Txakolin

Walk past this place on a Saturday night at about 8:30 and it looks as if a private party is going on. There is a restaurant downstairs, but the Basque style tapas in the bar on the ground floor are a meal in themselves and it attracts a fairly lively crowd.

In a place like this it helps to know the system: you stand around a long bar situated in the centre and are handed a plate when ordering your first drink. You can then just chose whatever appeals to you from the plates on the counter, and when new dishes are ready they'll be offered around the bar.
There is a huge variety and dishes include ham topped with a red pepper stuffed with mushroom and cod on a small piece of bread, croquettes of ham, and beef and cherry tomato brochettes.

When you want to settle your bill the barman counts up the number of cocktail sticks on your plate, the size of the stick determining the price. Two of us had a good sized bite to eat here, with a couple of beers each and around 10 or 11 dishes between us. The total price was just under €20, which we considered good value.

Marques de l'Argentera 19, Tel: 93 268 17 81 (directly opposite Estació de França)