Cobras y Matadors

This is my second review just to let C&M know the real reason they closed down. Your staff treated everyone like crap. When I mean everyone I mean the customers that came to eat there. The customers that supported you and helped keep your place open. You didn’t see things this way. You thought, «this is Los Angeles and we will all be famous soon so we can just treat our customers like crap and they won’t mind.» I tried to warn you but you didn’t listen.

Cobras & Matadors closed 08÷02÷09.
Opened 10÷02÷09 is the following:
1. Hamburger joint Umami Burger, location #2
2. A champagne & oyster bar, Salaryman, from the original creator of Cobras & Matadors, Stephen Arroyo.

I like this place… I have only been here twice and the first time the service was ok. This last time and it was much better.
I think the Menu is pretty good there are some vegetarian options here that sound great. I would like to see a little more. I think the place it self is nice and its seems always clean which is always important. I really enjoyed the vegetarian pasella alot, it was amazing. The Socca cakes with honey and goat cheese are great too.
They now charge $ 15 corkage fee which is outrageous. They also charge a $ 10 cake fee if you bring a cake for a bday. I think that is very unacceptable. What’s next? A fee to use the restroom or a Hostess Fee. Not to mention that MOST of the menu items are over priced. 7 bucks for 2 small croquettas cut in half? No thanks.
I do like this place but I just feel that this place is slowly becoming a typical LA restaurant. High prices that can’t really deliver, this place really doesn’t stand out to me as much anymore. They really need to make the customer feel wanted. Give us a reason to come spend our earned money here.

First off, this location is NOT the one with no corkage fee!
The ambiance is definitely dark and romantic as so many others have said. It’s definitely a date place or good place for a double-​date. I don’t suggest the dates wrapped in bacon… that was crap. However, their lamb and short ribs were good. Their albondegas was quite the dish. If you are unsure about what to order, the albondegas is a must. I can’t see how their date crap dish was/​is one of their popular dishes. Don’t believe everything you hear, people.
I wasn’t too crazy with how they only have one bathroom for the ladies and if you have to wait for the bathroom… you’re standing in front of several tables. I don’t know, but I don’t like watching the awkward first date tension while I’m waiting to pee… kinda weird.
So, bottomline… ditch the dates wrapped in bacon and definitely order the albondegas!

For one HUGE PLUS that it’s a short walk away from the Metro. I love that. I can get shitfaced and hobble back home to the Valley.
I love it here. The ambiance is dark and romantic, the music is chill and the food is exceptional.
My favorite is the cod fish fritters and mussells in white wine. The service is excellent and always attentive. My water was constantly filled and the empty plates were always taken away when we would be finished.
Great date place to seal the deal. Aka stick it up the butt

My fellow lovers and friends congregated to celebrate the BFF’s birthday, despite being completely sick of each other after a week long vacation together. I liked the idea of BYOB, and even more after cutting a deal with the manager (he comped 2 of the $ 15 corkage fees plus dessert). No rug burns were involved, so even better for us!
Being fat piggies, we ordered almost everything on the menu. I’d highly recommend the bacon wrapped dates and lamb shanks, but thought everything else belonged on the «OMG, did I really pay that for THAT?» side. Thank god our bread pudding was comped too, because it tasted more like stale french toast than anything.
Then again, I think I was much too spoiled by my most amazing visit to Primitivo to fully enjoy this place. The waitress was lovely, as was the dark and intimate ambiance, but in the end, I still felt a tad bit blue-​balled. Luckily the Colombian was there to seal the deal.

I was craving tapas after coming back from a trip to Spain, so when my uncle suggested we try Cobras y Matadors, I was all for it. And it was the perfect place to be going with two major foodies, my uncle and his partner.
We tried a lot of the menu and it was all good, but I definitely remember the asparagus with manchego cheese, bacon-​wrapped prawns, patatas fritas, ragout of oven-​roasted vegetables, albondigas, and grilled octopus. (I still dream about the ragout and try to re-​create it at home. It’s got to be cumin that makes it so smoky and tasty.)
I loved the low-​lighting and kind of sexy vibe – and we all enjoyed the male waitstaff eye candy. (Again, one of those places I wish I could transplant to the SF Bay Area. Or maybe I just need to drag my butt over to the East Bay for Cesar’s.)
My second time there was with a friend when we drove down to LA for a weekend. She’s vegetarian, so there were a lot of options for her. The food, again, was excellent. The company, not so much. Let’s just say she likes to drink a lot more than I do and is kind of cheap. Even though she had several glasses of wine to my one, I was willing to split the bill but she had to figure out exactly how much she owed to see if it was worth it for her, ’cause, you know, I’d had a meat dish.
Needless to say, that trip and all her nickel-​and-​diming did our friendship in, but I’m more than happy to go back to CyM any time with better company.

