Spontaneous Night Out in Union Square

JO and I were headed to New York City on Saturday, so we had planned to stay in on Friday and relax.  That all changed when I started craving oysters.  We were going to head to Bisq, but neither of us were too excited about this option.  We didn't want to have a crazy expensive meal the night before a weekend getaway.  After some brainstorming we settled on The Independent in Union.  Our plan was to eat dinner there too, but on the way CasaB Tapas caught our eye.

We grabbed a drink and oysters at the bar at The Independent.  The oysters were yummy and we were really enjoying ourselves.  We almost stayed there and got dinner, but we pulled ourselves away to try a new place.

CasaB is a Peruvian/Caribbean tapas bar.  It's been open for about a year and has gotten really good reviews.  I'd hesitated trying it because I'm not overly familiar with Peruvian or Caribbean food but we both loved the atmosphere when we had walked by earlier in the night.  We were given two seats at the bar in front of the food prep station which was really fun.  It was neat to see the chefs preparing the dishes in front of us.  The atmosphere in the restaurant is lovely.  It's dimly lit, has lots of character in the decor, and is small and intimate.  It's definitely a romantic restaurant but also a place to enjoy a nice meal with good friends.

JO ordered the daiquiri and it was as good as it looked.

We ordered four different tapas and they were all appropriately sized for sharing, unlike our experience at Bisq.  The chicken with crispy shallots was delicious.

My favorite was the Peruvian pot roast made with short ribs.  It was absolutely delicious.  The meat melted in your mouth and was seasoned perfectly.  While we were eating we watched one of the chefs put together the most decadent looking dessert.  We knew we had to order it.

I absolutely loved this restaurant and can't wait to go back!