Essenza Bar & Restaurant is a fun, friendly dining spot in Harrogate. It's eclectic menu of tapas, Eastern European and Mediterranean dishes makes it an exciting spot for all types of occasions and guests. The dining area itself is bright, airy and modern with glass walls that allow you to look out onto the street while you feast the night away on delicious, bold European flavours. This is a great restaurant for date nights, family meals and even lively celebrations - all helped out by the fantastic range of wines, spirits and cocktails.
At the restaurant you will find a menu of tapas plates as well as a menu of mains, pizzas, sides and desserts. With a special tapas offer of 3 plates for £13.95 at certain times of the day, it is really a no brainer for us when dining as a group. Opt for around three to four tapas a person but make sure to share them amongst the table to explore all the flavours on offer. Classic patatas bravas is of course a tapas staple as well as pan-fried halloumi, chorizo and deep-fried calamari served with sweet chilli sauce.
Tapas explores beyond your traditional Spanish plates with Italian-style bruschetta, soup of the day and creamy, garlic button mushrooms holding up the vegetarian side of the menu. For the meat-lovers, there's slow-cooked pork belly served with a sticky barbecue sauce as well as an Eastern European dish of minced pork, beef and lamb.
On the main menu, there is mainly a theme of grilled meats. The likes of chicken schnitzel, beef stroganoff, lamb chops and steak are all popular meat choices while the fish dishes feature salmon and seabass. Finally the menu turns to its Italian side with a list of pizzas including all your family favourites like spicy pepperoni, meat feast, spicy chicken and meaty calzones.