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La Camelia Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
7 reviews for La Camelia Restaurant
7 reviews in English
-
Review from Jim L.
1/17/2010
La Camelia will make you happy. Southern Spanish upscale tapas with warm, country decor nestled inside a former home make this experience quite lovely without pretension.
I stuck to tapas to control spending. One special was a while squid stuffed with herbs and bread, placed atop a simple marinara sauce. Though the sauce offered no real complexity to unify the fish, it was tasty enough to require one more piece of house made, hot bread to lap up the juices.
For the more pesce-daring, try the sardines, which is a large tapa, plenty to share, with roasted red peppers and a mild red sauce. The sardines are not the squirmy canned variety but thickish fillets butterflied to maximize mass and flavor.
The best tapa and the most interesting dish as our table last night was the cod croquettes. I've only eaten in one other restaurant in the world where the bacala was not too salty. These warm, smooth, puffs and lightly fired and served with perfect remoulade on the side. With the exaggerated garnish, you have yourself a good sized salad.
You can break the bank at L Camelia if you roll that way, but these three tapas, which was lots of food totaled about $27.
I have great memories with my brother, sister-in-law and cousins due to the hospitality and fare of this find. -
Review from Bruce G.
Cross River, NY
10/14/2011
This is a nice little gem for a quiet, retro, old school nice Spanish meal. They start you off with a small plate of olives and a tasty eggplant melange. We had a great lettuce, cheese and mushroom salad + country pate for appetizers, both excellent.
For main courses, my wife had a halibut special which was dry, she didn't love it. I had the classic paella which was very good, nice assortment, balanced flavors.
We finished sharing a light raspberry tart which was perfectly not too sweet.
Atmosphere us warm and inviting, old school with an older crowd. Service was a little slow but tolerable. Only major critique beside my wife's fish was the sangria. It was flavorless, clearly had not spent appropriate time in the fruit and was really quite poor, a major faux pas for a Spanish restaurant.
I enjoyed dinner and think you might too. -
Review from Marina E.
Bronx, NY
8/29/2011 8 photos
First of all, everyone is very warm and friendly. My husband spent many summers as a foreign exchange student in Barcelona and can attest for the authenticity of their sangria. What bothered me was that I ordered off the tapas menu but it appeared that I was getting full meals. Their portions in my opinion are what Americans believe to be tapas...and I'm an American myself. Way too big for true tapas. By the time the main course arrived (the paella), we were too stuffed to enjoy it. But, the paella was pretty good. Over all, I would be willing to give it another try.
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Review from L K.
Westchester County, NY
7/23/2008
Oh, how I love this restaurant! It's worth the schlep into Westchester from the city or wherever you live. Located on a hill atop a winding road, this Spanish restaurant exudes warmth and charm.
And when I say Spanish food, I mean it: these authentic dishes are very well prepared. The meal I had was delicious. The dining room is low-key and cozy, and the staff is soft-spoken, polite and friendly. My companion and I really felt at home at this restaurant, and when we left we couldn't stop talking about what a wonderful meal we'd had and the great evening we'd spent here.
It's a great date place, and a lovely place to have a quality meal. -
Review from Mel C.
Mount Kisco, NY
3/26/2009
What a joy! Hearty and authentic Spanish menu. I had duck with prunes first time and it was marvelous. The setting is a renovated Victorian house with fireplaces in the dining rooms. Helpful service and terrific advice on matching Spanish wines (list runs from modest to fantastic). Friends split a paella which was large and luscious. An elegant choice of desserts (flan for me) was accompanied by one of the recommended Spanish cognacs. Wow!
I have returned several times and entrees ranged from seafood specials to a terrific rack of lamb. Always impressed with impeccable service and generous portions. A perfect date night and I can't think of a better Valentine's night dinner in front of a romantic fireplace. Though not particularly a young crowd, the restaurant was very friendly and comfortable.Listed in: Five Star Favs
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Review from Julia C.
Mt Kisco, NY
8/13/2011
I was really looking forward to trying this place for a long time. The atmosphere is cute and noisy. We had sangria (I've had better), a lobster bisque (hearty and good), the country style pate (nothing special), and the seafood paella (which was pretty nice).
We had just ordered a dessert (all of the desserts on the cart looked good) and were waiting for it, when a small bug scattered across our table. We trapped it under our glass and immediately recognized that it was a baby cockroach. I stood up and quietly asked a different waiter to cancel our dessert order because we had to go. When our waitress came over and we showed her the bug, she lifted the glass, squashed it, and then someone who I assume was the owner came over and told us "we don't have those things here".
We weren't making a scene and didn't ask for a freebie, but he still insisted. I finally said "okay fine, we just need to go". We paid the full bill and left, and won't return. If it weren't for the decent seafood, I'd have gone with one star. -
Review from Jane H.
9/17/2009
This place is not the kind of place that you wonder, where should I eat tonight? oh! this place looks good! It's hard to find and not easily seen if you are driving around Bedford Road. You have to knwo that you are going there. I have to say that once you find the place, it is a wonderful restaurant! They don't rush you. They give you bread and an appetizer right off the bat, and they let you take your time. The bread is VERY good. I loved it! Not to mention that it's all the bread you feel like eating - they keep putting more bread on your plate whenever you finish one, so if you don't want anymore, just leave a little on the plate so they don't put another one on.They ask you what you want to drink. If it is just two of you, and you ask for the sangria, you might not want a pitcher, unless you want to drink a lot. The menu is not huge, but everything sounds great. I had the soft shell crabs and my bf had the swordfish. The swordfish was very meaty, and the softshell crabs were very succulent! I don't particularly like capers, as I think they are just tiny bombs of salt, but they went very well with the crab. The veggies on the side were good too. I really liked my salad which came with the crab. The portions are somewhat large. I was barely able to finish my plate, and I had absolutely no room for dessert. The desserts look so good! However, I just could not make enough space to try them.
This place also has a very nice homey feel. It's clean and romantic. You walk into what seems to be a small house, and each room has a few tables, so you don't feel like you are dining with a million strangers.
Service was delightful, despite being a bit slow. However, as I had said, they don't rush you, and this is not a place to rush. They may be slow, but they find you before you ever get around to saying so.
I really want to give this place a 4.5, it was absolutely lovely. Go there for a family meal or a romantic date!
