Ever Tried a Tapas Bar?

The first time I told someone I went to a tapas bar they thought I said "topless bar" and couldn't figure it out. You must really enunciate when you say "tapas" otherwise who knows what they'll think?

When my mom and I were on our cruise in May we stopped at several ports in Spain. My favorite was Barcelona, not only because of the the beautiful covered marketplace just off Las Ramblas, called St. Joseph's Market, but because of the Gaudi architecture and the colorful street performers on Las Ramblas. But most of all I enjoyed the wonderful lunch we had at a little tapas bar off the beaten path. It was all locals in the bar, we sat down on the stools in front of the glass case and began a wonderful lunch.

Tapas are small snacks that are usually served with drinks as appetizers, but over time tapas has become an entire meal. A tapas menu will include hot and cold snacks of every possible variety. If you sit at the bar as we did, you can simply point to what you want and it will be served. If you're at a table away from the displayed food, you better read Spanish otherwise it will be difficult to order. We had more than enough food to choose from and were stuffed when we finished lunch. Tomato and cheese salad, fish salad, meatballs and a quiche like pie were our selections. Other items to choose from included potato salad, marinated mushrooms, potato croquettes, bruschetta, prawns, cured olives, nuts, and short ribs.

A friend of mine told me that the tapas bar she went to kept track of how much you ate by counting the number of toothpicks you had accumulated at the end of the meal. Very clever.

It's hard to find tapas restaurants in the US, but if you do, please try one. It's a great way to sample lots of different tastes, hot and cold, and you'll be surprised how satisfied you feel after just a few appetizers. We used to have a tapas restaurant in La Jolla, but it's been gone for awhile and I have not found another good one. Well, I'll just have to wait to get back to Spain for another fabulous tapas meal.