Bravas Bar De Tapas (Healdsburg)

While visiting the Sonoma wine country, we were so in the mood for tapas that we traveled an extra 30 miles out to visit Bravas Bar de Tapas in the small town of Healdsburg. It ended up being worth the drive.

To start, we had the Goat Cheese Tostadas. The goat cheese and fig is already such a great flavor pairing plus the additional touch of honey was just heaven to me. Dennis thought it was a little more on the sweet side.

The Tuna Belly Salad was recommended by the waiter so we gave it a shot as well. The first bite was full of crunchy texture and an explosion of tastes in my mouth. After a few more bites though, the salty black olive paste began to overpower the dish and I couldn't eat it anymore. This ended up being the only dish I would never order again.

The next dish was Duck Meatballs. It was not the ordinary meatball that you'd find in spaghetti! The texture of the meat was a little more choppy but the taste was very interesting! The seasonings of the meatball were quite good for the duck meat.

Another one of their recommended dishes was the Creamy Chicken Croquetas. I think the last time we had this elsewhere, I wasn't too impressed. After taking a bite though, I thought of creamy chicken pot pie, except wrapped in a thin crusted shell! The only downside was that there was a little too much salt sprinkled on the outside so we had to dust some off to finish it. I believe there were about 5 balls in the dish total.

I also really enjoyed the Pork Cheek Slider. As always, succulent meats paired with lightly buttered and toasted bun make me very happy. The pork meat itself wasn't as fatty as I was anticipating but I think I was thinking of pork belly when I ordered it.

The waiter surprised us with a complimentary dessert: vanilla soft serve with goats milk carmel. This may have been because we traveled a distance to get there or that he used to live in socal... who knows. This was an extraordinary way to end the evening. There was rock salt on the dish too which made it different from any ice creams we had in the past - salty AND sweet! The carmel was also very balanced in terms of sweet so we didn't feel all sugar-coated afterwards.

Overall, I really enjoyed the chance to savor multiple dishes. Our waiter was extremely friendly and eager to please. The ambience was very relaxing and good for conversation. I'd love to come back to try some of the other dishes if we visit norcal's gorgeous wine country in the future.