Bull-eh-dias!

Bull-eh-dias! brought tapas to the Southport Corridor last year. I am ashamed to say that it's taken me so long to pay this place a visit. It's one of those things where I've walked by and said to myself, "I need to remember that I want to go there next time I'm trying to figure out where to eat!" And then never did. Until last night.

The fact that my friend Maureen got a job waitressing/bartending there this summer has helped to keep the restaurant more top-of-mind. So last night, when my friend Patty and I were trying to figure out where we wanted to eat, Bull-eh-dias! was it.

Both of us live in the neighborhood and love tapas, so we were hopeful that we'd stumble upon greatness. And between the delicious sangria, the tasty tapas and a supremely personable chef/co-owner, I think it's safe to say that we have.

In typical Patty-and-me fashion, we approached dinner with the attitude of "go big or go home." We ordered up a pitcher of sangria and then set to work on the menu. Not surprisingly, we found a lot of things we'd like to eat. We narrowed the list down to seven and then were unable to eliminate any other options. So naturally, we ordered seven tapas for the two of us.

The chef/owner warned us that this was probably too much food. Never ones to shy away from a challenge, we didn't waver. Instead, Patty warned the chef/owner that he was about to witness something amazing. Maureen then came out and told us we'd ordered too much food. We told her to bring it. (We are idiots.)

All of the while, we were enjoying some delightfully authentic sangria. It was pleasantly reminiscent of my time studying abroad in Granada, Spain -- and I love pretty much anything that takes me back to study abroad. It's some awesome sangria. Not too sweet, but packed with a whole lot of fruit.

When the food plates started coming out, Patty and I were ready. The first dish we tried was the crab cakes. They were amazing. I hate it when the crab cakes themselves are overcome by mayonnaise and I am happy to say that this was NOT the case. These crab cakes were very tasty. They came with dollops of aoli in between the cakes (which, naturally, I avoided) and an awesome salad in the middle. The salad combined with the crab cakes was even more awesome. Great mix of textures and flavors, with a good balance between the semi-acidic vinaigrette on the salad and the crab cakes.

Next, we tried the bacon-wrapped dates. As I do every time I eat a bacon-wrapped date and in my typical "unable to wait for anything" way, I scalded the bejesus out of my mouth. I'm not sure when I'll learn that these suckers are ALWAYS too hot to eat when they first come out, but I hope it's soon. Once I was able to breathe again, I was raving about these puppies. They're dates, which provide a pop of sweetness and moisture, offset by a dollop of goat cheese, all wrapped in crispy bacon. Piping hot, but absolutely amazing. Per the picture, the presentation could use some work, but don't judge a book by its cover. Great balance of salty, sweet and a little tang. Definitely do the dates.

Then there was the portabella mushroom plate from the list of daily specials. The portabellas were a tad bit oily for my taste, but overall the dish was innovative and solidly executed. The portabella mushroom was topped with roasted red pepper, a little heap of pulled pork and a thin slice of melted Manchego cheese. I have never seen pulled pork in any sort of tapas before, but I welcome its presence anywhere and everywhere. The balance of flavors and textures was tasty. I'd like to eat it again.



The fourth dish to roll out was baked goat cheese, served with crispy garlic crostini. Solid dish featuring a tasty marinara sauce to provide an acidic foil against the creamy goat cheese. I will say that I think they left the goat cheese under the broiler a little too long, as the top was not as soft as I'd have liked. That said, I like to mix my goat cheese in with my marinara and it was slightly harder to do, so it might just be an issue of personal preference. Patty loved it.

The next dish was the garlic shrimp. They were big, meaty shrimp that were perfectly done and served in a bath of hot olive oil with sliced cloves of garlic and red pepper flakes. These are some great shrimp. A classic combination that's well-executed.

FYI: so far, Patty and I have cleaned every plate. (Minus two lonely crostinis from the goat cheese, but mostly that was because we deal heftily in our goat cheese and marinara to crostini ratio.)

Next up, we found ourselves facing the patatas bravas. These are like mini potato wedges that have been deep fried into golden glory and then are served with two dipping sauces: a spicy red sauce and a garlic aioli. Ideally, you'd dip these little potato bites into the spicy red sauce and then temper that out with some of the garlic aioli. I did this a couple of times, but as with buffalo wings, what I really want is spice. With wings, I never utilize the blue cheese dressing. I just like things to be hot with little to no relief. I don't know why. Consequently, most of my potatoes were consumed sans aioli, but Patty was loving the combo sauce approach.

At this point, we did have some stragglers on the patatas bravas plate. We knew we still had Spanish meatballs coming our way and we were trying to gear up for that. The Spanish meatballs were good, although the photo didn't really come out. There were four meatballs served atop a bed of saffron-seasoned rice. The texture of the rice was slightly off. It wasn't quite risotto texture, although it reminded me a a little bit of that. If the rice had been a little creamier, it'd have been extremely reminiscent of risotto. Unfortunately, it was a little gummy. Still tasty, but a creamier texture would have been ideal. The meatballs themselves were pretty good, but played best when paired with a bite of the saffron-infused rice.

In the end, Patty and I polished off everything but two crostini and a handful of patatas braves. Not bad. And the food was excellent. The chef/owner was very impressed with our display of bravado and bull-headed ability to eat ourselves into massive food comas just to prove that...we could. He was also quite knowledgeable and friendly, going out of his way to make sure that we were having a good time. I also thought that it was nice of him to warn us it might be too much food; it's rare that a place will stop you from over-ordering. He seems to genuinely look out for his customers. I really hope that this place does well.

Bull-eh-dias! is a solid neighborhood place. Because there are so many great menu options, I'd ideally come in with a group, so that you're able to try more small plates without the risk of spontaneous combustion. However, if you have more self control than Patty and myself, it's also a great place to come with a friend or a date and share a few small plates and a pitcher of sangria. I suppose not everyone makes every meal a competitive eating showcase. For those of you that fit that description, good for you. I'm afraid it's still a foreign concept for at least two of us.