From the outside, I thought it was a wine store/wine bar. This is not completely untrue. It’s got smart, frosted glass sliding doors. On the inside, it’s all black and red, with leather bar stools and tall tables. There’s a small wine cellar that doesn’t even scratch at the surface of the wine list (one of those booklets that rotates on one binding, more like an elongated set of cards, comprised of many, many decks). Frankly, it’s too overwhelming for me to look at, I’ve often let others make the wine decisions for me.
When it comes to the food though, I know what I want. They do the ever-popular menú del día, but I think the best part is their a la carte menu because it’s another one of those miniature-dish places (think San Sebastian) where you can try a variety of foods, and find something to please everyone at the table.
I’ve been there many times over, enough to try most things on the menu, and I have a couple favorites. I remember the first time I went, I was impressed before our plates even arrived. First they brought out a modern square plate with sliced bread and a little tumbler of olive oil dotted with pink peppercorns. Completely divine. I had never given pink peppercorns a second thought, and here they were, releasing a little bit of sweetness with every bite of bread and oil. It’s little details like that that set Terrabacus apart. Well, that and the waitstaff. 
Living in Barcelona, you don’t come to expect service as a standout at eating and drinking establishments. You more get the feeling they’re looking at you going, “what are you doing here?” This is not the case at Terrabacus, and it could be attributed to my frequent visits, but I’m willing to take it either way. We became friends with a few waiters in particular, who always spent a little extra time talking to us, seeing how things were going, discussing food. What really convinced me that they paid more attention than your average bear was when I was walking down a busy Barcelona street and a man smiled, waved enthusiastically and said hi to me. I turned my head, confused, and then realized it was my waiter, and he was acknowledging me outside the restaurant. In other places, you barely get that inside a restaurant.
And to accompany the friendly faces, there’s the food. There are many dishes that we’ve gotten since the first time and haven’t skipped a beat since. The first is a martini glass of raw tuna, avocado, black sesame, and topped off with a bunch of sprouts. Tuna and avocado, not a new combination, but a winner. And you feel good after you eat it, nothing too heavy—that’s for the next plate.
Little rolls of bacon and cheese. The bacon’s crispy and fatty (naturally) and the cheese oozes as you bite into it. Once again, this one’s not rocket science, but there’s a reason people keep ordering it. And although these some of their dishes might not be new, it’s the presentation that gives it personality, and the little dabs of sauces, some sweet and mango based, some vinegar and sour, all coming together in the end. 
The reason I don’t call these tapas is because they’re not typical tortilla de patatas or jamon or something like that. It’s all real food, just in miniature. So instead of getting a big bowl of pasta and being done with the night, you get a little plate of four purses of pear filled pasta in a creamy goat cheese sauce, plus all the other little plates you want. These purses are reminiscent of I Quattro Leoni in Florence, who has a very similar, equally as rich pasta. These have been a staple since the first trip to Terrabacus. 
So after you have your little dish of pasta, you then get a little plate of my favorite salad of life. And I’m not faking it saying “I love salad” because you’re supposed to because they’re good for you. This really is the best salad there is. There’s foie in it. And carpaccio. And little crunchy bits of puffed rice. And of course greens. Yall, it don’t get any better than that. If this is being healthy, I’m all for it. 
And because you’re so healthy with your salads and smaller-than-normal rations, you might then get a dish of a late-discovered gem: won-ton pasta ravioli, stuffed with mushrooms and served in sauce of foie and truffle oil. You’re probably getting a heart attack just reading this, but there are only three little ravioli, and don’t be turned off but the ‘won-ton’ description. I think that was my problem and the reason for the delayed ordering, which was a mistake. I was picturing something like a mixture between an egg-roll and ravioli, or some sort of deep-fried pasta concoction, which this was not. Instead, it was rich, decadent, amazing pasta. 
Then, you might get a surprise from the kitchen (if you’re as friendly with the staff as we are). I can’t take credit for this one, but one of my friends had talked to them on a prior visit, urging them to make their own take on patatas bravas (inspired by Taverna’s originality), and on this next visit as we were dining together, we were presented with a martini glass containing a potato puree, layered with a spicy mayonnaise, orangey in color, and sprinkled with a few cubes of fried potato. Ah the perks of being in good with the ones who count. I think we were sort of taste-testers, and I’m wondering if they’ve since put it on the menu. 
There are plenty more tiny delights at Terrabacus, but I’m going to move onto desserts, because they deserver a bit of space too. They have a chocolate coulant, which, unless you cook it too long, is at the top of my list. And they don’t cook it too long here. It’s cakey on the outside and runny batter on the inside. It pairs nicely with a glass of Pedro Ximenez, or another dessert wine offered on the menu. 
One dessert that really surprised me was Kingston cocoa ice cream with confit of orange. I didn’t order it, but tried someone else’s and it was really intense chocolate. I wasn’t expecting that, but I really liked it. I normally reserve my ice cream for my few choice gelaterias, but this was delicious, as rich as a truffle. The pink peppercorns made a tiny appearance in this dessert too. 
If you get a menú del día, there’s the option of cheese for dessert. And after having been in Spain, and now back in America, you really appreciate the Europeans for their cheese. Like I said, I knew what I had, and now I don’t have it (although I can get some of that cheese here, but not all, and definitely not Terrabacus).
But when they present you with the menu, you just don’t know where to start. There are cold and hot appetizers, nightly specials, and then a regular menu with soups, sushi, sashimi, tempura, etc. Our waiter made it easy for us: told us to do the tasting menu which is mainly pulled from the specials, and if you want you can add things to it. We did, because he said it was for two people, but could easily feed more. By adding a few dishes, it fed four of us. This was best because I was eyeing a few things on the specials and I think we got a total of ten dishes, and then also added a few other things that we couldn’t live without. 
