Feeling peckish at night when in Barcelona? Then look no further and head for some Tapas at Taxapela Restaurant located in the heart of the city at Placa Catalunya!
We arrived in Barcelona well past midnight and didn't want to settle with fast food even though Macdonalds was situated near our hotel. We decided to walk around to see what's still opened and found a gem!
What is Tapas?
Tapas is considered an appetiser and snack that people usually eat before their actual dinner (9 to 11pm, yes it's that late), or even combined many plates to form an actual meal. Since dinner is that late, most people often go bar-hopping to try out a few tapas before making their way to their dinner place. Much like the coffee culture in Vienna, when you head to Spain, you'll definitely have to indulge in their #tapas culture.
We were really secretly delighted to know that the Spanish eats 5 meals a day. When travelling, we often eat that many or even more a day (eeks!). And the fact that tapas are small servings of mains, we really liked that we could try more as compared to have one huge main dish! Most tapas are also served with a brioche (perhaps to fill you up?)
You can find tapas all over Spain but when it is late at night your best bet is Txapela. They have four outlets in Spain; three in Barcelona and one in Madrid. We walked into the restaurant and were pleasantly greeted by the staff, Hola! After going through tons of matter-of-fact greetings by the Hungarians when we were in Budapest, it was a refreshing change. Ah, how we missed our days in Madrid and we were very glad to be back in Spain.
The tapas at Txapela
Like most Tapas restaurants, you can choose from a variety of hot or cold tapas selections. You can find all the tapas on the red menu where your plate sits, with the descriptions below. Should you need an English menu, they will be delighted to hand you one. They also have some specials where they would write it on the chalkboard in the restaurant.
We ordered about 6 or so dishes and they were served shortly after. These were the ones we've ordered:
2. Vitoria (2.05 euros) - This was shrimp rolled in vermicelli then deep fried, served on a brioche, yummy!
18. Sagardoa (2.30 euros) - chorizo sausage (I think)
26. Pulled pork (2.30 euros) x 2 - I think the name explains everything, we loved the sweet sauce of the pulled pork and ordered an additional serving thereafter!
32. Iberic (2.70 euros) x 2 - I loved Iberico ham, I had to have it whenever I'm in Spain. I can have it for all meals! (You may also be interested in the best Iberico Ham in Madrid as I wrote quite extensively about what Jamon Iberico is in the post!)
40. Inaki (2.60 euros) - This was a taco filled with raw tuna in hoisin sauce
Specials - We also ordered a smoked salmon sandwich which was part of their special menu.
Even though each dish costs from 1.90 euros to about 2.70 euros, they can add up to quite a bit.
We also ordered a beer to share, to wash down the greasy tapas. We walked out of the restaurant with our bellies full, and anticipated a great start to our Barcelona leg! :)
So, if you are wondering about Plaza Catalunya at night, perhaps head down to Txapela for some tapas and a beer or two!
Txapela Restaurant
http://www.txapelarestaurant.com
Plaça Catalunya, 8, 08002 Barcelona (two more outlets on Passeig de Garcia)
Open every day from 7:30 am to 12:30 am, Friday and Saturday till 01:30 am
Nearest metro: Plaza Catalunya
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