#8
3 stars
I think I came here having too high expectations, having been to The Bazaar (I probably should write a review on that already). I heard this location (as opposed to Beverly) is better street parking-​wise and sure enough, I found a spot right away. Came in as a party of two at about 9:00pm and the wait was fine. It was about 15 to 20 minutes, which is quite acceptable considering it was Saturday night. There is a bar area to the left of the restaurant that connects to the street as well as to the dining room. I’m not sure if it’s actually part of the restaurant but it’s somewhere you can wait to pass some time.
The menu consists of Spanish tapas. I don’t think we were super hungry (we ordered four) but I would say 2 – 3 dishes per person is probably about right. I probably should have done some research on here for recommendations, but the plan to come here was somewhat spontaneous. They start you off with a small cup of olives (green and black) and almonds. So on to what we ordered:
1. Wild Salmon — There was an olive paste on top of the salmon and a dried tomato with «salsa» beneath the salmon. I get the feeling it wasn’t salsa but I forgot what the menu said. Tasted fine, nothing special.
2. Prawns wrapped in Smoked Bacon — Three prawns on bread with a creamy-​ish sauce. I honestly don’t think there was any bacon. Tasted good otherwise. IF I came here again, I’d probably order this again since I’m a fan of bacon — sorry body)=
3. Lamb chops — Four chops total. I didn’t think they were particularly outstanding, just your average lamb chop.
4. Asparagus — Very thin, but long asparagus covered with cheese. I probably could have avoided this, but I felt like getting some sort of vegetable to make me feel better. The cheese sort of overpowers the asparagus, so it defeated my purposes. Oh well.
There is a dessert menu, which includes typical Spanish style desserts — flan, churros, etc. We ordered the «Flourless Chocolate Cake». It kind of reminded me of a brownie, but there is also a small scoop of ice cream on the plate. Not bad.
They do have a wine list and sangria. As two people, we ordered sangria by the glass. The waitress said the pitcher is about six glasses total.
The crowd was pretty diverse, for the most part. The place is quite dark and gets loud. I’m not sure if it’s always like this or whether it was for Earth Hour.
In general, I would say to spend your Saturday night elsewhere. For the prices (anywhere from $ 8 to $ 24ish? per dish), you can probably get a much better meal somewhere else. However, it’s really not bad if you can’t find another place.

My friend wanted to try this place out on a whim, so we found parking very easily on the street and requested a table for 2. We got there around 9pm and waited 10 minutes for a table. It’s a tapas type restaurant where all the dishes are pretty small and a person can easily finish 2 dishes by themselves. The menu had about 15 dishes and there were some on there in which we had no idea if it was steak, fish, or veggies??? Anyway, we ordered the bacon wrapped prawns on top of bread (3 prawns on top of a single piece of bread), the salmon with finely chopped olive and dried tomatoes with salsa, the lamb (4 slices), and asparagus with finely chopped cheese on top. Out of the 4 dishes, I liked the lamb (which didn’t taste gamey and I usually hate lamb because of the after taste) and the prawns (except I think they forgot the bacon because I didn’t see or taste any bacon).
The food doesn’t really stand out to me. The pairings they put on each dish was a bit odd because for example, I’ve never seen salsa with salmon. However, the food was nothing special and didn’t taste exceptional. We also ordered sangria by the glass and for some reason, it tasted watery. I think the sangria by the pitcher (they say it would be about 6 glasses), would taste better.
Ambiance: Loud and SUPER dark! Had to lean in and sort of shout to have a conversation. The tables were comfortably spread out between each other, however uncomfortable when a waiter had to serve the table next to us because their butt would be right next to our table. Everyone was casual trendy.
Service was excellent. No qualms. :)
The meats were priced around $ 22 to $ 25. The veggies were around $ 8. Everything else was around $ 12 to $ 15. Dessert is $ 6. We tried the flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel. It was delicious because it was warm and literally melted in your mouth.
I would give it 3.5 stars, but I will probably try another restaurant than come here again.

Holy tender brisket, Batman!
Recently had dinner at this muy romantico Mecca of perfectly prepared tapas and was very pleased. The wine? Sumptuous. The tidbits? Mouthwatering. The wait service? Adequate, but the food more than makes up for it.
Two ladies, three tapas, one dessert and two glasses of vino — about $ 60, but we were definately well satisfied. Plus this is so close to my house! Too tempting to resist coming back way too much.

