El Fuego Negro - success!

I am proud to say that we finally made it out to the Fuego Negro, one of the top 25 tapas restaurants in Spain...and probably in the world.

It was not easy, my friend and I had to struggle and fight against major natural forces to get there; gail force winds, torrential rain and...well we were pretty much in a hurricane. But we pushed through and thank goodness we did, it was worth it!

This place was just the thing we needed after the tourist-type places we had become accustomed to in Barcelona. It was small, dimly lit with red accents embedded in the otherwise earthy interior. There was a nice bar area and a dining area in the back. My friend and I installed ourselves at the bar and were given an english menu. We then proceeded to order a 'dirty salad', a mini kobe beef burger on a sweet potato bun, cod with cauliflower puree and curry sauce and vegetable tempura.

The plates arrived as they were ready. The burger was divine, juicy and perfectly cooked, the salad was a bit too salty for me, but perhaps that is why they called it the 'dirty salad'. The cod was unbelievably fresh tasting and the puree and curry complimented it beautifully. My poor mouth didn't really know what to make of the pure tastes it was being subjected to. Clearly this place uses only regional ingredients. The vegetable tempura was good, it too was very fresh tasting, but I personnaly would not recommendhave tempura in a tapas restaurant. After these dishes we were still curious about some of the others so we ordered the garlic risotto which was sublime and came with some crunchy pieces of rice which added to the textures. We also ordered this crazy sounding ham dish which without the slightest hint of a doubt won the award for the best dish... that I have ever experienced.

I will try my best to explain it...it was three little pieces of lightly cooked ham breaded in an almond cookie crust and accompanied by an espresso cup filled with this unbelievable coffee/almond gravy, topped with steamed milk. You would dip the ham in the sauce and put the saturated piece of meat into your mouth and pretty much have an orgasm. That's the best I can do.

I am so glad that we made it out against all odds to this restaurant, and I see why it is such a huge deal. If there is one place you get to in Spain, please make it this one!