Tapeo, Arlington, Va.

Last spring after the Wolfgang Puck Express in Pentagon Row closed, the space was remodeled and turned into a new restaurant, a Spanish tapas bar called Tapeo. They've been open all summer, and we'd yet to go there, so after a little shopping expedition yesterday, we popped in about one o'clock for a late lunch.

At first, we weren't sure if Tapeo was open, since the place looked empty. Only one table off in a corner was occupied, and that by but one person. A waitress materialized immediately after we entered, though, and escorted us to a table along the banquette wall.

The dining room is attractively designed with a bar running across one wall and a banquette on the other. Chairs at the tables are substantial and upholstered in oxblood leatherette. Walls were painted a calm basil green with light grey, and all had a very contemporary look.

	Leo started off with a "real Madrid martini," a vodka martini with pineapple juice and a splash of Chambord (and how that's "real" and from Madrid, I've no idea). Here he is modeling the martini in his Kody pose.
I decided to start with a bowl of soup, and asked our waitress (who, judging from her accent and a phone call she took and I overheard, is Russian) whether the gazpacho or almond soup was better, she said to get the sopa de ajo, or garlic soup. I followed her advice. It was okay, though I daresay I wasn't overwhelmed.
	This being a tapas bar, we chose four tapas to share. The first to arrive was pulpo con cachelos, a spiced diced octopus and potato dish served cold. Leo liked it; I was less thrilled.
Next came the croquetas de pollo, a couple of chicken rolls deep-fried and served on a bed of mixed greens. They were tasty and I should have liked more. They came with some sort of white dipping sauce that was rather oddly bland and seemed to be sour cream based.
	A cute little roasted quail with the drumstick bone sticking up called codorniz con alioli came next. The quail was stuffed with bacon and placed atop some mashed potatoes, then all was sauced is a slightly sweet sauce with raisins and pine nuts. I liked the quail, but Leo didn't like it because it had bones in it.
Also coming then was a dish of scallops on a bed of mashed potatoes sauced in a bright yellow saffron cream and decorated with chopped parsley called vieras al azafran. It was nice and I particularly liked the cream sauce.
	At the end of the meal we shared a dessert of spiced pears poached in red wine served with some surprisingly good homemade vanilla ice cream. It's not really a summer dessert, but it was very tasty.

On the whole, I enjoyed our experience at Tapeo and I'm sure we'll be back again. I'm not quite certain what to think of the food, though. It wasn't bad and I don't want to say anything negative about the restaurant, but the food was rather unspectacular and bordered on the mediocre (within the context of other tapas bars I've sampled). Much of the food seemed to have an unexpected blandness when I was expecting more fire or zip. So, we'll just have to see how things progress after another visit there.