Doing the Tapas Tango in Palamos

What’s the best way to spend your last night in Spain? Doing the tapas tango by going from one bar to the next while socializing, eating, and drinking with your new friends! Tapas are appetizers, deep fried foods, and little culinary wonders on crusty pieces of bread. Grab a plate and don’t worry about paying until you’re ready to move on to the next bar on your tapas crawl.

We began our tapas tango in the heart of the Old Town at La Taverna Godard. Tapas of the day, displayed on the counter, are sold by the piece with a count of your toothpicks when you ask for la cuenta (the bill). The menu also has cooked-to-order tapas and I highly recommend the patatas bravas, white potatoes cut up and fried in oil and served with a spicy tomato sauce. These were the best I had in my 10 days in Spain.

The tapas tango continued to my favorite tapas bar of the night: Tauernes Urtau. Here the tapas were practically art! I filled my plate with fried brie topped with raspberry sauce, skewered prawns, pimientos de padron (little green peppers that only 1 in every 10 are hot, so chances were good my mouth wasn’t going to be on fire!), sea urchin gratin with cava cream, and (as if I hadn’t had enough Iberian ham already, what with a ham room and all at the castle party) crusty bread topped simply with jamon. I could have ate and ate and ate! There were even dessert tapas, the chocolate brownie a favorite amongst our group.

Our final stop was El Galeo where, again, the tapas were top notch! Pan fried foie gras on top of melba toast was dubbed the foie hamburger, meat pies, and even pizza made their way around the crowded bar on trays. Potato salad and tzatziki called my name from the counter. There were once again dessert tapas and I couldn’t resist the cheesecake.

Know Before You Go

• Tapas typically cost around €2 a piece. Keep to around 3 – 4 tapas at each bar you visit and your meal will be less than €25 total.
• If it’s packed with locals, it’s got to be good!
• La Taverna Godard is located at Av. Onze de Setembre, 91B
• Tauernes Urtau is located at C/ Pagés Ortiz, 49
• El Galeo is located at Mauri i Vilar, 3-5

Thank you to the Costa Brava Girona Tourism Board for hosting me and especially to Alba, who showed us the best spots in Palamos! As always, all opinions are entirely my own.