Vino Tinto turns one: Your first tapas and drinks for S$5 at this CBD after-work spot

If you haven’t had the chance to try Vino Tinto, now is the perfect time to head down — it’s celebrating its first-year anniversary! 

Its owners, chefs Daniel and Tamara Chavez, are also behind Canchita Peruvian Cuisine and Tinto Restaurant, and are no strangers to bringing Spanish culture to the forefront in Singapore, (They also founded Latinada — an annual festival celebrating Latin American food and music!)

Nestled in a corner of One Raffles Quay, Vino Tinto is a cosy Spanish tapas bar popular with the after-work crowd.  It’s named after the Spanish term for red wine, and aims to bring tapas culture to Singapore.  

To celebrate its one-year anniversary, Vino Tinto is offering S$5 for your first drink or plate of tapas, and S$9.90 for every subsequent plate or drink after, from its Happy Hour menu of 11 tapas plates and seven drinks. It’ll be available from Monday to Friday, 5.30pm to 9pm, until 10 July.

This is an upgrade from Vino Tinto’s usual Happy Hour promo, which sees its tapas going for S$9.90 each.

An authentic selection of Spanish tapas

True to any proper after-hours ritual, we clocked out on time and headed down to Vino Tinto to unwind over tapas and drinks.

Naturally, with the restaurant’s namesake, an extensive selection of Spanish wines ranging from sparkling wine, reds, and whites, to cocktails such as whisky highballs, are on offer.

For our first item, which goes for just S$5, we thought we’d get a better bang for our buck if we prioritised our drinks.

We started with a refreshing gin & tonic (U.P. S$22) and a Spanish icon, the red sangria (U.P. S$18) — the latter came with a base of red wine, pisco quebranta and vermouth mixed with apple and orange slices. It had a smooth, plum-like flavour with fruity floral top notes.

Bites-wise, the Happy Hour menu boasts both familiar classics and Spanish-inspired small plates.

We started off with the Spanish anchovies & pan con tomate — salty anchovy fillets served on crispy slices of crystal bread with a crushed tomato spread. (Spoiler: This was our favourite tapas of the night.)

The fresh tomatoes helped cut through the intense and almost soy-sauce-like umami of the anchovies, giving us a light start to the meal before moving on to heavier plates.

Sticking with bread dishes, we also had the mini bikini, which featured mini toasties with Spanish ham and Manchego cheese served alongside a fresh tomato dip.

The creamy, tangy cheese wedged in between slices of salty Spanish ham made for a richly indulgent sandwich. If you’re not a fan of strong tasting cheeses, pair it with the fresh tomato dip and your choice of alcohol to balance the flavours.

Continuing on our carbs streak, we ordered two potato dishes — the mini patatas bravas, deep fried cubed potatoes drizzled with a spiced tomato aioli, and the pork & paprika sausage served with caramelised onions, fries and drizzled with mustard aioli.

The sausage was the star of this plate — the pork was firm and well-marinated for that smoky flavour and stuffed to the brim for a satisfying crunch.

We also had the fried calamari served with a lemon aioli and garnished with chili flakes — flaky, bite-sized pieces of squid brightened by a touch of acidity. This dish didn’t last long once the drinks started flowing, so if your party’s on the larger side, you may want to consider ordering another serving!

The a la carte menu will also be available, if you prefer something heartier. Give the fideua de cardo & padrones (S$32) a try — a crispy noodle dish from Valencia, or end your meal with the signature tres leches (S$14) — a decadent coconut cake served in a coconut sauce. 

This was a hosted tasting.

For more eats around the CBD, check out new yakitori bar Satori or grilled fish ramen shop Yakizakana Ramen.