Pamplona

ABOUT AND BEYOND

Pamplona
631 Jefferson St
Lafayette LA
337-232-0070
www.pamplonatapas.com

Lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 AM - 2 PM $2 - $32
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5PM - 10 PM

This establishment offers other things beside tapas but I went here especially for the tapas. The roasted Piquillo (small pepper grown in northern Spain) peppers were stuffed with red fish mousse and drizzled with garlic aioli. They looked very spicy in their red coat but they turned out mild and sweet. It paired perfectly with the rich creamy mousse. You get two to the plate. Next the Morcilla (blood sausage) and fried quail eggs came out. A round of sausage topped with a sunny side quail egg sprinkled with smoked paprika, four perfect bites stuck with toothpicks. The yolk fat coating your tongue plays well with the earthy minerally sausage. Galician Octopus had a similar presentation. On a slice of potato poached in duck fat they smear a nice layer of smoked paprika aioli. It is topped with a ring of octopus tentacle that has been pressure cooked to tenderness then flash sautéed. The rich earthy flavor and the smokiness uplift the octopus. Again four perfect bites hit your palate

A round of a half dozen char-grilled oyster showed. The slightly cooked bivalves in their shells under a crust of cheese, bread crumbs, and herbs stood out. Bite after bite surpassing the last. Now I ordered a real indulgence in the form of Duck Rillettes. Duck meat poached in it own fat then made into a sort of pate with the cooking fat. A layer of fat lies on top to preserve it, it will last no more than five minutes on my plate. Toasted ciabatta bread slices to spread it on and a pea tendril salad to cut the richness complete the dish. What can I say, “Fat Rules”. On the table was also a quarter loaf of ciabatta with chopped green chile oil for dipping. To tone down the fat I also had Catalan Spinach, wilted spinach dish with raisins, pine nuts and green apples. Delicious except for the undercooked stem left on the spinach leaves

Dessert was Panna Cotta (cooked milk) with strawberries and balsamic syrup. Basically a cooked cream thickened with gelatin rather than eggs. It makes for lighter and more refreshing custard that goes well with fruit. It is just like berries and cream. The balsamic syrup adds both a sweet and tart note

I highly recommend this venue for an out of the ordinary meal while still being in the box.