In a Pinch

I've written about the tapas that are so available...  and delicious...  here in Spain.  But there is another way of serving food that is popular in some restaurants here.

Pinchos...  the English translation is "skewers"

And that's exactly what Lizarran, the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday is famous for.

That's Bill...  standing in the entrance to the restaurant.

And..  here he is..

reading the menu...
Except we knew we didn't really need the menu, because we were here for the pinchos.

Pinchos are little slices of bread with something on top (kind of like a small open-faced sandwich), held together with a big "toothpick" or little skewer.

The picture at the top left shows the "showcase" of what's available.  You grab a plate and take whatever appeals to you.  I'm not even sure what some of the pinchos consisted of...  meat, fish, peppers, veggies, chicken...  everything!


The cold pinchos are in a cooling tray, much like in a cafeteria.  But... hot pinchos are also served...

This board explains how it works...
When you hear the bell ring another hot pincho is being brought out.
A waiter will bring them around on a tray and you take what you want.

These were our first choices

Bill & I each picked 3...  then we each ate half...

The upper left is a (hot) spicy chicken chunk; upper right is fresh tuna with some mayonaise.  Lower right is a shrimp salad (kind of like potato salad, except using shrimp instead), and the lower left is anchovies, peppers, some lettuce and some other kind of fish.  Yummy!

Here are a couple of others...

I can't remember what was in the pincho on the left, but on the right is the tuna.

This one was really good... 

A piece of fish with a roasted pepper on top.

Did I mention that when it's time to pay that they count your 

toothpicks?

Looks like we're up to 4 here...  and still going...

There are some funny signs on the walls...

It's a fun place to eat...  the atmosphere is quite cheerful and lively.

Another view of the serving line...

 We were there yesterday... Wednesday...  Good news... we saw that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the pinchos each cost 1 euro.  (regularly around 1.50 euros)

And if you happen to live in one of these cities, you're in luck!

You, too, can indulge in these tasty treats!  Hey, Donna, next time you and Glenn go into the city you can stop by Rockefeller Center and see what your mama's talking about!

We're done...  time to pay the bill and go...

 We had a total of eight pinchos...  
and we each had a beer (CruzCampo of course)...
The total came to 9.50 euros...

Great lunch and a great time sampling the ware!

That's All For Today!