Costa Brava

Last Tuesday, March 18, we met up for Costa Brava's happy hour. Located towards the northern end of PB's main drag on Garnet Ave., it's nicely enclosed with a lovely fence covered in ivy. Can't see out, can't see in. As I took the picture of the awning, some lovely folks pulled up in their pick-up truck and yelled at me to go back to my own country.

I'm from Los Angeles.

Granted, as M. pointed out, Los Angeles is practically its own country.

As I entered the patio to the shocked looks of Tirrone and the C.W.G. (the rest of our group hadn't arrived yet), who had heard the yelling but couldn't see that it was me on the other side of the fence, I noticed they had started with a lovely little dish of patatas alioli. Lightly fried chunks of potato with a drizzle of garlic aioli.

The menu is small, but interesting. There were tapas and montaditos, which were sandwiches.

The pollo al ajillo (picture blurry) was all right. It's chicken in garlic and wine sauce, but it was a bit bland and the chicken was a little dry.

Tirrone ordered the tortilla de patata from the montaditos menu, but our server told him that it's better served a la carte. I really liked this dish, which was hearty and comforting. D. ended up ordering the actual sandwich, which proved to be a weird combination.

I spotted caracoles al alioli and couldn't resist. I love escargots. The butter/garlic/parsley sauce was just right for them.

I ordered a montadito with jamon serrano. It was a few slices of ham placed between dry bread. I wasn't a huge fan of the dry bread, but the ham was very tasty.

The empanadillas de atun were pretty good. The tuna was either overcooked or canned, but the pastry was crispy and it was decent overall.

I really liked the pinchitos morunos, which were skewers of lamb served in a sauce of onions, peppers, garlic, and butter. The lamb was quite flavorful and the sauce excellent for leftover bread.

The prices are a bit on the high side, but service is excellent and the sangria is delightful.