Barcelona, Spain: Tickets

As one infamous restaurant closes, another one emerges. Tickets is the latest venture of the Adria brothers in Barcelona, Spain. Make no mistake, Tickets is not elBulli 2.0 or a dummy down version of it. It's essentially a tapas restaurant plain and simple. I was pleasantly surprised that the dishes looked "normal". Hubs will always ask me if we're going to eat "weird" food so I'm happy to report that everything was delicious and the dishes were gorgeous to look at.

When we got to the restaurant, a doorman was standing outside taking names and making sure patrons had reservations. I believe only 100 seats are available each night. It was around 9:30pm and the place seemed half full. Peak time started around 10:30pm.

Right away we were escorted to our seats which were right in front of the bar. I was ecstatic because I didn't request it and we got to see the chefs in action. There were different stations for various types of tapas but unfortunately I didn't feel like taking photos of each one. Why? 1. We're foreigners who can't speak the language and 2. We're not in America where food paparazzi is the norm. I was seriously afraid of getting kicked out especially with my big camera.

The decor was whimsical and fun. There were these gold cats waving its paw back and forth. The best part of it all, a wide screen TV! And it was on the Discovery Channel or something similar. How cool is that! No pretentiousness what so ever. Oh yeah, no dress code either. Another plus!

This is the cover of the menu. Very creative and hilarious.

Since the menu is partly in Spanish, we opted for a tasting of dishes. Basically, we allowed our server to pick and choose the best dishes he felt we would like minus any dishes we deemed food allergies/dislikes. In this case it was sea urchin.

My drink of choice this evening was Clara which consists of beer and lemonade. This version was AWESOME! I couldn't help but have two. I wanted to have three but I had to stay sober for the taxi ride back.

So on to the food!

1. Joselito Grand Reserva Iberian ham

2. Nuestro pan de cristal con tomate (bread with spread tomato)

3. The verdial or marinated gordal olives

The olives came in this container and we were given two more servings. Hubs had to fish them out with a spoon since I didn't trust myself in doing it without breaking them.

4. Mini airbags stuffed with manchego cheese

5. 1' 40" quail eggs with migas (bread stew)

6a. Jamon de toro: Home-salting tuna belly painted with Iberian cured ham fat

6b. Bread sticks

7. Avocado Galician crab cannelloni with sour cream and light romesco sauce

8. Raw oysters with its pearl and sea lettuce juice

9. Raw oysters with sherry vingar, shallot and virgin olive oil

10. Half roast bonito

11. Grilled razor clams with ginger, cayanne pepper and lemon air

12. Atadito de Calamar

13. Pork neck with mustard in a bun

14. Comfit potato in olive oil with pork rib sauce and Iberian boiled ham

15a. Pastel tibio de almendras: almond cake

15b. Raspberry sorbet

16. White chocolate and black sesame lava rock

After 16 courses, we were full and Hubs said no more. We ended our meal with a small shot glass of pacharan, a homemade digestif made of hibiscus flower, orange juice and vodka.

The damage? 175,70 EUR which is equivalent to $244.00. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be given the cost of a tasting at miniBar is $125 without tax and gratuity. All and all, it was a great meal and I wish we had enough energy to go next door to 41 Degrees to try their cocktails and appetizers. I guess there's always next time.