James O'Brien

Although we had intended to go to Lupitas, a tapas restaurant on Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills, I guess one of us – probably me – should have checked to make sure it was actually open on a Tuesday night.

Damo was in town for Spanish class and that’s why I recommended something Spanish. Co-incidentally, I saw a terrific blog post, which recommended the nearby restaurant in rather glowing terms.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, so we headed across the road to El Bulli, another Spanish tapas restaurant which I’ve passed many times but have never been to before. We were both starving and so thought – what the heck. It was nine o’clock and El Bulli was pretty busy for a Tuesday night we thought. Still, they found room for us, though regrettably next to a rather loud guitarist and pan-pipe player who, though talented, was just a little close and we found ourselves cupping our ears, shouting slightly and lip-reading to maintain the conversation.

The food was good, though not stunning. The stand-out for both of us, I think was the pickled herring which was just beautiful, with a slightly more sophisticated, gentle flavour than you might otherwise find with rollmops. The chorizo was also good and so was the ham. We also had some rather tasty balls which contained all manner of things. “Surprisingly filling” was how both us described the three simple tapas plates we had. I also had a beer, just so I could say I’ve had a Spanish beer. I’m not sure I’d go back there, but it was fine for a Tuesday night catchup. And judging by the photographs on the blog about Lupitas, we missed out on something rather special there.

But maybe it’s also because I’ve been feeling a bit crook over the last few days. On top of my food poisoning experience on Saturday night, I’ve been a bit sniffly and sneezy for the last couple of days which I mostly put down to the change of season and assorted crap in the atmosphere. I would have cancelled tonight except we haven’t seen each other in quite some time, and so when I left work tonight I came home and went straight to bed to see if I could get back a bit of energy. I think I may need a day in bed tomorrow to try and kick whatever this malady is.