Tapas Gitana is an authentic Spanish restaurant located at 310 Happ Road in Northfield. Before eating there, I had never tried Spanish food before, and since I’ll be spending part of this summer in Spain, I decided to see what I would be in for. But before I begin, I think you should know that I am probably the world’s pickiest eater.

Tapas Gitana doesn’t serve food like the typical way here in America where you order something off the menu and the waiter brings it to you and then it’s done. Tapas are very common in Spain, and they’re basically a bunch of small appetizers. The waiter will bring one big plate of one type for the whole table to share, and once that one is finished, more of different types will just keep coming.

Before leaving for the restaurant, I looked up their menu online and my initial thought was that I wasn’t going to eat anything at all. I thought that I would just be loading up on the complementary bread. In my head, sitting down and eating an assortment of goat cheese, different types of meat, seafood and pretty much every vegetable out there didn’t sound very appetizing.

I was very wrong.

The first thing the waiter brought out was called “queso de cabra al horno”, which is oven-baked goat cheese in a tomato basil sauce served with garlic bread. I was kind of hesitant to eat goat cheese, but I figured that you couldn’t really go wrong with bread, sauce and cheese, so I ate it and it was actually pretty good. Scratch that, it was more  than pretty good. I ended up eating like six pieces.

I also really enjoyed the tortilla española, which is a traditional Spanish potato and onion omelet. Another really good, traditional Spanish dish was the paella, which is basically just a pan full of vegetables, rice, chicken and seafood. Originally, I was scared to eat seafood, so I just picked it out of my serving, but I later regretted doing that.

When the waiter brought out the shrimp, I just sat there because I never in a million years thought I would ever eat shrimp. However, everyone else was eating it and saying it was really good and encouraging me to try it, so I guess you could say that I gave in to peer pressure.

And it was one of the best decisions of my life. Shrimp is on my favorite foods list now, probably higher than peanut butter sandwiches – which is saying something.

Not to mention, the dessert was incredible – a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two pastries covered in fudge. I didn’t have to think twice about trying that one.

Granted, there were a couple of tapas that I didn’t even make an attempt at trying, but I feel like that would have been asking too much out of me. I can only be so adventurous.

All in all, Tapas Gitana is a restaurant that I would definitely recommend. The prices are very reasonable and the atmosphere is great for everything from a date, to a night out with friends, to a family dinner. And especially if you’re a picky eater like me, this is the perfect place to introduce yourself to a more ethnic cuisine. As they say in Spain, ¡buen provecho!