than we gave them credit for on our first visit. With that in mind, we’ve provisionally revised our rating from one to three stars. We plan to return for a full re-review very soon. But one of the advantages of our online site is that we can reflect changes in the market more rapidly than we can in print; so expect to see more updates like this (and not always for the better!) soon.

With a classy wood-and-glass-paneled façade and elegant soft-lit interior, Bilbao restaurant & Gastrobar looked promising. Absolutely ravenous when we got there, our eyes went straight to the tapas on the menu and we went on an ordering spree: Txistorra a la sidra, Basque sausages stewed in cider ($9), paella mixta, saffron rice dish with meat and seafood ($10), cochinillo roll, slow-roasted suckling pig rolled in crispy skin ($15), de champinón y jamón moruno, mushrooms and jamón ($6), calamares en su tinta, squid cooked in its own ink ($12), pulpo a la Gallega, octopus in the Galician style ($4), Jamón Ibérico 40g, thinly sliced cured ham ($20), patatas bravas, fried potatoes with spicy tomato sauce ($6) and langostinos al ajillo, shrimp with garlic ($9). We couldn’t believe our taste buds as we sampled each dish—every single one of them either unspeakably mediocre or a safety hazard. Notably, the Basque sausages were too salty and lacked a firm bite; while the paella and the seafood in it was dry and bland (and where was the saffron?). The shrimp with garlic cried out for some salt and actual garlic flavor; and the skin on the roasted suckling pig was a disappointment both in its lack of taste and siggy texture. But the octopus cooked Galician style was the one dish which we had the most issue with: It was so rubbery that after chewing for a good five minutes, we gave up and had to spit it out—we feared that if we swallowed, we would choke. The rest of the dishes fared only marginally better, and we found ourselves relying on the poorly fried potatoes for some fragment of satisfaction. That said, the service is decent if a tad soft-spoken—we were straining to hear what the wait staff were saying. And if you want to booze up, they have a number of happy hour deals, which include two-for-one drinks noon-midnight from Mon-Wed, and 5-8pm Thu-Sat. Still, tapas are what you come to a Spanish restaurant for, and what we tried here really missed the mark.