[Photos: Nikki Goldstein]

Between so many restaurants with lines out the door, the fairly new Taberna seems entirely undiscovered as an Upper West Side brunch destination. The menu offers all sorts of interesting Spanish specialties, like spinach and raisin stuffed Galician crepes and stewed mushroom croquettes with chickpea spread (pictured at top), but the focus is on paella and feiduas.

In keeping with the non-conformist menu is the Arroz Caldoso ($16, above), a green paella filled with rabbit and snails (labeled as periwinkles on the menu—unknowing waiters may misguide innocent patrons into believing the snails are, in fact, herbs). Its name translates to "soupy rice," something I'd personally never seen. Though the rice retains quite a bit of a bite (it's almost underdone), the surrounding liquid, whose flavors of green and red pepper are clean and unintimidating, is too subtle to add the punch the dish demands. And while the snails are cooked tenderly, the rabbit falls a bit tough—and sparse—both similarly lacking in flavor. What the menu aims for in authenticity, it seems to lack in gusto.

It's the most typical dishes that have the most success. Tortilla Espanola ($10), seafood paella ($14), and the aforementioned morning-appropriate tapas ($7-10) are no more exciting than they sound, but are executed well--at least well enough to please those who don't want to wait in the lines at Sarabeth's next door.

Taberna

429 Amsterdam Ave, New York NY 10024 (map)
917-388-3500
no website available