Octapas Spanish Tapas Bar

Very bad Tapas. Service is bad and very pricey. Spent over S$ 180 for 3 during happy hours. Stale food. Had to go somewhere after this to have dinner. Please don’t try this

Our group was looking for a place to eat and still enjoy the hustle and bustle of Clarke Quay, so we settled on this place. As far as location, this place was great. The main restaurant was in the corner while they had covered outdoor seating right on the river walk.
The sangrias were okay. I ordered the calamari, a spicy tuna roll, and the scallops, of which were nothing to write home about.
But the wait. There were a few times where we were just waiting. And waiting. And waiting. «For what?» you may ask. To take our order, for our food, etc. Which came as a surprise since the place didn’t look very busy.
Note to self: stick to asian food when in Asia.

Incredibly nice location and some very good food options and choices for the vegetarians too! Service is decent and a seat by the water front just does it! I will surely go back here again sometime with friends

All up it was $ 96 for 3 plates of very average tapas and 2 cocktails.
After traditional spanish tapas? This is not the place.
At first glance the ambience was nice, however we we’re greeted by blank faced staff as we looked for a table. Upon seating ourselves we we’re told that the table we sat at was being used by someone else and if we could move to another table… a reasonable request to which we happily obliged.
First up was the drinks, having a quick glance at the slightly pricey cocktail menu I opted for a margherita and was asked if I wanted lime, raspberry or something else that sounded a bit candy store. This would usually be a red flag for me but being extremely hot I wasnt in the mood for scanning the menu again so I just went with the lime. It wasn’t the worst but certainly not the best, incredibly sweet and tasted like a premix.
For tapas we opted for cheese croquetes, a bruschetta style plate & some lamb cutlets.
The croquetes themselves we’re OK. But they came with a cinnamon style jam which when used together gave the sensation of eating a cheese donut… Weird.
The bruschetta was a doughy, white bread roll cut in half and spread with a tomato, garlic ish paste. In my opinion inedible.
I love lamb cutlets, possibly one of my top 10 favourite meals. These we’re OK but extremely fatty, I’ve never seen cutlets with that much fat around the entire cut (close to half an inch).

Nice ambiance. But the food is terrible.
The paella was terrible. Overcooked and soggy. The menu has very little to do with Real Spanish cuisine.
The egg tortilla was microwaved.

Was there last night with my husband and a couple of his buddies from work. Too bad the food was just okay and the service was horrible. I get that it was busy but our server pouted everytime we asked her for something. Not very pleasant at all. She mumbled some rude things when we asked to have our picture taken, she asked if we wanted separate bills, we said yes, and then she still put everything in one bill. Our drinks took forever to get to us. We were seated outside so whoever that small, long haired filipino girl wearing a black lace dress, maybe you should consider doing something else. Dealing with people is def not your thing.

food is ok, taste is ok — even hot dishes are not hot. Service was good, spend 130 $ for a wine and some tapas

This review is for the happy hour only.
The happy here is pretty decent. The patio is right on the river, so it creates a nice scene/​back drop. The drinks are 50% on wine and beer until 8pm for happy hour. They have a delicious wine list that I had to take a picture of in order to remember what I was drinking so I could find it later.
I thought the service was good. We might have eaten there, but neither of us thought the menu looked good. I’ll go back for the wine, but that’s about it. For 2 glasses of wine, I paid S$ 15.5 after the happy hour discount.

Here I am back in Singapore for another business trip and decided to take my coworker out for dinner before he needed to leave Singapore. I told him that I liked Octapas from my previous trip.
I was looking forward to having Paella Valencia again as it is their signature dish. We ordered our drinks from yet another cheery waitress as noticed on my previous visit. When the waitress came back I placed out food order for the Paella as I knew it would take a bit longer to cook.
We were into our second cocktail when the kitchen brought out the pan of Paella and took the foil covering off at the table. I can’t describe well enough how excellent the dish was enjoyed by the both of us as this was a most delicious meal. I was so glad that my decision to return to this establisment as a treat to my coworker. Our culinary experience was only topped such an attentive staff as well as Manager that personally asked how our meal was being enjoyed.
Once again I not only recommend Octapas, but state that I will be back for at least one more dinner here before my business trip concludes. Kudos to the hard working staff that consistently makes this place a favorite of mine in Singapore!

We came here during happy hour to refresh ourselves from the outside swelter. Half off Sangrias were tasty and affordable.
We got the shrimp tapas which were amazing and came in a metal dish of olive oil and garlic. Tasted great but is also twice what you would pay for comparable tapas in the states and seemed an expensive food option compared to other area foods.
Although I give the food and drinks top marks I found it overpriced.

