Take in the Tapas

When you enter a bar/pub/nightclub, you seldom look for anything to wolf down when the munchies strike late...and that’s probably because most pubs, in most cities hardly have what you would call a bar menu. And especially in Chennai, when the ‘snack items’ solely consist of peanut masala, and potato chips, one longs for something that fills the stomach and doesn’t burn a hole in the pocket!

I’ll agree and tell you straight off that I’m a big fan of Zara, the tapas bar in Chennai, but honestly, I have always gone here more for the alcohol and ambience…with the food usually taking a backseat.

So, after a particularly long night of drinking, and being hung over so bad that I swore never to drink for the next six months, I found myself cluelessly sitting with a bunch of friends at Zara on a Saturday night. Unfortunately, while they are wining (read wine-ing), I’m reduced to whining and cribbing about the demerits of alcohol (these phases come once in a blue moon, otherwise I’m out protesting every TASMAC strike).

With nothing better to do, I decide to do a quick dekko of their fancy bar menu and settle down comfortably after ordering a couple of tapas; I’m going to get high on food you see! What hits me as I order is how everything seems strangely ‘foreign’, which must mean they are authentic right. The manager quickly explains to me the concept of Spanish finger food and even throws in some unpronounceable names for my benefit.

Mighty embarrassed, I decide to start off with something they call pinchos. Simply put, pincho is the blood relative of a bruschetta (flat pieces of crisp toast with a host of toppings). Trying to figure out what the actually difference between the two was, I approached Sebastian (their bartender who is a native of Espaniol) and he sat me down on what seemed like an education lesson; of course the fact that he gave me food to stuff my face as we spoke only made it better.

Pinchos (spelled pintxos in Basque) in Navarre, the Basque Country, gets its particular name because many of the tapas in this region are held together with a pincho or toothpick through them. The toothpick is used to keep whatever the snack is made of from falling off the slice of bread it is attached to and to keep track of the number of tapas the customer has eaten. While I much preferred the regular tomato and basil one, my friend couldn’t stop raving about the crab and prawn meat version.

Now armed with a mission to try all things that sounded alien to me, we ordered a host of other tapas like prawns and pasta salad, chorizo and chick peas, lamb meat balls and mushrooms in red wine. Now that I have been educated, I must tell you that 95% of the dishes on this menu are extremely true to its Spanish original. And that’s why the food stands out. Because you will find no chicken tikka masala, chilli chicken type nonsense on this menu.

While I’m not a big fan of beans, the way it was combined with the tart chorizo really made me beg for more. The mushrooms though, were by far my most favourite dish – succulently cooked in a red wine reduction and laced with garlic and pimentos, I was so taken by this dish I threatened the management for the recipe. There are certain things on this menu that are absolute fan favourites – like the amazing Manchego cheese platter, which is served with toast and olives; or the prawns with chilli flakes and olive oil – quite a crowd pleaser because it comes in the same pot it was cooked in!

Like I said before, I’m a huge Zara fan…that being said, I also know that there are things on the menu I won’t probably try again, but it was worth a shot the first time around. Suitably stuffed and extremely satisfied I turn to my drinkers friends and sigh!  How I would kill for that perfect glass of sangria now! Aperitif anyone?