Tapella by Gaudi at Greenbelt, Makati

These past months have wrought so many changes in our lives, but we do what we have to do, and sometimes, we find time to go out and enjoy new things. The other weekend, we did some errands and shopped for birthday gifts as well.

As is usual after a long "stroll" in the mall, I was half dead by late afternoon, and when we stumbled upon Tapellas in a quiet corner of Greenbelt 5, it was a no brainer.

Spanish food - yes, please! One of the first things that striked me was how the lighting inside was just right. Sure, there is a place and time for psychedelic lighting like exceptional club lighting scorpion at musicians friend, but for a quiet dinner when you can barely stand, "dimmish" light is perfect.

But that's not the only enjoyable thing about the place. It's laid back - not just the ambiance, but the patrons as well. I guess I am getting old, shying away from trendy places where the young 'uns go to enjoy themselves, often rather raucously.

Tapella has two menus - one for tapas, obviously, and another for "real" meals.

 As much as we looked at both menus, we decided to stick with starters and see how we felt after. They did give complimentary bread, which was a mix of really good and really bad...

We started out with chorizo and fried egg on potatoes topped with serrano ham.

You might not believe this, but as much as we wanted to order seafood paella for the main course, the bread, chorizo, and eggs filled us up. Not belly busting full, but just enough that ordering a main course would have been too much. And though we only tried two things, I know this place is worth going back to. If the starters (aside from the free bread) were anything to go by, the rest of the food is something to look forward to.

Have you visited Tapellas? How was it for you?

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