This is a location play rather than a food play.
But the food is good enough, thank you very much.
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The bar is located in Triana on a spectacular street corner.
On one side is a fine old church.
There is classic traditional housing on the other side.
There is a gracious old building that serves as a social services center on the third side.
You are two doors away from a very find Flamenco theatre and two doors in a different direction from an interesting music store.
The locals love the place.
Show up after 10 pm and it will be hard to get a table.
Service is slow because the poor folks in the kitchen seems to be feeding half of the affluent population of Triana.
* * *
The food and drink are hit or miss.
At night, they are out of a lot of the good stuff on the menu.
They do a fine house vermouth, a normal no-big-deal potato omelet, and pretty nifty spinach with garbanzos.
The most interesting plate of the night was ho hum in execution - but lots of fun to think about.
It was shrimp wrapped in bacon and sauteed - - - on top of homemade potato chips.
You put your shrimp and bacon on a fresh out of the fryer potato chip and eat the whole thing as a combo.
The shrimp are not great. The dish undercooks the bacon leaving it pallid.
The potato chips are pretty good.
But never mind being the New York Times Food Critic.
The dish is just a funny idea.
It is called Pamplinas de Gamba.
I was so entertained by the basic concept, I was willing to overlook questions of execution.
I think if one could really blast the shrimp and the bacon while preserving the "just in the fryer for the right amount of time" potato chips, you could have a helluva dish.
* * *
But then, getting drunk on a street corner in Seville,
Looking at churches and beautiful houses,
Looking at all the Spanish people,
Drinking homemade vermouth and
Fantasizing about what the perfect shrimp dish would look like.
Now THAT is a fine way to spend a summer evening. read more