Matador opened its doors in Wayne about two years ago. Centrally located, and directly across the street from competitor Xilantro in Wayne, Matador serves up Spanish and Mexican fare, tapas style. We visited early on a Sunday night and were seated on the lower level. The atmosphere and the ambiance of Matador is beautiful and welcoming. There's a fun statuette of a bull above the entrance to the main door, and the restaurant is decorated in splashes of deep reds and maroons, with dark cherry woodwork and magnificent floor to ceiling windows throughout.
We began our meal with cocktails. I ordered a
Red Wine Sangria and my companion tried the Margarita over ice. I was happy enough with my drink, but the sangria clearly had just been mixed up, as the fruit looked as it has just been cut. I like my sangria loaded with wine drenched fruit, that has been sitting just long enough for the fruit to fall apart. This didn't quite cut it. The margarita was almost tasteless, which was unfortunate for a tequila bar. Xilantro across the street served a much better cocktail. The good news about the menu is that they offer an entire selection of vegetable tapas.
There's the usual guacamole and salsa, and the Vegetable Quesadillas sounded great. What really intrigued me was the House Specialty,
Paella Vegetariana. Made to order, and suitable for two, I had to do some sweet talking to convince my partner to bypass everything else and order this. We ordered a couple of salads and Nachos to tide us over while we waited a little longer for the House Special and sipped on our drinks.
My salad was the
Ensalada Verde: farm greens, goat cheese, apple crisp, Seville orange vinaigrette. It was a fairly small portion, a little simple, but overall it was fair. Nothing too horribly spectacular, as it could have used a little more kick and a more generous portion. The
Nachos: corn tortilla chips, beans, chihuahua cheese were surprisingly tasty. The black beans were cooked just right, and though the cheese was used sparingly, it worked. I am going to have to start looking for some of that Chihuahua cheese for my nachos at home. Fresh tortilla chips were loaded with guacamole, salsa, and a ribbon of sour cream laced the top. When finally, our
Paella Vegetariana was served, we were still quite hungry. The presentation was wonderful, and everything smelled delicious. Onions, bell peppers, lots of exotic mushrooms, peas, over a bed of rice, this was filling enough for us both, though somewhat lacking in taste. I really wanted to add salt, but there was none on the table I could not find my waitress until after we were finished. The paella special was $32, which I thought was a bit steep, for what it was. All in all, Matador has some potential.
Matador opened its doors in Wayne about two years ago. Centrally located, and directly across the street from competitor Xilantro in Wayne, Matador serves up Spanish and Mexican fare, tapas style. We visited early on a Sunday night and were seated on the lower level. The atmosphere and the ambiance of Matador is beautiful and welcoming. There's a fun statuette of a bull above the entrance to the main door, and the restaurant is decorated in splashes of deep reds and maroons, with dark cherry woodwork and magnificent floor to ceiling windows throughout. 
We began our meal with cocktails. I ordered a Red Wine Sangria and my companion tried the Margarita over ice. I was happy enough with my drink, but the sangria clearly had just been mixed up, as the fruit looked as it has just been cut. I like my sangria loaded with wine drenched fruit, that has been sitting just long enough for the fruit to fall apart. This didn't quite cut it. The margarita was almost tasteless, which was unfortunate for a tequila bar. Xilantro across the street served a much better cocktail. The good news about the menu is that they offer an entire selection of vegetable tapas. 
There's the usual guacamole and salsa, and the Vegetable Quesadillas sounded great. What really intrigued me was the House Specialty, Paella Vegetariana. Made to order, and suitable for two, I had to do some sweet talking to convince my partner to bypass everything else and order this. We ordered a couple of salads and Nachos to tide us over while we waited a little longer for the House Special and sipped on our drinks.
My salad was the Ensalada Verde: farm greens, goat cheese, apple crisp, Seville orange vinaigrette. It was a fairly small portion, a little simple, but overall it was fair. Nothing too horribly spectacular, as it could have used a little more kick and a more generous portion. The Nachos: corn tortilla chips, beans, chihuahua cheese were surprisingly tasty. The black beans were cooked just right, and though the cheese was used sparingly, it worked. I am going to have to start looking for some of that Chihuahua cheese for my nachos at home. Fresh tortilla chips were loaded with guacamole, salsa, and a ribbon of sour cream laced the top. When finally, our Paella Vegetariana was served, we were still quite hungry. The presentation was wonderful, and everything smelled delicious. Onions, bell peppers, lots of exotic mushrooms, peas, over a bed of rice, this was filling enough for us both, though somewhat lacking in taste. I really wanted to add salt, but there was none on the table I could not find my waitress until after we were finished. The paella special was $32, which I thought was a bit steep, for what it was. All in all, Matador has some potential.
