Top Tapas Experience In Spain - What To Try

 Tapas

 If you don't have the time, money and appetite for a three course, leisurely dinner, Spain has tapas bars. Two pieces of tapas per person is probably enough. You can finish with another, third sweet one. But if you go late, they might run out of desserts! 

In Spain, just ask your hotel concierge for the nearest tapas bar.

Valladoid

We had wonderful tapas in Valladolid on our last stop on the way back to Bilbao to catch our ferry.

Imperial Hotel

We were only there one night, so we stayed at a central and therefore expensive hotel, the Imperial. It was old-fashioned. Muted colours.

Tapas bar was within walking distance of our Hotel Imperial which was by the large central square in, Valladoid. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Imperial Hotel restaurant was closed for Sunday evening. So we had to eat out, which proved to be a blessing.

Map & Walking Tour

The hotel had a nine plus rating from Booking.com  The chatty man on reception gives you a map and circles the places you can see by walking. So we set off for a one hour walk, first down the alley to the main square. 

Then down the road to see the magnificent giant old buildings and museums and statues. 

Angela Lansbury by the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, in Valladoid, Spain.

We could not see the museums, which were closed Sunday evening and all day Monday and I had waned to see something connected with Spain's renowned author, known worldwide. I was initially disappointed that the building connected with him was closed.

However, I was delighted to get a picture of the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. Cervanes was he source of he well known often quoted proverb:

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

In AZ quotes I found what Cervantes said about food:

There is no sauce in the world like hunger.

All sorrows are less with bread.

It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck (pack) of salt with a friend before he knows him.

A peck is a term hardly known and used by the public in English nowadays. A peck, was, and is, a technical term, not a pinch but a large amount. So I have added a similar word translated into English to convey clarity of the large size.

Tapas & Temptation

Tapas containing shellfish (shrimp or prawn) left, tapas with large mushroom, right. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Back to the Hotel Imperial, we asked the receptionist for a recommendation for a restaurant or tapas bar. We were near the end of our holiday, so it was time to try tapas. 

He sent us to Jero, which provided a real tapas bar experience. A tapas bar is a snack bar. 

A tapas bar was a bit like a British pub. You can order wine by the glass. You fight for a seat at a table with chairs. 

Many people are happy to perch on bar stools, at high tables, or drinking uncomfortably bent over barrels. Some even eat standing up.

Jero Tapas bar, Valladoid, Spain Photo by Angela Lansbury.

 Go to the Bar to give your order order at the bar. Maybe get called to collect it. Noisy, rushed, fun.

I had had my eye on the tapas which was a green mound of mashed up avocado. But the waiter reported from the chef that it contained shellfish.

How could I call it the best tapas experience, if I had had no other experience? 

Firstly, I looked at tapas in the bar of the next hotel.

Secondly, you know by the freshness of the flavour whether you rate your food highly.

I also liked the wine they found for me. Low alcohol and sweet.

The next night in Spain restaurant next to our hotel in Bilbao also served tapas. But Jero had had the local Spanish atmosphere.

Useful Websites

Jero bar and restaurant Valladolid, Spain on Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor (2,820) · Mediterranean, Spanish · €€

Calle Correos 11, 47001, Valladolid

+34 983 35 35 08

London's tapas restaurants

https://www.thefork.co.uk/restaurants/london-c665790/city-of-london-a4629/tapas-t323

wikipedia tapas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapas

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