Las Ramblas

Tapas tends to add up, which is why I was shocked that our bill at Las Ramblas was startlingly cheap.  Five of us went to this tiny West Village spot to celebrate Beth's birthday and even though we paid for Beth's portion of the tab (which included six dishes and a pitcher of sangria) it only came to $15/person (plus tip).

The first dish to come out was the tortilla espanola, what they call an omelette with aioli.  It was like a giant slice of layered potato cake - a gratin held together with egg instead of cheese.  Based on the description, this is something I have always overlooked on Spanish tapas menus so I'm glad one of the girls made the executive decision to order it for the table.  It was my favorite for the evening and I will definitely gravitate towards it on future tapas outings.  My second favorite dish was the shrimp in a white wine and garlic sauce.  The shrimp were fine, but I would have just ordered the sauce for bread sopping.  The patatas bravas were wonderful as always.  I'm not sure why people forget to order this at Spanish restaurants.  Perhaps it is because it is often listed under sides instead of with the other dishes, but the pimenton aioli that is always drizzled on top makes these potatoes anything but ordinary.  Calamari is a crowd pleaser, and these were not overly breaded, though they didn't stand out.  The chicken empanada was good but not as special as the other dishes.  Finally, we ordered a spinach dish that was basically the cheesiest creamed spinach I've ever had...which means it was some of the best.

It's rare to get out so cheap at a tapas place.  Rarer still to manage such a feat in the West Village.  Las Ramblas may not be as good as someplace like Boqueria, but the deal factor makes it zoom several spots up on the tapas list.