Montaditos

Kaley and I have been wandering around Barcelona for a few days now and I've been intrigued by these little, open-faced sandwich-like things that I've seen in a few spots. On our walk yesterday we were looking for a light snack and came across this restaurant serving these little sandwiches which I would later discover are called "montaditos". The word montadito comes from the Spanish verb "montar" which means "to mount" because of the way the tiny slice of bread is "mounted" with a variety of toppings. I've always disliked sandwiches, nothing against them personally but I find most of them so boring and heavy on the bread. But this was different. Each little sandwich was only a few bites and then you could have another one, or two, or three!! And the bread was really just a canvas for whatever delicious ingredients are placed on top.

There was no menu of course, only your eyes are used to pick your meal so there is a bit of mystery involved. Each piece was 1.65 Euros and we were each given a small plate and free rein to pick whatever we liked. My montaditos (below) included a brie cheese & tomato mini-burger, a mini-croissant with an egg salad-like filling, and a seafood-stuffed red pepper on a small slice of baguette.

At the end of the meal, the waiter comes by and counts up your toothpicks which is done to tabulate the bill. Genius.

DG