We were once talking to friends about Portugal and George was encouraging them to come with us there on holiday. He was waxing poetically about the beaches, our favorite museum and, of course, the food, including tapas, little appetizers that are kind of like a Spanish or Portuguese version of Dim Sum. The wife misheard George and said, "I'm not going to any topless bar!" So every time we have tapas, we think of her and laugh.Surprisingly, Freo boasts two Tapas Bars and the American Women's Restaurant Group sampled one last month. (Sorry I'm so far behind on this blog but I'm busy having fun!)
After starting the evening at Jimmie Lynn and Chuck's with awesome martinis, we went to Gypsy Tapas House to enjoy an enticing array of tapas. You can order from the menu there or get a chef's selection of tapas for $35. We elected to try the variety and started with a duo of dips with Turkish bread, chili fried olives, smoked almonds, prosciutto, marinated mushrooms, cornichons (little pickles) and grissini (garlic toasts), Catalan bread, and pickled sardines. Then they brought out calamari with garlic and chili, chorizo and a salad with brie and walnuts. We all thought it was pretty good and a decent value for $35 and were ready to think about dessert and coffee when they brought more food and kept it coming - grilled scallops, tiny roasted potatoes, spicy chicken shanks, garlic mussels, bocconcina stuffed meatballs, a salad with peaches and goat cheese, char grilled lamb, baked herb feta with olives and tomato, char grilled zucchini with lemon and mint, ceviche, and baked herb feta with olives and tomato. They asked us if there was anything we wanted more of and we finally had to tell them to quit bringing food! Almost everything was very good but the lamb, scallops, mussels and salads were to die for.
And, if the food wasn't enough, there was live entertainment, a blues/zydeco band and bellydancers. The band made it a bit difficult to visit but they were good. Quite the bargain evening for $35. Good on ya, Jimmie Lynn, for putting this together!
