Taller de Tapas

It's difficult to make a decision on where to eat when wandering the rambling streets of Barcelona; lovely tapas peek their little toothpicks at you as you peer into tapas bar after tapas bar. Fortunately, a friend of C's recommended this place, and we took it as our reference to the taste of the city.

My personal favorite was the sausages braised in beer, but we shared many tasty treats (and a few carafes of sangria) to while away the afternoon. I was interested to see a menu for tapas, since in my limited Spanish experience have been a sort of point and grab ordering system. Which I prefer. Usually I want to spy around the other tables to see what dishes look the best; I find my mental image of things often greatly outshines the reality- leading to disappointment in the worst cases. Since the visual is a not underestimated element of meal enjoyment, I don't think it wrong to ask for a preview. Have you seen the ubiquitous plastic food representations in the windows of Japanese restaurants? They've got it right- even if the food isn't true to the shellacked version. I can't say the same thing for NY Delis and Chinese restaurants- sometimes you're glad your sesame chicken isn't tinged with blue like the image above the counter. Anyway, Taller de Tapas was kind enough to supply this brilliant menu, from which we of course wanted to order everything. I believe 5 dishes sufficed, punctuated by a delicious paella. Click on the menu to see the other pages in their entirety.