Tabla de Tapas

Our spread.

 More tapas! Ordering the Tabla de Tapas (para compartir - for 2) is always a good idea! And every place has something different on their tapas menu; last night it was pan con jamón serrano (bread with serrano ham and a mayonaisse-based orange sauce), mini american hamburgers with barbeque sauce, bread with goat cheese and pesto, fried white fish with grilled eggplant on skewers, potatoes in a spicy orange sauce, and croquettes.

Bread with Serrano ham and a mayo-type sauce

The Serrano ham is always amazing; I particularly liked this first tapa because of the soft bread and mild flavored orange colored sauce that paired well with the chewy, stronger flavored Serrano ham. 

Sliders (mini-burgers) with Barbeque sauce

The mini burgers were also fun, since they were very much like American sliders. Lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, and barbeque sauce. 

Bread with goat cheese and pesto

The bread with goat cheese and pesto may have been my top pick of the tapas of the night! The goat cheese used was a very, very strong flavored cheese and the pesto was a nice complement on top. The toasted bread served as a base and didn't distract from the cheese or pesto. 

fried white fish with grilled eggplant

As far as fried fish goes, I'm not usually a fan, but this was a far cry from your fried catfish or bluegill. It was a very mild, white fish fried in a batter rather than cornmeal or breadcrumbs. It was skewered with grilled eggplant and was actually very refreshing.

Croquettes

 Croquettes are generally a staple on tapas menus, and these were very good as far as croquettes go. The inside wasn't too moist (to the point were it's gobby) as I've found a lot of the croquettes here to be. Just right.

mini potatoes with a spicy sauce

The potatoes were also amazing, but man...were they SPICY! The orange sauce was a different one used than with the Serrano ham and instead of being mild and cooling, it was probably a 3 on the 1-5 spicy scale. But since it was paired with potatoes (being a starch) the spiciness wasn't overwhelming.

no leftovers. not one.

Between the 2 of us, we managed to clean house with our Tabla de Tapas! I definitely plan on trying all the different varieties I can get my hands on while I'm here in Madrid!