I was extremely excited to try a Spanish Tapas Bar in Singapore to reminisce on my amazing experience in Barcelona, Spain. Obviously I knew that the experience and food wouldn’t be the same or as authentic, and probably a bit overpriced because Octapas is located in the tourist central of Clarke Quay.
First off, we made a reservation for a Wednesday night dinner for our friend’s birthday. They accidentally gave away our table inside where the live music played (which was not good music anyways) and shifted us outside. At least it was shaded and not too hot outside.
We ordered a few tapas and a paella that supposedly fed 4 people.
Throughout the course of our dining experience with Octapas, our party progressively became more and more dissatisfied.
My extremely small plate of S$ 12 Champinones al Ajilo (Mushrooms with Garlic) was drenched in oil and salt. I had to chug my entire cup of water while eating it. And, when I asked for more water — it took forever to get the waiter’s attention and we had to ask repeatedly (3 times) to get my refill.
And, our bland Valenciana (Meat & Seafood) Paella was $ 60 and finally came after about 45 – 50 minutes. This dish is supposed to serve 4 people, but it was extremely small, overcooked, and had an awful cardboard taste. There wasn’t much meat (chorizos) or seafood either!
Also, our $ 15 Caipirinha cocktails were extremely sweet and barely had any alcohol in it.
Save your time and money by going somewhere else! I would’ve rather eaten snacks or a Bao at 7-​Eleven.

This place is dreadful. Gave our are reservation and got irritated when we complained to the manager for a table. Service was awful and the food is overpriced. 3 out 6 of us sent back our food because it was so bad. Fish was practically just salt and butter. Drinks were also 95% juice. Avoid!

Absolutely horrible. I ordered the Sea Bass with Verde Salsa.
I kid you not, it was seriously overcooked fish, butter, salt and some peas.
Disgusting and they charge $ 17 for it. Also the dish is incredibly small.
On top of all of this they charge $ 5 for a bread basket. And the bread is incredibly subpar, and the butter is cheap and of very poor quality.
Also the food took an incredibly long time to come and when my friends (who ordered the Paella) got their food, it looked like it sat in a fridge for a couple days before they microwaved it and put it on our table. I don’t understand how it could have taken 45 minutes to microwave a dish.
Anyways me and my party didn’t even eat our food after trying it. We refused to eat it and told the waiter that we refused to pay for their pathetic excuse for food.
It certainly doesn’t help that their service was just horrendous. So incredibly slow.
Also our reservation was not honored and only after standing our ground with the staff did we get a table outside.

Honestly, there are much better options in Clark Quay other than this one.
I went with my friend to have a girl’s night out. We ordered Paella to share and we were told that we have to wait for 30 mins so the waitress recommended that we order tapas as well. As we are already starving, we ordered beef and calamares. Lo and behold, paella came like 10 mins later. While we were eating, the waitress came over and told us that they need to send back the paella as this was for the other table (good for 4) and not for 2.
Ok, so they take back the paella to the kitchen to do what again? Add more and serve to another table?
And then she came back and said its okay like we owe her. I wanted to call the manager and talk to them about this unacceptable quality of service but was there to catch up and spend quality time with a friend so I didn’t bother anymore.
We ended up paying $ 120 for a mediocre food and utterly lousy service.
Really not worth it!

Every time I go running along the marina, I see Octapas. It’s cute sign, clever name, and location are all so alluring that we decided to check it out.
First disappointment, the menu. It is not tapas. None of our favorite spanish tapas: bacon wrapped dates, cheese stuffed peppers, etc. were on the menu. We should have left at this point, but we didn’t.
Second disappointment, the disco ball that started up immediately after we placed our order. We were in the mood for something casual and low key, and did not anticipate the disco ball which felt so NOT Spanish (albeit fitting for Clark Quay).
Third disappointment, the food. It was just not good.
Lastly, everyone else mentioned, service is terrible.
I was literally angry by the time we left. Poor food, poor ambiance, poor service. Why waste your money?

Ok food and terribly slow service.

I went with a group of five and we were seated at the one table large enough to accommodate us. This is a nice place for a traveling group, since the tapas format allows for the sharing of several small dishes. We shared the chorizo, garlic shrimp, garlic bread, vegetable bruschetta, and paella. The vegetable bruschetta and chorizo were the best dishes. The paella was mediocre and needed a lot more spice. The portion sizes were appropriate. They also served good mixed drinks, such as a mojito. There was also a live band setting up, which began playing towards the end of the meal. Thankfully, it consisted of a pleasant soft female singer rather than the rowdy ear-​destroying over-​amped guitar music that typical bar bands chuck at diners.

Great paella, mediocre tapas, abysmal service. The waitress would disappear for a half hour at a time. It was an hour from the time we ordered the paella until it was delivered. 40 minutes to receive an order of churros. 20 minutes to pay the check that we have to beg to get out of the place. The carne paella was delicious though the chicken was overcooked. The bacon wrapped shrimp was tasty but the rest of the tapas were just mediocre. All in all not worth the aggravation to have a tuna half hour meal. Can’t recommend it.

Octapas is a cleverly named tapas bar on the bank of the historical Singapore River, along Clarke Quay. Right next to the Read Bridge (pre-​party central), Octapas offers indoor as well as outdoor seating to its patrons. Most nights, live music can be found at this quaint yet vibrant joint, and you can sip an ice cold beverage of your choice as you watch tourist-​laden bumboats float by.
The menu offers simple Spanish fare, some items more traditional than others, but all of it tasty and satisfying. They also have a happy hour, for those who want to eat out on the cheap — always a bonus in my book! Service can be hit or miss, which is unfortunate, but not uncommon in such touristy areas. Though in my opinion, the food is well worth the occasional frosty waitress.
Try the garlic bread, chorizo, meatballs, bacon wrapped prawns, chicken in cream sauce, and croquettes.
Buen provecho!