Tin Marin brings tapas and toe tapping to town

Riverdale must have been starving for small plates. 

That was apparent at Tin Marin’s grand opening on Riverdale Avenue last week, during which the new eatery was clearly overwhelmed by demand, which continued well into the weekend. 

According to Manager Henry Gonzalez, Tin Marin’s perpetually revolving menu will engage diners in a sensory game of “eeny meeny miny moe” from here on out. 

“It’s going to be an experience. There’s always going to be something different going on,” said Mr. Gonzalez, who manages the restaurant owned by his wife Kenia Castillo, 41.

 “It’s just like the name. Tin Marin in Spanish means you choose.”

On April 18 — opening night — diners munched on mini empanadas, skewers of meat and dried cod croquettes with the tapping of Flamenco dancers in the background. 

Few skipped the 24 appetizer-sized dishes listed on the tapas menu. The snacks range from a $5 fried green plantain and sautéed Chorizo sausage dish to the more extravagant $13 country bed layered with lobster salad and green onion sauce. 

Andrew Lubow and Emelinda Blanco relished the crab in the four tapas they split while testing out the venue across the street from his apartment.

“It’s just perfect. Not salty, but just tasty,” said Ms. Blanco, a Yonkers resident. “Everything so far is delicious.”

After a handful of small plates were passed around the tables, diners awaited their entrees near rustic umber, orange and steel blue walls. Wooden beams run across the exposed brick lining the restaurants’ rear. Logs hang from the ceiling, supporting dangling candles that lit the dim bar, which spans almost the length of the restaurant. 

 Entrée selections include chicken breast, salmon, lamb shank and four steaks, with the headlining 12-ounce New York Strip selling for $21. A $38 seafood paella for two tosses saffron rice with clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari and seasonal fish.

A bottle of Ribera del Duero wine sells for $38 on a list that features bottles for $25 to $110.