Date Night Eats #1: Barlata Tapas Bar (Oakland)

04.26.14  at 4: 55 pm Sunny but Very Windy

It was my guy’s idea to hit up two restaurants instead of one during date night. Brilliant idea,

I thought! And a tapas bar is the perfect place to start. With small plates, we thought we will have enough tummy space for the next one.

We have been to Barlata few times before but it was always at night. I never appreciated how nice it looks inside until today. The place transported us back to Spain with the legs of ham hanging on the ceiling and tapas menu on the black board on the wall.

When at a tapas bar, I always have to try the sangria. The first glass I had was bad. It was watered down and tasted old. The second glass was so much better. It still could not beat the best sangria I had which was in Madrid but there was a nice a balance between the fruit juice and wine.

We got to Barlata during Happy Hour but except for the calamari and sangria, we ordered from the regular menu.  We had:

• Gambas Ajillo (shrimp with garlic)
• Calamares (squid)
• Chorizo with chickpeas

The complimentary bread was hot, fresh and delicious. It came with a side of olive oil with herbs. I have long stopped touching even looking at breads when dining out I could not resist this one.

At this point, I was already stuffed, but we had to keep going because that was the whole idea for today’s date night. Could not chicken out at this point!

Verdict:

Barlata is okay. It was not bad nor spectacular. There are so many better ones in the City but we are glad that there is traditional Spanish tapas place in our hood. Barlata is a fun place to go on a beautiful sunny day like today to grab a couple of tapas and enjoy a glass of sangria.

$49 including tip

Date Night Eats Part 2: Cholita Linda

I’ve had better but enjoyable:  ♡ ♡ ♡