Because I was visiting midweek, there was also few places to go after dinner - which I had the luxury of doing as my work would only start around 2pm the next day. There were a few places I did still enjoy though. Firstly, some tabernas stay open until 1am during the week, but where I patronized was other spots. One was a gem - a place named Rock & Blues Bar, which is what the name says. It has live music nearly daily, though midweek the live shwos are usually between 7-10. Before or after that, it plays exclusively rock music, of all types. Its a big place, with a central square bar in the middle and seating all over, including outside. Rock-themed or Rock-music playing bars seem to be big time in Spain, as I would learn today as I write this in Bilbao that has a handful of them. In Bilbao too they stay open later than most.
Anyway. the drink selection at Rock & Blues Bar was standard fare, but they had decent beer options. Mostly standard regional drafts, the main one being Ambar which was decent, but also a good bottle selection including a couple IPAs. And like I had already learned in Toledo - alcohol when you get outside of Madrid, is very chaep. Most of the beers were 3-4 euros. On the whole, the Rock & Blues bar was perfect for Monday and Tuesday night. It was fairly empty Monday, but by Tuesday got fairly crowded. What really helped me was they have series of like theater type seats on teh side of the wall in the area with the stage in pairs, but one of the pairs had a broken seat - so that was perfect for a solo traveler, as given there seems to be a firm "everyone must be indoors after twelve" rule, it did get fairly crowded.
The other spot was on Wednesday Night, where I was surprised my curiousity to try a second place won out over my normally winning sense of familiarity. The place was on my list - La Belle Epoque, a 1920s themed cocktail bar on a strip of bars / clubs (most of them seedy looking) on a stretch south of the old town. They make all interesting cocktails from teh old days, and the very Italian bartender made me a couple of his concoctions. No idea if La Belle Epoque is as good as cocktail bars get in the city (I wasn't expecting to go to any) but it was still quite good.
Now to the food - I mentioned the tabernas and tapas bars, well most of them are in what I would say is a 3x3 stretch right in teh center of the old town, named as El Tubo. Most of the tabernas have El Tubo in their name. Walking those alleys are exactly what you expect when you think of streets of tapas bars in Spain - most with people spilling out into the street, enjoying small plates, snacks and drinks. Again, most I walked by had already stopped selling food, but all looked inviting. Tuesday Night I went to two tapas spots in El Tubo area, first at Bar Pilares, which had normal good fare - the little bunches of things on bread, but also a really nice fried pork belly app. The second spot though was more notable - Carmelo Bar, a small tapas shop (granted, good amount of seating outside) that serves fairly elevated tapas, one of which is their main offering - the Caramelo, which is Aragonesque braised lamb (which as I will get to, is incredible), potatoes over bread tapa, which was understandably incredible.
I also stuck to tapas for lunch on Wedensday after my intended restaurant was closed. This was El Truco (also in El Tubo area) which notably is gluten free, but that didn't stop their tapas & raciones (effectively slightly bigger dishes) from still being excellent, getting a couple small ones including a luxurious cod fritter, and a tap de chuleta (little cut of rib-eye) which was incredibly grilled. The final El Tubo spot was Wednesday night, where I could only get off work around 11:15, and went to Meli Del Tubo, which is a fancier tapas spot (decor wise) but still sold some classics, though with some elevated plating and the like, the best being a oxtail stew braised tapa. Also had some great scallop and octopus options as well.
Now, I didn't only do tapas - my dinner Monday and lunch Tuesday were at more normal restaurants. Let's start with Tuesday lunch at Restaurant El Fuelle, a large spot with a charming old school decor and just classic dishes. I got a sausage sampler (excellent, including a murcilla - blood sausage), a shaved tuna and red pepper salad (lovely, acidic) and then a aragonesque lamb over potatoes stew, which was amazing, though as I will get to a lesser version of the same dish I had the night before. Lamb is what Zaragoza does best, and it was incredibly juicy. El Fuelle gave a lot, to the point I took half of that dish home.
The last meal to mention was probably the single best, as I started Zaragoza with a bang, at Restaurante Palomeque, which is just a star place. I had a brilliant oxtail croquette, maybe the best fried cod I have ever had (along with great sauces and red pepper), and then one of the best lambs I have had this side of Borago. So perfectly roasted, such crackly, brilliant skin, such juicy flesh. It was also along with potatoes (this is I guess a standard dish) but the potatoes too were cooked, spiced and stewed brilliantly. Oh man, would I wish to have that everyday. But alas, I also enjoyed my wanders around El Tubo.
To finish the writings on Zaragoza, overall I leaved purely happy with the sights, with the food, with teh bars, with the lifestyle. This is true Spain - a large city where it feels like everyone knows each other, where it feels like no one works, where it feels like each spot is brimming with life. I also enjoyed my test case of doing this work from Europe for a week thing. I plan on re-running it on a more frequent basis - it truly makes more sense in a weird way than say working from a location in teh same time zone. The 3-4 hours in the morning were perfect to see everything, adn the 2-3 hours at night the same. Also got super lucky it was a fairly light work week, but luck is all you need to have a great time in Zaragoza.
