Tapas!

[Patrick]

Aug 1, 2010 21:16:05 GMT everso said:

Aug 1, 2010 19:12:37 GMT trubble said:

But my friend and I tried to dress a little Spanish to match the food, so perhaps we were nearest thing to Spanish there.

I'm trying to picture you in a mantilla.

Don't be silly - Trubble'd never fit in an envelope! She wouldn't be able to lick the flap from the inside for a start!

[Weyland]

Aug 1, 2010 21:16:05 GMT everso said:

I'm trying to picture you in a mantilla.

The Honour is to Serve . . .

[Weyland]

Aug 2, 2010 0:24:18 GMT Patrick said:

So that's one Plus Vote from Riot - One Minus Vote from Trubble.

Perhaps you should swap restaurants next week!

Hey -- mine's a Plus Vote too.

[trubble]

I went for a more extreme look, Wey & Ev.



Eating tapas can be a messy business.

[trubble]

But it was that or nothing.

And that might have caused even bigger problems.



And as an almost on-topic aside, isn't it interesting that Bull Fighting has been outlawed in one part of the country at least? Catalonia, was it? Of course, most of me is cheering the decision - horrible, cruel sport that it is - but a tiny percentage of my brain also bemoans the start of the loss of an old tradition; I know, it's stupid and wrong of me.

[Patrick]

Aug 2, 2010 9:33:22 GMT Weyland said:

Aug 2, 2010 0:24:18 GMT Patrick said:

So that's one Plus Vote from Riot - One Minus Vote from Trubble.

Perhaps you should swap restaurants next week!

Hey -- mine's a Plus Vote too.

Sorry. Two - One on penalties then.

[trubble]

Aug 1, 2010 19:18:45 GMT @riotgrrl said:

But what did you have to eat Trubs?

I was getting around to that. Between the pair of us we had:

1 bottle red wine
1 chickpeas and spinach in a tomato marinade with pitta bread
1 falafel with garlic & rocket
1 walnut and gorgonzola(maybe?) ravioli in a butter and parmesan dressing
1 dish of warm breads with pesto & hummus dips and semi-sun dried tomatoes
1 dish of olives
1 banoffi
2 coffees (mine was a very good double espresso).

I was considering the patatas bravas but I didn't know what it was and I was full. My dining partner is often vegetarian, depending on the day apparently, so we went for a total vegetarian experience even though I tried to persuade her to order the three fig with goats cheese and serrano ham dish, it sounded lovely.

The whole bill came to €65, the wine was €26 of that.

I didn't try the banoffee but I am assured it was beyond delicious and into the next realm. The ravioli was exquisite. X. Quiz. It. The rest was actually very delicious too, I think I was just slightly disappointed that we seemed to be having a middle eastern eating experience, like meze, when I had gone to extreme bother of wearing faux roses in my long spanish hair.

Ev, I have discovered that tapas is just what we call 'starters', just as hors d'oeuvres is what we call 'nibbles' and petit-fours is what we call free supermarket samples.

The tapas size is starter size, so you are just ordering a couple of starters to share really. And then a dessert. Skipping the proper meal. The type of behaviour we used to get in trouble for when we were kids.

It's naughty dining.

It's all a bit amuse-bouche and then suddenly you realise you are full-estomache. I didn't really give it a thumbs down, I just wasn't wowed off my stool, but I bet I'll try it again so it's a gentle thumbs up actually. I think that when it comes to tapas dining, the company is the most important part of the meal, and mine was good.

[Weyland]

Aug 2, 2010 9:53:22 GMT trubble said:

But it was that or nothing.

And that might have caused even bigger problems.

I prefer the nothing option, plus a mantilla. (I was going to say fan as well, but that might be open to misinterpretation.)

[everso]

Aug 2, 2010 9:53:22 GMT trubble said:

Of course, most of me is cheering the decision - horrible, cruel sport that it is - but a tiny percentage of my brain also bemoans the start of the loss of an old tradition; I know, it's stupid and wrong of me.

I feel the same way too. I hate any cruelty to animals but, at the same time, bullfighting has always been so representative of Spain (in much the same way as fox hunting has always represented the UK - well England I suppose) that you find yourself regretting the passing of these old traditions.

Bring back cock fighting I say!

[everso]

Trubbs, I think Patatas Bravas might be wild potatoes.

[trubble]

Aug 2, 2010 11:09:40 GMT everso said:

Aug 2, 2010 9:53:22 GMT trubble said:

Of course, most of me is cheering the decision - horrible, cruel sport that it is - but a tiny percentage of my brain also bemoans the start of the loss of an old tradition; I know, it's stupid and wrong of me.

I feel the same way too. I hate any cruelty to animals but, at the same time, bullfighting has always been so representative of Spain (in much the same way as fox hunting has always represented the UK - well England I suppose) that you find yourself regretting the passing of these old traditions.

Bring back cock fighting I say!

Trust you.

I went to a favourite pizza restaurant tonight. No wild potatoes, in fact the menu has got rather sparse since the recession, but the best pizzas for miles around - very thin and very tasty. Likewise the waiter. I had the Meditteranea - courgettes and feta and roasted red peppers and garlic. Very good. And the bruschetta to start. Food €20. Wine, house red, quaffable, a bottle (€18) shared, excellent espresso, hence my sudden awakeness, zambuka (spelling), not flaming due to H&S but I did my best to light it without burning my hand, face and hair. The zambuka was free, the music was free - don't it make my brown eyes blue and my baby just cares for me etc - and that's a nice part of the recession. Then into the tavern nextdoor for a nightcap, where there was free music - red red wine and a harmonica and it got a bit hazy then. Then I clicked my heels and got here. Nice evening.

[Deleted]

Wine, house red, quaffable, a bottle (€18)

Bloody hell -that sounds dear !

[trubble]

Not in Dublin, it aint.

We can't buy a drinkable anything from the off license for less than a tenner. You don't know your luck in the UK. Wine is dirt cheap there and you all complain.

[Patrick]

Aug 7, 2010 0:00:05 GMT trubble said:

I went to a favourite pizza restaurant tonight. No wild potatoes, in fact the menu has got rather sparse since the recession, but the best pizzas for miles around - very thin and very tasty. Likewise the waiter. I had the Meditteranea - courgettes and feta and roasted red peppers and garlic. Very good. And the bruschetta to start. Food €20. Wine, house red, quaffable, a bottle (€18) shared, excellent espresso, hence my sudden awakeness, zambuka (spelling), not flaming due to H&S but I did my best to light it without burning my hand, face and hair. The zambuka was free, the music was free - don't it make my brown eyes blue and my baby just cares for me etc - and that's a nice part of the recession. Then into the tavern nextdoor for a nightcap, where there was free music - red red wine and a harmonica and it got a bit hazy then. Then I clicked my heels and got here. Nice evening.

Tapas one week! Pizza the next!

So Rich!!!!!!

We have to wait for the half price text vouchers from the local radio station before we can eat out these days!

[Weyland]

Aug 7, 2010 0:10:17 GMT trubble said:

Not in Dublin, it aint.

We can't buy a drinkable anything from the off license for less than a tenner. You don't know your luck in the UK. Wine is dirt cheap there and you all complain.

I hardly ever drink wine, and it looks ridiculously expensive here. Much cheaper in Holland or Germany.

Your turn, Alan.

[aubrey]

The best part of the tradition of bullfighting is when the matadors get gored. I'm sure that could be arranged without a bull having to be present.