Alright. I'm aboard the Peter Pan bus, there's a woman with a hamster across the aisle, another snapping her fingers like there's no tomorrow, and a ten year-old kicking my seat every three seconds, but I haven't forgotten about you, Dear Readers. This weekend I was in the good ol' CT for a friend's bridal shower but also kept myself pretty busy with a trip to Barcelona in West Hartford, a visit to my friend's organic farm, and managed to make those vegan and gluten-free cookies I was talking about.
But, first things first: I've blogged about Barcelona before. My friend Ian, whom I've known from my days (ok, years) spent toiling away as a waitress at Friendly's, works there. Oh, you didn't know I worked at Friendly's? Yep. I spent longer than I'd like to admit serving up Fribbles and Fishamajigs. I can make a Conehead Sundae like nobody's business though.
Anyways, back to the Barc. (Good nickname, right? I'm trying to make it happen.) It's a Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in tony West Hartford Center. In addition to a full dinner menu, a rotation of seasonal vegetarian and meat-based tapas make up the menu. My favorites include the potato tortilla and the cumin-scented chicken empanadas with avocado puree. My friend Kimmy and I also tried the sunchokes and sugar snap peas, which were also delicious. Sunchokes are the roots of sunflowers, and more commonly known as Jerusalem artichokes. Kimmy thought they looked scary, but we both agreed they tasted delicious.
Now, normally for dessert I go for the churros and hot chocolate. Churros are deep-fried dough covered in cinnamon-sugar--like Spanish doughnuts. Delicious. I usually ask for extra melted chocolate for dipping, because I'm gross. This time, however, I wanted to try something different. Ian recommended the flan, but Kimmy wasn't having it:"Flan tastes like scrambled eggs." This resulted in a back and forth argument with Ian who insisted that most flan does taste like scrambled eggs, but theirs does not.
We ended up ordering a flourless chocolate cake with coconut ice cream. It was decent, but not as good as the churros. When I mentioned this to Ian his response was "Well, of course." Great. Thanks. He then slipped us the flan, insisting that Kimmy try it. "I'm just gonna say I don't like it, even if I do," Kimmy said, unaware that Ian was standing behind her.
Well, we both tried it and we liked it, for real. Better than the chocolate cake, but not the churros. I swear, nothing is as good as them.
As Ian described, it's closer to a creme brulee than a traditional flan and topped with a thin layer of caramel. It had a thick, creamy texture with a custardy, not eggy, taste. Ok Ian, you've won this round.
Next time: I visit an organic farm!
But, first things first: I've blogged about Barcelona before. My friend Ian, whom I've known from my days (ok, years) spent toiling away as a waitress at Friendly's, works there. Oh, you didn't know I worked at Friendly's? Yep. I spent longer than I'd like to admit serving up Fribbles and Fishamajigs. I can make a Conehead Sundae like nobody's business though.
Anyways, back to the Barc. (Good nickname, right? I'm trying to make it happen.) It's a Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in tony West Hartford Center. In addition to a full dinner menu, a rotation of seasonal vegetarian and meat-based tapas make up the menu. My favorites include the potato tortilla and the cumin-scented chicken empanadas with avocado puree. My friend Kimmy and I also tried the sunchokes and sugar snap peas, which were also delicious. Sunchokes are the roots of sunflowers, and more commonly known as Jerusalem artichokes. Kimmy thought they looked scary, but we both agreed they tasted delicious.
Now, normally for dessert I go for the churros and hot chocolate. Churros are deep-fried dough covered in cinnamon-sugar--like Spanish doughnuts. Delicious. I usually ask for extra melted chocolate for dipping, because I'm gross. This time, however, I wanted to try something different. Ian recommended the flan, but Kimmy wasn't having it:"Flan tastes like scrambled eggs." This resulted in a back and forth argument with Ian who insisted that most flan does taste like scrambled eggs, but theirs does not.
We ended up ordering a flourless chocolate cake with coconut ice cream. It was decent, but not as good as the churros. When I mentioned this to Ian his response was "Well, of course." Great. Thanks. He then slipped us the flan, insisting that Kimmy try it. "I'm just gonna say I don't like it, even if I do," Kimmy said, unaware that Ian was standing behind her.
Well, we both tried it and we liked it, for real. Better than the chocolate cake, but not the churros. I swear, nothing is as good as them.
As Ian described, it's closer to a creme brulee than a traditional flan and topped with a thin layer of caramel. It had a thick, creamy texture with a custardy, not eggy, taste. Ok Ian, you've won this round.
Next time: I visit an organic farm!
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