Barcelona...asi asi...

Still feeling hit by the cruise vertigo/virus but not wanting to act like anything was abnormal we made reservations for Saturday night at Barcelona. I was excited because we had a friend coming into town and I remember liking Barcelona last time I was there probably over a decade ago. We were excited by the Restaurant Week special that consisted of 9 tapas + a glass of sangria all for $30. That's a deal considering the last time I was there our bill for 10 people came to about $700. That's probably why it's been so long since I've been back there.
I tried unsuccessfully to capture the menu on my camera yet again but what you see below was the best part of the meal which was the sangria to the right and the first 3 appetizers.


hummus and flatbread, almond gazpacho, and tomato & mozarella

The sangria was tremendous. I've historically not been much of a sangria person but this sangria was tasty not overly sweet and had some bite. I like it lots and would definitely try it again in larger quantities. The hummus to me was standard. The flatbread tasted a little stale to me. Betty and our friend thoroughly enjoyed it. The almond gazpacho was something i've never tasted before and though pasty was very tasty. The tomato and mozarella was simple and very delicious.

At that point i got tired of taking photos on my camera as i was bumped a couple of times by folks because we were packed tightly in and also because the very act of taking photos was disruptive to our table conversation.

The rest of our meal was pretty so so consisting of: a mushroom-sausage dish that was bland and greasy, a chicken and manchego croquette that tasted like a generic wedding appetizer, an overcooked rubbery scallop, another generic salmon salad, lukewarm pathetic meatballs with a bland creamy side sauce, and then pretty tasty asparagus with overcooked shrimp. If I seem lackadaisical it's cause I honestly could care less for the remainder of our meal.

Part of the appeal with Barcelona is the dining atmosphere and feel of the place. You don't feel like you're in the midwest. We had a lot of fun chatting it up and talking about the food that we didn't really care that it wasn't great. Typing up all these posts is making me fret my credit card bill for this month which has yet to come