A “ Menu del Dia” & Free Tapas

Did I mention that tapas are free here with a drink? With every round of drinks, you also get a free and delicious small plate of food. It’s part of the local food culture.

Tapas can range from something as simple as a plate of olives or potato chips to a bowl of stew with bread. In Granada, some of the tapas we ate or saw included fried fish, soup, olives, ham, croquettes and even mini hamburgers.

If you are smart and don’t want to spend money on food all you have to do is order the caña, a small beer, 8-10 oz. It’s not quite equivalent to a can of beer. The benefit of ordering a caña is that it still comes with a plate of tapas. Yes, it’s smaller, but it’s also cheaper. The caña is the perfect companion to tapas. Lol.

Our hostess suggested a great place for tapas in Granada called Las Bodegas Castañeda. It is right in the middle of the old town, just around the corner from Plaza Nueva.

It looks like the kind of place that would be a tourist trap with Its decor - legs of ham ready to be sliced at the entrance, stuffed bull heads, big barrels made into tables and plenty of wood. It looked a bit like a movie set of a tapas bar, designed to bring in tourists. But I think that we were the only tourists there.

So, we went in to get a drink and try their Menu del Dia (menu of the day) , for around $18 Cdn each. We ordered an Alhambra beer and a new drink for me - Tinto de Verano, red wine, soda, lemon and ice. Mmmn. So refreshing. Of course, two tapas came with the drinks called Migas. And olives and toast. Delicious. Will we really need a big lunch?

Next came the menu choices - 5 starters, then 5 main courses and small dessert. Oh, oh.
But we had already walked 8 km and it was 3 pm…

I chose a salad (enough for a meal) and Chris chose a vegetable stew (like ratatouille). Both were so tasty. Can we eat more?

Our main courses were ribs over potatoes and a chicken in sauce dish over couscous. It was so good and I felt like another Tinto de Verano!!! Guess what another tapa came with it - some bean dish that neither of us could even think of eating!

Then a dessert? No way! We got it to take home with us - a small traditional pastry that is soaked in Sherry. We saved that to have later with our tea.

What a meal! We’ll have to walk another 8 km after I recover from my Tintos!Read more