Tango Nuevo

Tango Nuevo keeps the bones of a Spanish tapas bar — small plates, ordered in rounds, set down for the middle of the table — and fills that frame with food from almost everywhere else. The format is Iberian; the flavours are not. Patatas Bravas shares a menu with Persian lamb tacos, Turkish ravioli, and Thai curry cod, and the locally owned kitchen on King Street East treats that range as its signature rather than a gimmick. The setting is polished — a contemporary dining room built for a shared dinner meant to run a few hours. A table can travel three continents in as many plates without getting up.

Patatas Bravas set the pace — crispy potatoes under smoked paprika, chili oil, and garlic aioli, the plate that lands first and gives everyone something to reach for. The deeper order is where the kitchen shows its hand. Persian BBQ Lamb Tacos arrive as confit lamb on soft shells, dressed with pomegranate barbecue sauce, sumac-onion salad, cashew dukkah, and house-made pickles. The Grilled Octopus Pintxo comes over brown-butter fried bread with feta, balsamic-roasted tomatoes, and a hot-honey tomato oil. From there the board keeps crossing lanes — Tuna Poke Nachos, Thai Curry Cod under coconut cream, Turkish Ravioli in paprika butter and yogurt, achiote-marinated chicken with black garlic purée. Few of these plates share a continent.