anyway, this tapas place is located right next to the Northwestern campus, so it's rather convenient to go to for a quick Spanish meal. i last came here in summer 2009, and i think my friend and i nearly cleaned the entire place out. the waitress was quite surprised by how much we ordered! i think we were just starving, and everything on the menu looked super appealing at the time.
we started off with an order of their aceitunas rellenas (fried Spanish olives with Chorizo, $3.50).
it tasted quite nice, but it wasn't anything too special. sauce was delicious, but the dish in itself was a bit too salty for my taste.
we also got calamares a la plancha (grilled squid with lemon and olive oil, $6.50).
the pieces of squid were HUGE. this is nothing like normal calamari, where they cut it up into little pieces and fry it.. it was kind of scary to eat, even for someone like me. i avoided the tentacles and stuck with the body; i felt like it lacked a bit of seasoning, but the lemon made it okay (:
next was the allas de pollos picantes (spicy chicken wings with grapes and sherry mayo, $4.50).
i'm not sure what difference between these and buffalo wings really are.. just kidding. again, they were delicious, but nothing amazing - i think i enjoyed the sherry mayo more than the wings itself. it's a good deal though - this is actually a small plate that can make you semi-full!
this is one of their most famous and recommended dishes, queso de cabra con tomate (baked goat cheese with olives and garlic bread, $5.95).
they certainly give you a lot of sauce (and not enough bread)! the way that it's set up makes it very appealing, and the aroma was delicious! maybe i'm being cynical, but i think you could easily whip this up at home if you really wanted to..
one of my favourites of the evening was mejillones plancha (grilled mussels, $6.50).
for how much they give you and how much they charge, this is a brilliant deal. i thought the mussels were cooked very well and they give you an entire ring, served on this pretty platter with the fire still lit underneath. i have a feeling if this restaurant was set in LA or near a coast the dish would taste somewhat better haha...but nonetheless, yum!
finally, the last thing we ordered was an empanada de cordero (lamb empanada, $6.75).
this was probably the most disappointing dish of the evening. i literally had 2 bites of my half and decided it was a no-go. i didn't really like the filling, and the pastry was so thick and pretty much every bite was just crumbled filo dough. i've definitely had better empanadas before.
overall, it's a great place to visit if you have a lot of friends and want to share many different dishes. don't expect to be full, though - you can pay up to $15 a person and will have barely had a sampling of each dish. as for two people...well, it gets rather pricey, but at least your tummy will be satisfied! some things can be a little overpriced, but generally i think this place isn't too shabby!
Tapas Barcelona
1615 Chicago Ave.
Evanston, IL 60201
Evanston, IL 60201
