The Craving Rave: Cha Chah's Left Me Dancing!!!

A lot of folks out there may not know where Tapas originated from. In the "days of yore" as I like to refer to them, King Alfonso X of Castile got super sick and decided to eat very small meals until he felt all aces again. Then this idea was adapted by hoity toity sherry drinkers umpteen years ago due to the fact that the small portions of salted meats, made sherry drinkers really thirsty and then hungry and thirsty again, boosting middle ages liquor sales through the roof. The little plates of food also came in handy to set on top of their sherry glasses to keep those pesky little fruit flies out which is where we get the word "Tapas" which means "To cover".

Now that we have our little history lesson out of the way, I can tell you about Cha Chahs! Many "tapas" restaurants you hear of now-a-days like to adapt the term to basically give them the rights to serve tiny portions on many plates but charge the same as an entree for each. Tisk tisk! Traditional Tapas restaurants serve traditional Spanish (not Mexico people!) or Mallorcan Tapas which is a beautiful blend of mediterranian, greek, indian, italian, and european influences which makes for seafood, meats, spices, fruits, veggies and nuts galore to tease your curious palete. I am so happy to have found Cha Chah's Tapas resaurant in the Belmont district of Nashville.

My two girlfriends and I decided to try it out (which means they let me drag them to another place that doesnt serve crap for food) and we were pleasantly suprised. When seated, we hope that the food was as good as our waiter was cute! (Thanks Evan, good luck becoming a nuerosurgeon!) My friends, knowing I was going to anyway, let me order. Citrus hummus to cleanse the palete (when prepared correctly can do that) was two thumbs up due to the cucumber served with it instead of a bunch of bread, love that! And then came the Tapas...

Papas Bravas w/ aioli- like fluffy potato balls, lightly fried with an herb based, light green cream aioli to make you feel like you just ate the healthiest fried food ever

Brussel Sprouts w/ smoked vinegar & almonds- people people people... I hate brussel sprouts and this was my favorite thing here! the sprouts were pitted so that yucky bitter flavor was adios. Then tossed in a warm vinegar and toasted almomds which gave it this great bacon flavor. Dee- frikin -Lish!

Calamari w/ mediterranian cocktail- The most lightly fried calamari ringlets with the tastiest marinara (tangy hints of olive and meditarranean spices)

Bacalao Salt Cod Cakes w/ Lemon Crema- Like pan seared, lightly fried crab cakes with a nice, flaky white fish substitue so you werent full to the brim after one bite. The thick cream lemon sauce almost looked like a garlic pizza dipping sauce but the flavor was outta this world!

Lamb Meatballs w/ Cilantro Yogurt- This was straight up greek with the meatballs packed around bone for a fuller flavor and the most well spiced and flavorful lamb meat Ive had. The cilantro yogurt was a great plus but only a tad was needed as the meat is the real star of this show!

All in all, three girls, three big appetites, one huge pitcher of great sangria with a touch of St. Germain and more leftovers than I bargained for and we still only paid $25 a piece!!! Not to mention the interior of the place is like the exterior, as the walls...well their arent any! Great first date place or catch-up joint with friends.

Thanks Cha Chah's! Ill be back shortly...

http://www.chachahnashville.com/