Cafe Barcelona – Small Plates On Granville!

During my years of eating, my brain and stomach have collectively compiled a list of dishes and/or cuisines that are now in a ‘must have once a month’ category.  It has it’s mainstays, such as Indian food and a reallllly great burger etc…, but occasionally a new ’satisfier’ creeps in.  Who knew?  Apparently, I love tapas.

I visited Cafe Barcelona last week…what a way to eat!  It’s small, different bites all the time, and I love that everything comes in an authentic, Spanish ceramic dish.

Man, did I ever get to sample lots!  I had ‘grilled red bell pepper and eggplant, topped with goat cheese’. Basically, I spooned the works on a little, crispy, toasted crostini.  It was soft, flavourful, creamy, salty, and a really nice start.  This was followed by beef and pork meatballs in a red pepper and tomato sauce.  Yum.  Next, on a toothpick was an anchovie, a gerkin, an olive, and a green bean, all to be eaten in one bite.  I normally would be somewhat hesitant with anchovies, but the previous items went so well that I just had to.  The flavour combo was a perfect match and I would easily recommend it and have it again!  Again, on toothpicks were disc shaped octopuses (new for me…usually deep fried), on softened potatoes of the same shape with the entire one-biter sprinkled with lovely smoked paprika.  The depth of textures and flavours were simple, yet addictive.  Lastly, I had the basque chorizo style sausage and potato cake.  It’s like Spanish style meat and potatoes….mmmm.

There are many good reasons to like tapas and the general idea of smaller plates.  I mean, you get to try a little of everything, which opens up so much more of the menu.  If you went with a group of 6 or 8, you could literally order 90% of the menu while still feeling like you had a satisfying meal.  Cafe Barcelona delivers on all fronts for me – flavour, concept, budget friendly and location.    I’ll be back.  Enjoy your tapas!