My sister, Carmen, was visiting and we decided to try tapas for dinner. So, Anna, Carmen, and I headed to Clayton to try BARcelona Tapas.
Anna was trying to be good, so she started with a house salad. It was big and full of veggies. The vinaigrette dressing was good.
I was NOT trying to be good, so Carmen and I started with a cocktail. Carmen tried the rose sangria. It was flavorful and had chunks of apple in it that really added to the "nose" (aroma). She liked it. I had a "Paloma Margarita" which the menu says is a margarita made with grapefruit juice. It was good, but it tasted like a normal margarita...I couldn't really taste any grapefruit. I was kind of disappointed the drinks came out in plastic cups. The decor of this place was definitely not high end (it had a Spanish feel with colorful tiles on the tables, etc, but the plastic cups made it feel more like a college bar. (Maybe that is why BAR is capitalized in there name...who knows??).
We ordered a whole array of tapas and didn't actually order any entree or paella. The paellas on the menu sounded good, but by the time we were finished with our tapas, we were full. Here are some of the things we ate:
This was a selection of 3 Spanish sausages in a sauce that looks like mustard but wasn't. They were all split and grilled. Some were better than others.
These were bacon wrapped dates filled with goat cheese. I love dates, and I love goat cheese. The bacon kind of overpowered the flavor of both of those. They were covered in a balsamic reduction. If you love bacon...these would be good. I just wish the bacon flavor had been less.
This was a mushroom dish. They were sautéed garlic and maybe a touch of wine. There really wasn't much to them. They kind of tasted like canned mushrooms that had been heated up and sautéed in some garlic.
These were roasted brussel sprouts. They were roasted enough, but they weren't really roasted well. They were kind of greasy. They also didn't have much flavor. They need salt and maybe a little acid (balsamic??). I've had roasted brussel sprouts that were much better than these.
These were crispy artichokes. They had been breaded and fried. They had some melted manchego cheese on them. There was also a couple of dipping sauces. These were done really well. They were hot, crispy and not greasy. Dipped in the marinara they were wonderful!
This was probably our favorite...it was called Queso de Cabra. It was goat cheese (that tasted a lot like ricotta) in a tomato sauce with garlic bread. Carmen and I enjoyed this a lot. Anna doesn't like ricotta cheese, so this was not her cup of tea.
Overall the meal was good. The service was good and the place was nice. I'd come back and try some different things next time.
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