We try to have date night on Friday night, and although we are not terribly consistent, we get out frequently for a couple of hours and get a bite to eat. Often this is part of a trip to the dry-cleaners, which means we usually buy some hummus and pita bread at the Central Cafe. For a couple of months running we ate hummus every time we went out.
But our most recent obsession has been mussels. Mussels, along with saffron, are one of the few great bargains in Spain. They are one of the cheapest things on the menu, and are usually huge, plumb and meaty! I think this obsession began one night at a new little restaurant in the Barri Gotic called Sinatra (as in Frank). The steamed saffron mussels were to die for and very cheap. But on our last visit to Sinatra, when all the staff welcomed us back, remembered that we didn't order wine, and brought us free appetizers, it occurred to us that maybe we were going there a little too often.
So our latest haunt for mussels has been Tapa Tapa on Passaeig de Gracia. This is something of a tourist place, but the tapas-only menu includes grilled mussels for less than 4 euros, a bargain for anything in Spain! Rather than being steamed, the mussels are grilled in olive oil and are fantastic.
This photo of Tapa Tapa is courtesy of TripAdvisor
I am sorry to say that we have visited Tapa Tapa for the mussels three times in the last four weeks, including last night. But to prove that we are not slaves to habit, we decided to walk around the corner to Tapas 24 for dessert, as the chocolate mousse sounded intriguing.
It was. Rich chocolate mousse bathed in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, accompanied by a small piece of toast. Who thinks of this stuff? A chef from El Bullí, that's who. I think we may have found the next obsession.
