Perhaps you didn’t know that World Tapas Day is a thing, but it is — and Bangkok is about to jump into it full-force. There is little that Bangkokians like more than eating, and the tapas culture — sharing many small plates and dishes that just keep arriving no matter how much you will them to stop — is well-suited to the local culture here.
It’s for these reasons that Jacobo Tudela, the owner of Ekkamai Spanish restaurant Broken Eggs, had the idea to bring World Tapas Day to Bangkok. Except that he decided to include six other restaurants and keep the party going for an entire week.
Jeremie Sebag, who owns Silom’s Kika Kitchen & Bar Spanish restaurant, said, “We loved the idea of creating new tapas menu items for people to try. It’s a festive way to educate the people of Bangkok about the wonderful tradition of small plates dining, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of it.”
The event has the same spirit as el Día Mundial de la Tapa (World Tapas Day), which is held on June 21. The annual event in Spain is a chance to catch up with friends and for chefs to show off new tapas menu items and try to show each other up.
Here in Bangkok, from June 21-28, Spanish restaurants around town will be offering new nibbles to encourage people to come out of their culinary comfort zones.
Each Bangkok restaurant involved will offer two new tapas menu items: one classic Spanish dish, and one from the imagination of their own chef. For the foodies and mathematicians out there, that means there will be 14 otherwise unavailable dishes to try in Bangkok next week.
Participating restaurants will be: Broken Eggs, Kika Kitchen & Bar, Thong Lor’s El Tapeo, Siam’s Uno Mas, Asok’s Barcelona Gaudi, Thong Lor’s Toro, and Silom’s Taburete.
While we haven’t gotten the lowdown on every dish, we do know of a few highlights.
El Tapeo will be offering tapa de patatas a la riojana, a hearty stew of slowly cooked potatoes, chorizo, black pudding, pork belly and vegetables from the La Rioja wine region (THB180).
Barcelona Gaudi will have the bomba Barcelona, a deep fried giant croquette from Barcelona made with minced pork, potatoes, onions, and a romesco and aoili topping (THB100), while Toro is whipping up bone marrow toast, roasted bone marrow served with oxtail marmalade, grilled bread, and radish citrus salad (THB420).
Finally, Kika will be doing goat cheese churros, savory goat cheese-filled pastries with a traditional romesco sauce (THB160).
Sebag said, “Bangkok is a fast-paced city. Everyone is always in a rush. With Bangkok Tapas Hopping, we encourage people to stop and take a moment to savor dishes they haven’t tried before.”
To further encourage never-ending eating and drinking, the organizers are offering stamp cards. At the fourth stop, you get a free drink and tapa.
FIND IT:
Bangkok Tapas Hopping
June 21-28
Various locations, 6pm-11pm
Reader Interactions