Came here with the gf for vday and it wasn’t too crowded. We didn’t have a reservation and we just waited 20 minutes to be seated. We ordered the following:
Pago Joven Wine ($ 10)
Arbanta Wine ($ 8) — fruity wine. not bad
Cheese Plate ($ 13) — good variety of cheese with a good variety of bread, and they refilled the bread for free
Sweet Potato Fries ($ 6) perfect crisp, with a tasty ailoi
Mushroom Paella ($ 15) — it was good, but the portion seemed small. there were slices of bread under it. trickery
Tortilla Chorizo ($ 7) — good flavor, small portion.
Serrano Dates ($ 10) — interesting plate. I recommend trying this.
Bacon Prawns ($ 12) — Delicious… it comes out to $ 3 or $ 4 a prawn. Worth it? I unnnoooo…
Altogether, the amount came to $ 87.69. Not bad for the amount of plates we ordered. The portions were smaller than I expected, but it was definitely filling for the two of us. The service is great and valet isn’t pricey. I’d come back to try the other plates.

10 of us from our Spanish group met here to socialize and enjoy some good Spanish cuisine. I had been to the CM location on Beverly before which is a tighter space compared to this location. The dining area here is a lot roomier and I really liked the ambiance. It’s dimly lit atmosphere coupled with the dark wood tables and chairs is a perfect setting for a group of friends to have dinner and socialize.
The hostess of our group did a great job in ordering for us as we had so many great dishes from skirt steak, paella valenciana, tapanades on toast, chorizo on tortilla española, bacon wrapped dates, bacalao (salted cod) croquettes, sweet papas fritas, plates of manchego cheese with jamon serrano and patatas bravas just to name a few.
I thought the food was excellent and I was stuffed from everything we ate. We also had ordered a pitcher of sangria of which I tried for taste. I didnt think it tasted very good and was definitely way overpriced at $ 30 a pitcher so I think we can pass on this next time.
I give kudos to the wait staff for bringing out the food in courses giving us enough time to enjoy our dishes over the evening.
I would have given this place 5 stars overall but I didnt like the fact that they charged a $ 10 corkage fee where their counterpart on Beverly did not charge one at all.
Its a little on the pricey side as we paid $ 40 a person but since Spanish cuisine is one of my favorites, I would say its definitely worth it and would come back again.

I am not a big fan of sharing my words with others, but my experience at C y M has forced me to join Unilocal so others can be warned of previous stellar reviews. This was the worst place a party could enjoy a birthday and a New Year’s Eve celebration.
1. The duck confit salad could have been quite tasty with the light vinaigrette and tender smoked duck, if you could get past the cheese. Every bite = Parmesan cheese
2. I don’t know how the seafood paella sells out. I was excited when I spooned the flaky salmon onto my plate, but all I tasted on the fish was mussel and clam shells (not the seafood itself, THE SHELLS). I guess it should be a bonus that the salmon didn’t taste old and fishy. And I saw what appeared to be overcooked scallops, but it ended up being severely overcooked rocks of chicken.
3. The prawns wrapped in bacon also had potential to be tasty, if the alcohol in the sauce had time to burn off and if you enjoy eating soggy bread.
4. Awfully terrible service. Yes, I understand if you have a party of 9, you automatically get 18% gratuity, but I don’t know how they expect their patrons to cut a cake using four butter knives? And how do they expect 9 people share one carafe of water the entire night? And half an hour before midnight, why would you push patrons out of the restaurant when there are at least 16 open seats inside and an entirely empty patio outside of the restaurant (exact question at 11:30, «Would you like your champagne now or the check now?»).
5. Amidst all of the night’s happenings, we still wanted a group picture to capture the event and wait staff was no where to be found. Good thing there was valet to help us out.
This one lonely star goes out to two free glasses of coke and free cake fee.

Forgive me father for I have sinned.
It happened last month, when myself and a friend of the opposite sex had a joint birthday party at Cobras y Matadors. No father, «y» is not a question, it means «and.»
Several young and loose characters showed up at the party, each with his or her own bottle of spirits to contribute to the group. This establishment charges a corkage fee of $ 10/​bottle, which I’m sure was more than all bottles cost collectively. So, to rebelliously buck the system, we opened the lone screw-​top bottle ourselves and I DO BELIEVE that we were not charged a corkage fee for that one. We got out on a technicality and it felt really good. So good that I will commit that sin every chance I can get.
I feel bad, however, because this place does so many things right that it does not deserve our rebellion. The Los Feliz location is adorable, with a little French bar attached. The food is amazing (it even compelled me to eat «bacon,» which is the word they use when they convert ungodly, poo-​dwelling swine into salty, warm bites of greatness). The churros look like miniature fallen trees and make me miss my logging days, except I can’t remember ever eating logs. And the waitress, whom I’ve «had» so to speak on both of my visits, is an old pro who has found the perfect balance of paying attention/​leaving you alone.
As my penance, I shall find other places to eat bacon and drink Jesus’ blood without paying someone to open the bottle for me.

