El Pirata Detapas

Earlier in the week, I had dinner at El Pirata Detapas, a Spanish restaurant with a menu that aims to play with traditional tapas dishes, giving touches of modern flavours and textures.

I was delighted to be presented with some really good olives (they had an almost anchovy-like flavour), given that so often restaurant olives can be disappointing. Despite the obvious contemporary trends running through the menu, I felt compelled towards my favourite tapas and couldn't resist getting the black risotto and the piquillo pepper and idizabal cheese croquetas. The risotto was delicious, with a great consistency, amazing black colour and deep flavour. The croquetas were unfortunately a let-down: inside the crispy case was a strange spongy filling, not the oozing delight that the dish needs.

I particularly liked the seared tuna served with an ajoblanco sauce. The fish was wonderful, very lightly seared so that it was like sashimi, and the ajo blanco had a slightly grainy texture and subtle nutty taste which went very well. We were still licking the plate when the waiter took it away!

Roasted figs that were topped with a cheese foam and served with raspberry vinaigrette were quite tasty, but very sweet. I think that this disguised the cheese too much, making the flavour combination less interesting.

I very much enjoyed the cheese board, with a range of different styles of cheese: from a strong blue which was delicious with the thinly sliced apple, to a lighter and more grassy cheese, and of course the classic, manchego with membrillo - unbeatable.

Their crema catalana was served in two ways, one more traditional and the other more light and fluffy. Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of either - they both had an overwhelming heap of honey which, for me, make the dish rather sickly. I think I would have preferred the real deal, done well.

It was a mix of ups and downs, but I really liked the good dishes, and with very friendly staff and a warm atmosphere, it was an enjoyable evening.

La Boqueria & Lab G

Today me and my mum went for tapas at La Boqueria for lunch, as a foodie Mother's Day treat! Located on Acre Lane in Brixton, it was just a quick cycle ride for us to get there. It's named after the famous market in Barcelona, and features a section on the menu called "de mercado", which lists the more unusual dishes.

We started off with some "pan con tomate" (bread rubbed with olive oil and garlic, then topped with tomato), which brought us back to idyllic holidays in Spain, where we had it for breakfast every day! These were very light and refreshing.

I really liked one of the day's specials, king prawns sautéed al pil-pil (in a garlic-y sauce), with fresh spinach, which were full of flavour.

I liked these aubergine cannelloni too, which were filled with mushrooms, topped with goats cheese, and then drizzled with balsamic, which brought through a delicious sweet taste.

Another great special was this roast cod, which had a lovely flakey texture, and was served with sweet roast peppers.

We also had some great cheese croquetas, made with manchego and goats cheese, which had a beautiful creamy texture and flavour, with a crispy 'shell'.

A tapas meal wouldn't be complete without calamares. These were quite good and fairly crispy, but not the best I've had - perhaps better eaten by the sea!

For dessert, we shared a tasty "Crema Catalana" - with a crispy caramelised top hiding creamy custard.

After discussing the possibility of flamenco dancing on the perfectly suitable wooden floor with our charming waiter, we headed off the finish the outing with an ice cream at Lab G in Brixton Village. I had the salted caramel and pineapple flavours - the salted caramel is definitely a winner!