eaten! @tia pol

This past weekend I had a dinner so fabulous, so noteworthy, I just had to write about it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of the food so I had to scour Google images to see if I could at least show you examples of what I ate…if not the actual thing.

Tia Pol | Best.Tapas.Ever

The night started off with wine.  We asked for a recommendation for something light and crisp and we got a bottle of effervescent white wine poured from a few feet above the glass.  The high pour allows air to infuse the alcohol and results in a slightly bubbly light wine.

Next, we attacked the menu.  Luckily, I went with two hungry guys so I think we ended up ordering about 50% of what was on the menu.  No joke.

ensalada de alcachofa
Fried artichoke heart salad with a creamy lemon vinaigrette
The salad was light and the crispy artichokes were delicious! The lemon dressing was a perfect compliment to the artichoke.

Blistered shishito peppers with sea salt
I regretfully passed this dish up in the past, so I knew I had to try them this time around.  The peppers are slightly sweet but still had a bit of an edge.  Serving them with simple sea salt was genius.

croquetas
Ham croquettes
A tapas standard, these croquettes were good.  A lightly fried and crisp exterior gave way to a creamy center of pureed potatoes, cheese, spices and ham.  We also ordered two blue cheese croquettes, but the strong cheese flavor wasn’t my favorite.

pinchos morunos
Lamb skewers
The lamb was cooked perfectly.  It was tender and moist and totally packed with flavor.  Even the bread was crusty and delicious.  I think I’m in love!

gambas a la plancha
Head on shrimp
These were pretty standard whole shrimp.  It was a bit of a chore taking off the shell, but the meat was soft and tasted so fresh!  With a little lemon, truly nature at its best.

txipirones en su tinta
Squid in ink and rice
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this dish.  It looks very intimidating and I’ve never actually tried squid ink.  But I was so pleasantly surprised.  The rice was buttery and helped to soak up all the ink.  There wasn’t a distinct flavor to the ink, it was more subtle and creamy almost…

chorizo con chocolate
Chorizo with bittersweet chocolate and rock salt
This was another daring dish.  I had no idea what to expect, and I was quite hopeful that it would be some amazing explosion of flavors.  The presentation was brilliant.  The chocolate slathered on slides of baguette, topped with sliced chorizo, garnished with rock salt and a few delicate strands of saffron.  The actual taste, however, wasn’t quite so masterful.  I didn’t think the chocolate really blend with the pungent sausage…nonetheless, it was great fun to try!

brandada
Salt cod with mashed potatoes
I’m a huge fan of this dish.  It was so rich and buttery, but the creamy potatoes with the hidden salt cod blended together so perfectly.  I could see myself making this on a cold winter day and digging into it with some crusty baked bread in front of the TV for hours.  It was a total comfort dish and quite possibly my favorite!

torta de santiago
Almond cake with dulce de leche and ice cream
Of course we ordered dessert.  But by this time I was stuffed! The almond cake was good – almost like a pound cake – and of course, who doesn’t appreciate dulce de leche.  But I think the strength lies in savory small plates at Tia Pol.

The only thing I couldn’t find an image for was a plate of small fried bait fish.  Each whole fish was fried lightly and served with some simple lemon.  It was a fun snack, and tasted great.

In retrospect, everything we ate was extremely simple and could have contained 5 or less ingredients.  Perhaps that was the secret behind these downright tasty tapas.  Having dish after dish of wonderfully different and honest flavors come out of the tiny kitchen was delightful.  Every meal should be such a waterfall of small plates.

4.5 stars out of 5 for an excellent meal full of firsts and phenomenal food.

(and a special thanks to all my fellow foodies for taking pictures of everything they eat!)