Tickets Bar, by Ferran Adria

Adria's latest concept: Tickets bar, a melting pot of many different kinds of tapas, some new and some from the famed El Bulli. It's not quite as hard to get a table as EL Bulli, but you will need at least a month or 2 in advance to get the desired date, time and number of people for the reservation.

We were lucky to get a table on a Friday night, though we had to settle with a 7:30 PM reservation. This is very very early by Spanish standards, but we had no other choice. As we got there and they verified we had a reservation, we were escorted by the maitre to our table. They are very friendly here. Its quite alive and has like circus feel to it.

They give attention to the most minimal details, from the plates, glasses, service, etc..

The menu is quite extensive and divided into 7 categories, from the Ibericos, to the Oysters, Picoteo, Xuxis (bite sized tapas) and desserts. Of course, at this point when you see the menu, you would want to try everything, which would be virtually impossible and very bad for your wallet (although mind you the prices are quite reasonable). So this is what we had:

First, the famous Olive Spheres that were served at El Bulli. This are spheres made with gelatin. Once you bite, the explosion of flavors in your mouth is like a roller coaster ride. This is made with 5 different flavor variants of olives.

Even if this is not a real olive, it sure tastes like a real olive, with a more intense flavor than any olive I've tried before. Below, Jamon de Toro, this is Tuna Belly Carpaccio, 'painted' with the fat of the Jamon Iberico. One of my favorites of the night. I could have had 3 orders of this probably.

Next, Pescaito Frito con polvo de Algas Gallegas. Fried fish with Galician Seaweed powder..I think this could have been his version of fish and chips sans the chips.

Food was coming quite fast so we had to keep up the pace. Our next was Spiced Tomato Tartare with crunchy bread. This was quite interesting the Tartare of Tomato actually tasted like regular Steak Tartare.

Next was Tuna Belly with Sea Urchin and crunchy Green Apple Toast. This was a very nice combination. The Green Apple Toast gave this dish another dimension..

Still on the Sea food, we had Coca de Bacalao with Tomato Nectar and powder of Black Olive.

Next was the Artichoke with crunchy cured Jamon Powder.

Followed by the Liquid Ravioli...

We had a nice refreshing salad to cleanse the palate before the mains arrived, an Orange Salad with Gordal Olive, Cumin and Mint.

We had 3 more dishes before dessert: First was the Torta de Queso Canajeral con Trufa Negra (Soft warm cheese with black Truffle)

Pulpo Picante con Patato Mallorqui (Spicy Octopus with Potatoes from Mallorca)

And our last and another one of my favorites, Pipas de Conejo con Espuma de All i Oli. (Baby Rabbit ribs with All i Oli Foam). See how tiny those are...

Then came dessert...we had several desserts to try from. First up was the Cotton Candy Tree..

Hot Chocolate Fritters

We also had Ice cream, which I failed to take a picture of..I must have been dizzy with all the food we had. We had a couple of bottles of wine, a young Luis Canas Reserva from Rioja.

After dinner, we moved to the Cocktail bar they have (hidden behind the kitchen). They serve classic cocktails prepared to perfection. It takes almost 15 minutes to make on Cocktail, from Manually Cracking the Ice, airing the glass with mint leaf, etc...You can just imagine how they prepare these, of course using the best ingredients.

I had a Dry Martini, of course served with another Olive Sphere. This was a classic dry martini very well made.

Over all a good experience. This is not a place I'd go back very often, but a place I'd like to go back once in a while. I still have to try the other half of the menu, so definitely I will be back.