Tapa Bosses at #SardineCan (🕺🙏)

So I've visited the Sardine Can for two times now, and I must say it is one of the cutest hang out/ gathering/ date (wink) spots in the heart of Gastown.

LOU marinated olives $5.5 + Tostas de queso fresco Fresh herb and garlic cheese toasts $2/ea

Because this gem is smaller in size (3 or 4 tables plus a bar section?), you can expect the following: (1) You will always get very warm greetings from the very passionate owner, where he will walk every single table of guests through their daily specials, what's in season, how things are prep etc. (2) some very wonderful conversations, laughters & wild insights with the chef team (if you're sitting by the bar), and (3) a wide selection of some very amazing Spanish tapas of your choice. And I must say, both my dining experience at Sardine were extremely delightful.

Sardine doesn't actually take reservations, so spaces do come in a first come first serve basis. Anytime past 6:30 PM on a weekday can get extremely packed with crowds, so it would probably be a standard 20-30 minutes wait depending on when the tables are done.

So for some of you who might have already known, this girl here is a huge fan on craft beers/ beers in general. I love a good quality beer and I've always argued one full pint of Guinness will always stay on top of the scale, until I discovered Estrella on their menu and that had remained my all time favourite, ranked number 1 still, ever since my first visit at Sardine last summer.

So here let's take a look at their menu:

The small plates come in a fairly reasonable price, and they are wonderful for sharing with a small crowd because it gives you a wide range of selection and a good variety. Not only do they serve delicious, quality food, their plating is also wickedly beautiful.

Hence, the perfectly #grammable food shots you will be seeing in just a couple seconds of time once you scroll through all the words and paragraphs.

My personal all time favourite will always be their Patatas bravas (roasted fingerling potatoes, garlic aioli and tomato), and oh boy that has won my heart. One thing that's made it very flavourful is the tomato sauce drizzled on top of the dish, and those are definitely some very delicious munchies.

Left : Romesco/ Seasonal vegetable, Romesco sauce, sherry-balsamic reduction, toasted almonds ($11) + Right : Patatas bravas/ Roasted fingerling potatoes, garlic aioli and tomato ($7)

We got served green onions for our Romesco, but the ingredients usually do get mixed up according to different seasons. The sprinkle of crushed almonds also gives the dish an extra crunch when you mix them all in one single bite.

So we got the appies (full plates of olives + a 10/10 garlic cheese toast) and the mains, what's left? Desserts. Of course!

Terrina de chocolate Chocolate terrine with chili, olive oil, sea salt, toast ($7)

An extremely fancy street view dedicated to this very delicate piece of chocolate covered toast

I didn't really like caramel, so we naturally picked the other dessert item that's on the menu. The chocolate sauce came in a small tuna can, and the plating of it (along with the other items) are wickedly beautiful (can we take a moment to recognize that??). "Do you know what you'd do with them?" The owner asked while plating it along our table.

Do you all know what to do? We can all indulge ourselves in the chocolate goodies and sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on top of the pieces. What I truly love about the chocolate dip, was in fact they dusted it with a fair amount of chilli on top, which definitely gave it a tiny, but enjoyable kick ---- but not enough to kill the buds and make you want to gulp down a gallon of milk.

Ending this piece with a funny conversation I remembered with the staffers during my first visit to Sardine: So you all know how tapas are little dishes that are meant for sharing? During our first visit, I got stuck with a very stubborn thought to get exactly the same sets and number of tapa dishes as two of my pals' orders instead of sharing our plates altogether. And boy why did I do it? Coming to the thought of it, I think it all started from a little joke we (and by we, I meant me) threw around the table initially, "no way I am sharing cause I am greedy" to me being my full on prideful self and sticking by the joke I told ---- and actually ended up getting all the tapas for myself.

I definitely got teased so badly for it from everyone. At some point one of the chefs actually covered my pals' tapa dishes to avoid my greedy self from stealing, and came up to build one physical wall between us to separate me from my group because I refused to share my food. Yea, and he's totally right cause I would definitely laugh at my greedy and prideful ass too 🤦‍♀️

Retrieved from http://thesardinecan.ca/

And that, my friends, probably summed up one of the most enjoyable and joyful dining experience I've had in a restaurant!