Tapas 24

Tapas 24 crops up in the Top 5 contemporary tapas list in the most recent Rough Guide; Timeout also recommends it as a place to go and had me hooked with blurb on the famous "bikini" sandwich so of course, we had to go and try it out. My "secret" strategy was to head there a fraction early for lunch and luck was on our side, we strolled in and immediately bagged some seats by the bar :)

Tapas 24 is owned by Carles Abellan, who trained under Ferran Adrià at El Bulli. He has a swisher restaurant called Comerç 24 serving more contemporary style cuisine whereas Tapas 24 is more casual, serves good quality tapas and was perfect for a leisurely lunch. Once again, I was struggling with the specials menu (the regular menu is translated into English) and our waiter patiently explained all the dishes to us - we really have been spoilt by the level of service here!!

Despite being located in a basement, the resto is surprisingly light and airy - there is a combo of bar and table seating, I would recommend the former to really soak up the atmosphere (JD's preference is the bar every time!). Getting a close-up view of the kitchen also makes you appreciate the skill and speed of the chefs working away. Yummy food as expected, a little pricier at 45  yoyos but to be expected as you are just around the corner from swanky Passeig de Gràcia :)

 Pan amb tomaquet, Russian salad and ham croquetas

 Croquetas were perfectly crispy on the outside with a velvety, creamy interior - yum!

The famous bikini - decadent sambo with melted cheese, ham and black truffle. Very, very good! Can't help but think this was where Jason Atherton got his inspiration from for his truffled croque monsieur? (which at the time, had the judges from Great British menu fawning all over him)

 Special of duck eggs, bacon and spuds - simple, tasty and Spain on a plate

A queue building up - best to arrive before 2pm if coming for lunch :)