More love for tapas.

Last Friday evening we found ourselves at La Boca again. It's a splurge restaurant for us, and last Friday was not a special occasion other than that Will has been wanting to go there again since we ate there for our meeting anniversary last November.

All I can say is that we always end up spending all of our money on food!

The place is tiny and we didn't have reservations, but we got lucky and found two seats at the bar when we arrived. (Two seats out of a total five bar seats. Lucky!) We ordered some wine (a low end Tempranillo, nothing too remarkable) and the tapa de la casa: catalon olives, marcona almonds and manchego cheese. Simple yet delicious. I would be happy with a glass of wine and just that tapa. We weren't in a big hurry so we took our time deciding what else to get. They had a special Valentine's Day menu plus the usual dinner menu.

There was a couple to our right and an older man to our left. The older man seemed to be a regular at the place and after awhile, I asked him about it. Because that's what I do when we sit at the bar. I talk to people. Which is weird because I am not a big talker, but sit me at a bar and I have this uncontrollable urge to start talking to whoever is closest to us. (Especially when you are practically sitting on top of them.) And for the record, after my first question to him, I did ask if I was bothering him and he said no.

Of course it turns out that he used to be an audio engineer. I swear, this always happens to us. When we took the train back from Milwaukee a couple years ago, everyone we met had some sort of audio engineering connection. And one of the friends we made in Palm Springs was a drummer in a band. So single man at the bar and Will started chatting it up about gear and what not. Also turns out that he lives in Chupadero, right down the road from the studio that Will works at from time to time. Small world.

Anyway, we eventually ordered some more tapas, starting with the arugula salad with drunken goat cheese, avocado, lemon, olive oil and roasted peppers. (Delicious again.) The fried oyster tapa that we shared isn't on the regular menu and I don't remember the details. Fried oysters with some sort of spicy red sauce. Good, but more Will's speed than mine. Next up, the duck. Also on the special menu and hello, how could I resist?! I can never resist duck. It was served with some sort of pomegranate sauce and pureed carrots. It took forever to come since they were so busy (the table patrons get more attentive service) and it was a bit on the rare side (even for duck) but still pretty tasty. Our new friend bought us a glass of wine to have with it because he had the same pairing and quite enjoyed it. And wow, what a difference it made. It was a Malbec and absolutely brought out the flavors of the dish.

After the duck, we decided we had to have the grilled hanger steak with smoked sea salt caramel again. Kind of hard not to when it is so fabulous. The dessert we had was amazing as well. It's not on the regular menu, but it was some sort of chocolate lemon torte with a HUGE dollop of fresh cream on the side. We had the recommended dessert wine with it, a port, I think and it was perfect with the torte. Which was amazing. So amazing that Will actually popped the last bite into his mouth when the last bite was MINE! He's so cute. He did it and then said, "I can't believe I just did that without asking you if you wanted it." Always the gentleman.

It was an excellent meal and a fun time. We like having leisurely dinners when we're out and it was fun to meet someone new. (Dudeman was leaving to Panama the following week, but he wants to check out the recording studio when he gets back so we'll probably meet up again sometime.) And despite the crowded space, it is a nice atmosphere. Lucky for us, we have some friends who have a bit of a hook up there so we are going back again in a few weeks! Sweet!

Okay, I was going to write all my food adventures in one post, but this is already too long. So next up, raclette and dinner with the folks.

A happy weekend to you!