Bites From Sala One Nine

 

Raise your hand if you love tapas! *Raising hand* Raise your hand if you love sharing food! Ok, I’m definitely not raising my hand there but I am a big fan of tapas and these two things happen to go hand in hand…like shrimp and grilled bread. Mmmm..

The etymology of tapas is still in question, but the actual word means “top” or “lid”. In Spain, depending on what region, they will have different meanings for tapas. Some say it came from the slices of bread that sherry drinkers would use to cover their drinks to keep flies away from ther sweet sherry. Others say it was a small plate that was used to cover cups to prevent poisoning in between sips. Yikes. Either way..I assume this is now why tapas is commonly known to us worldly Americans as “small plates” and why most of them are served on bread.

I visited a great tapas restaurant in Union Square last night where the sangria was potent and the food was flavorful and not overdone; Sala One Nine is a nice spot for a date or happy hour with friends. I participated in a simple dinner with Ange, and we shared a few tapas dishes. A pitcher of sangria (they have both red and white), and 4 small plates (but pretty filling) came to $95 for both of us including tip. A little pricey maybe, but the food was good and the portions were actually a bit bigger than some tapas restaurants I’ve been to.

Shrimp with almond puree and scallions. Succulent, buttery shrimp lightly seasoned on top of crusty bread? Can’t go wrong.

Sala shrimp 1
SCRIMPS.

Fried. Goat. Cheese. Drizzled. In. Honey. I mean…that’s all you need to know. Ok there were caramelized onions too. Drool. So crispy and warm..the tangy cheese melts in your mouth and you get that sweet finish from the honey. Amazeballs.

Sala goat cheese
Drool.

Roasted veggies with a fried egg on top of grilled bread. Good, but nothing mind blowing, and I love eggs but this just felt like someone shrunk my breakfast. I’d pass on it next time.

Sala Veg Toast

Pork loin topped with piquillo peppers on…bread! Who knew? It doesn’t look like much but the pork was delicious actually – savory, tender and really flavorful. I could have eaten another batch of that but we opted for more sangria instead…dont judge, it was Thursday.

Sala pork
#yumprotein

 

Sala One Nine

35 West 19th Street btwn 5th and 6th aves

Opentable Link: Click here

 

 

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