With J away for a week, it was definitely time to organise a dinner with my girlfriend, Jade. I love trying to find new places to visit, and so next on the list was Black Bull Tapas Bar and Restaurant.
When I got there, it was pretty quiet and I wasn’t quite sure where I should go to find my seat. Everything seemed a little unclear. Once I was directed to my seat, and had been given a menu, I took a little time to take in the ambiance of the place.
When I was growing up this building had been a Pancake Parlour, I was surprised to see, that although they hadn’t changed the structure of the building, there was very few relics to remind my of my childhood.
Jade arrived and we decided to split three tapas options, the Empanadas de cordero (Lamb empanadas with roasted capsicum romesco), Bruschetta con champinones al ajillo y halloumi (Mushrooms, garlic, sage & halloumi brushetta) and Panza de Cerdo con repollo (Pressed Otway pork belly, morcilla & pickled cabbage). All tapas options are $10.
I’ve never had empanada’s before, but I was super excited to try them after this post from Linny. These were filled with a delicious minced lamb filling, and served on top of a bed of pureed capsicum, with so much garlic I could feel the immediate burn in my mouth. Lucky we both love garlic.
The bruschetta was a little disappointing, until we got the the haloumi. The outside was golden and crispy, like a really good chip, and the inside deliciously salty. 
I love pork belly, and this was the first option we chose, Jade was drawn to the pickled cabbage. We were met with this beautiful dish, that failed to provide us with the crunch from the skin that we were hoping for. There was however wonderful flavour throughout the local Otway Pork.
One of the benefits of getting only 3 tapas to share was that there was going to be room for dessert.
We both had our hearts set on different desserts, so the only option was to share two. My choice was the chocolate tort, with condensed milk and Iranian fairy floss (below). Cracking through the chocolate layer to find the soft mousse like center, and a pleasent surprise of condensed milk. Paired with the fairy floss, strawberries and caramel were delightful.
Jade’s choice, the classic Spanish churros, with a chocolate sauce was a no brainer in terms of choosing dessert at a tapas restaurant. The churros crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. The addition of the chocolate sauce cut through the oily-ness of the churros.
Do you love sharing tapas style options or are you more interested in a whole meal to yourself?
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