What people get wrong about tapas
Time to tidy up a few misconceptions around the Spanish sharing plates, tapas.
- Tapas are (the singular is tapa) a specific type of food served on small plates, like patatas bravas or chorizo. Wrong. It’s really about the style of eating, rather than specific dishes. At El Pirata, Mayfair’s friendly neighbourhood restaurant, ‘sliders’ have turned up on the tapas menu – and those are, well, American mini burgers about 5cm across. They slide down a treat.
Spanish Sharing Plates Mediterranean Restaurant London
- The Spanish eat tapas every day. Wrong. Tapas are usually served in bars when you’re ‘out-out’ meeting friends or at family get-togethers and celebrations.
- Tapas are meant to be a full meal. Wrong. You can, of course, make a full meal out of several tapas dishes – and people do – but you can also keep it light with a drink and just one or two small tapas. In Spain, revellers bar hop, tasting tapas as they go – but there aren’t that many tapas bars in Mayfair, and El Pirata’s customers tend to order dishes that they share with friends and colleagues on a long evening out.
- Tapas are always tiny portions. Wrong. They can range from bite-sized nibbles like olives to larger sharing plates known as raciones.
- Tapas always come with sangria. Wrong. They can do, if you ask for sangria, but Spaniards would more often drink beer, wine, vermouth or tinto de varano (a less sweet version of sangria).
If this all sounds rather complicated, why not visit us in Down Street and we’ll make it simple for you – after all a night in a tapas bar is meant to be fun.