Dined here last night for a friend’s birthday. Okay that’s a lie. She’s really more like a fiancée. Anyways:
1. Muted lighting — check
2. Exposed brick interior — check
3. Dog friendly dining patio — check
4. Valet parking — check
5. Waitstaff dressed in casual all black — check
6. Affordable eats — check ($ 200 for 4 people, 10 small plates)
7. Good service — check
8. Extensive wine list — not so much but still serviceable (see next door for more)
9. Health Department ‘A’ Rating — it was a ‘B’, but no digestive problems to report
So yeah, the flank steak was pretty epic, but for F’s sake — how many of these kind of cookie cutter hip casual restaurants with delicious food are there in LA? It’s like paint by numbers.
Maybe next time I’m dining out, I just need someone to walk up to me and stab me in the eye with a mussel fork so I can appreciate that I don’t live in say, Topeka.
I wonder what the Romans did when they got bored of the gladiator fights…
PS The attached Sgt. Recruiter next door is not only a novel idea for a mini wine bar (thus loads more intriguing) but an utterly sensational non-​sequitor name, kind of like OJ Mayo.

Dark, intimate, and very mellow atomsphere. This is a place not to go on an empty stomach, but a place to get light snacks/​unwind after a long day/​or capping off your date.
It’s a place that serves tapas (small dishes). I don’t think tapas is made for people with hefty appetites. Don’t get me wrong, the tapas are really good here, it’s just served really lightly.
I don’t remember all the dishes we ordered, but some of my favorites where the Chorizo on top of a tortilla with potatoes, Albondigas meatballs with cilantro, lentils with baked bacon bits, and the mussels in wine sauce.
Really, really good, but once again, size portions are more geared towards a light meal/​taste of each dish. Price range is around $ 7-​$ 16 for small plates, so, be careful when ordering.

I prefer C&M near The Grove — it’s dingy, cramped and intimate but you get service. This extension has lots more space and high ceilings, yet the vibe is missing. There’s no love here, except may be from the bar staff.
The menu in both restaurants seems the same (i.e. not authentic Spanish tapas… well not like the Barcelona Catalan version I’ve had). But the execution from this kitchen, is again, without love — only some of the dishes are good (fritters, patatas, fried squid, mussels), but others were sloppy — literally (paella).
But, my complaint is mainly with the wait staff who are just uncaring. When it’s holiday time I know it’s a pain to serve groups of people, but you automatically add service for groups so please give some! We weren’t drunk, and I thought we were kinda organized. Yet, the orders were indiscriminantly thrown on the table at one end for us to sort it out ourselves. Not cool for a table of 20. If you’ve taken the orders may be it’s a good idea to remember where the food belongs.
And usually, coffee orders are taken at the end of the meal. It’s easy money and nearly idiot-​proof to serve. But C&M’s staff seem to skip this ritual and gp from serving tapas to the check. No requests for coffee. Come to think of it, there was no quiz about refills for wine, beer, sangria. Odd. Very odd. And not very profitable I would assume.
Oh, and what’s with the staff opening the back door to take a smoke and letting in the gusts of cold winter LA air disturb our already neglected dinner party? People, don’t sit on any table at the back on left of the bar. It’s the shite corner!
I’m pissed off with this place. And it wasn’t even my party?!

If you want to feel cultured and try somthing different, try Cobras y Matadors. The food though, is not all that great. Think overpriced dim sum Spanish style. Dude, we ordered about 9 dishes and it was really expensive.
What to order:
*Skit Steak for $ 18
*Cheese Plate w/​Apples and Grapes
*Wild Hen with Guava Sauce
*Tortilla with Chorizo and Patata
What was over rated:
*Asparagus for $ 8 and 6 pieces
*Pork Loin was dry
*Churros w/​Chocolate Sauce
*Sangria
The crowd was old and not too great. Ambiance is red and dramatic with romantical accents. Maybe a good place for a first date if you are really trying hard. And bring lots of cash.

The place was pretty quiet despite the fact that it was Friday night and dinnertime. The décor was different. I dug the library of old red painted books on the walls.
We didn’t need reservations nor was it annoyingly crowded so why the 3 stars? Well because in comparison to the other C&M location, the portions were a bit on the skimpy side and service wasn’t as accomodating.
Being that this was my ONLY visit to this location, the 3 stars is only temporary. Hopefully during my next visit, I’ll think better of it.

There’s tapas and then there’s TAPAS! This place is definitely the ALL CAPS one. By far one of my favorite places to eat in LA. Why? Because everything on their menu is other-​worldly. If you are a vegetarian, vegequarian, a die-​hard meat eater, a cheese lover, a picky pete eater or anything in between, above or around that, then CyM will have something deeeelightful for you.
Then there are the wines. I personally am a sucker for a full-​bodied, Chilean red with a peppery finish and normally you are lucky if you can find one of these by the glass… BUT not here! In fact, you can choose from about 4 or 5 wines that fit that bill along with many others that will leave your palate dancing for more!
Cobras y Matadors es muy bueno y muy yummoso (And they said I’d never use my high school Spanish, sheesh)