#barisabel

Derricious?!: Spanish-inspired tapas in a lively atmospheric restaurant.

Bar Isabel in Ossington is a Spanish tapas restaurant with cool decor and a lively atmosphere. I've wanted to try this restaurant for a long time now. Rated in 2013 by many acclaimed chefs and magazines as Toronto's #1 restaurant, I finally gotten a chance to taste it. It was amazing food no doubt, but whether or not it is THE best restaurant in the city can be argued.

We were a group of 7-8 people who shared their tapas style dishes. The restaurant was quite dark so I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted - however, rest assured that the dishes were all amazing.

Of course, some dishes were better than others! Here are some of the dishes (from my memory) we ordered that are worth metioning: - foie gras: foie grois was flavorful, and one of the best dishes imo. there was just so much fat and juiciness that when you put it in your mouth it just slowly melts. - !!bone marrow: I love bone marrow and the ones @ bar isabel are no exception. They were huge bone marrows with lots of fatty meat inside it. Imagine drinking fat, but with lots of "meat" taste. Mmmm! - !!octopus: we ordered the whole octopus. It was huge. Lots of "meat". It was very chewy and had a bit of the ocean taste. I liked how they did not put too much sauce or flavor into the octopus, so you can truly "taste" the actual octopus. The potatoes on the side were delicious. - whole sea bream ceviche: Great fish dish with ceviche inserted inside the fish. Cool dish with a refreshing taste! - we ordered jamon sampler- good, your typical jamon  - pequillo peppers: a good break from the meet and fish dishes. watch out! some peppers are spicy, but you can't tell which ones are hot or not until you actually taste it!

Bar Isabel Bartender Michael Webster doesn’t throw in the towel when it comes to mixing signature cocktails on Barceloneta Beach in Barcelona. Pour Michael Webster du Bar Isabel, une serviette fait office de bar de mer sur la plage de La Barceloneta, à Barcelone.

Raising the bar: Take a gastronomic tour of Spain with the team from Bar Isabel (winner of Canada’s Best New Restaurant 2013) in our April issue. En avril, l’équipe du Bar Isabel (Meilleur nouveau resto canadien en 2013), vous montre une fenêtre de la gastronomie espagnole.

Photo by / par John Cullen.