My friend and I were looking for somewhere to get a glass of wine, but were also hungry after an afternoon Christmas shopping. We had in mind a few places on Notre-Dame but couldn't remember everything on offer. \"Bar Tapas\" of course jumped out at us!\n\nIt's only been open for a week, but there were quite a few people in there at 6pm when we arrived, with more arriving afterwards. They do a selection of 5\u00e07 beers and plan a selection of 5\u00e07 wines though those weren't available yet. We had a Chinon at $10 a glass, and a C\u00f4teaux de l'Ard\u00e8che at $8, both very nice.\n\nThe tapas themselves were very varied:\n\nThere were typically Spanish ones with a little twist, such as codfish cakes (nice mix of fish and potato, lovely crispy outside perfectly deep-fried but not overdone), lime calamari (not chewy, perfectly battered and deep-fried), garlic butter shrimp (which I didn't have), and the charcuterie plate which included prosciutto and two types of saucisson, as well as cornichons (the French kind), small pickled onions and beetroot.\n\nThere were also more innovative dishes, such as harissa chicken (also didn't try), beef with chimichurri (tasty and tender) ra\u00efta (based on the Indian condiment), and flamb\u00e9ed saganaki (on my list to try next time).\n\nI particularly liked the selection of salads and vegetables. We had two plates of grilled vegetables (zucchini, peppers and onions in olive oil), but there was also a beet salad and another I can't remember. The bread was super fresh - crusty on the outside and light and airy on the inside.\n\nApart from the food, I have to recommend the d\u00e9cor, which was \"urban reclaimed chic\", in perfect keeping with surrounding Griffintown. While the area may be up-and-comingly trendy, the price was more than reasonable. We had 6 dishes (calamari, codfish cakes, charcuterie, 2x grilled veg, beef with chimichurri), and two glasses of wine each, and the whole came to $70 and some change.\n\nOn the \"to-be-improved\" list, service could be a little quicker - there was too long a lag between our first and second rounds, and we spent time trying to catch the server's eye instead of enjoying each other's company. Also, despite asking them to turn up the heating, and despite two glasses of red wine, the place was a little chilly.
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