So we’ve got our wine, let’s move onto the food: we started off with an amuse in a little shot glass. It was a puree of Santa Claus melon (never heard of it in my life, but no surprise it’s on wikipedia) with ginger oil. I didn’t feel either way about this, it was just a quick shot and I don’t love melon, but it was fine. I was ready for the real stuff though. 
Next came something from the cold appetizer: sea bass, grapeseed oil, garlic, and black pepper in a citrus vinaigrette. This was very light and fresh, almost too light. The fish was so tender, but I could have used just a pinch more salt or a little more bite to the citrus vinaigrette, although it’s definitely better to be on the light side than the overbearing, too fishy. And there was a crispy fried chunk of fish skin and fin. That was a nice contrast, just a slight crunch to the velvety fish. 
Next was something from the specials, that I was actually thinking of getting. I’m much happier that I got just a taste from lots of plates because there were other dishes that I ended up liking much better. This was Omaaru Ebi: maine lobster, hami melon gazpacho, cilantro puree, and thai chili oil. The lobster was great; just how lobster should be cooked. But the other components I wasn’t too impressed with. It must have been the melon gazpacho and the fact that it said thai chili oil but it definitely needed to be spicier for more dimension. 
Fourth was dish that ranks up there with my favorites. I would go back and get this and be satisfied. Suzuki Viche (makes you wonder what Suzuki means): striped bass, garlic, lemon-thyme vinaigrette, spring onion, and okra. This fish was amazing. That perfect balance of pure fresh fish with a flavor of salt, and it just melted in your mouth. I was also really impressed with the okra; I’m used to fried okra which I don’t love. I think this was my first time to have fresh okra and I liked it. Everything was working in this dish. 
The next dish was also a winner. Hotate Uikyou: seared diver scallops, fennel, lobster mushroom, orange, and cauliflower. I’ve had a newfound appreciation for scallops ever since my first meal at Cinc Sentits, and these kept up their end of the deal. Soft on the inside, crispy browned on the outside. Wish there had been more. The cauliflower and mushrooms were also great, both browned and tasty, but the standout was of course the scallops. I think my mother voted this her favorite. 
Following the scallops we had a dish off the tasting menu that my sister picked. Bacon Steakie: twice-cooked kurobuta pork belly with green apples. Totally amazing. Mouth-watering. Words like these come to mind. You have to get over the fact that there’s fat interspersed with all the meat because that’s what makes it like butter. But it’s crispy and blackened on the outside, so you get a crunch and then almost liquid as the flavorful pork spills over your tongue. My mom said it reminded her of spare ribs that her dad used to cook, a great nostalgic flavor. These were so rich too, if you’re not into skimpy pieces of fish, these will fill in nicely. And I appreciate the mixture of fish and meat during the meal. 
So what dish are we on? Seven? Hamachi Cure: Maplewood-smoked baby yellowtail, yucca, asian pear, and garlic brittle. This was good when you ate a bit of everything together, in one bite. The fish was soft and light, I think to showcase it’s freshness, even though it still preferred the stronger striped bass. But it all pulled together nicely by taking a crunchy yucca chip, some fish, a bit of garlic, and some of the greens and eating it all together. 
Next was another a la carte item that I picked. I just wanted some regular sushi rolls, to kind of give me a basis to compare to. You know, if you’re evaluating goodness, you need level playing ground, like trying vanilla ice cream instead of going for chocolate chocolate chip or whatever. We just got tuna and avocado rolls, and they were superior. It’s been a while since I’ve had sushi in Austin, but like I said before, there aren’t too many places where you could get sushi and meat and fish of this quality. I really liked their maki rolls and wish I had had a plate of different types to try more. 
The ninth dish was another one of my favorites. Gin Dara Miso: pan roasted black cod, miso, white eggplant, shishito, garlic, kumquat. After living in Spain, you get pretty familiar with cod, namely salt cod, and sometimes you don’t come to expect much of it. But this was a completely different experience, a different fish. It was falling apart because it was so tender and well-cooked with the pan roasted sides lending lots of flavor. It was hard for me to focus on all the ingredients in these dishes, especially when the main item would steal the spotlight, but I remember someone saying the white eggplant was ‘buttery.’ 
The next dish that came out was the dark horse. Never in my life did I think I’d eat eel (except that time in San Sebastian when I thought they were noodles, but that’s a different story). This was nigiri of grilled fresh-water eel with ginger. Simple and delicious. I’ve stopped turning down most food now, especially if it’s on the tasting menu and the chef thinks I should eat it. I was surprised at how moist it was and kind of meaty, not really like a fish texture. This went down real easy. 
Alright, we got two dishes left on the tasting menu (not including dessert), so stay with me. Wagyu Midori: oak-grilled wagyu short rib, green tomatoes, celery, tarragon, parsley, lemongrass, and green peppercorn. Strange that I had just had Kobe beef for the first time a couple weeks before this. Didn’t taste any different to me. So now I got to try the wagyu. This was noticeably different from other beef. They gave us 5 pieces, so each person took one and I just popped the whole thing in my mouth. It was marbled with lots of fat, and it wasn’t like chewing on a piece of fat at all, but you knew it was there. There was lots of chewing involved. With the fifth piece, we cut it into little squares and divided it, and it was a lot better just by getting a bite-size piece. I still prefer regular beef because it was a texture I’m not used to, a little too much fat mixed in there (don’t ask me why the pork belly works and this doesn’t, it just does). But on this plate, I concentrated on all the other aspects: the green tomatoes were really great. Once again, I’m used to fried green tomatoes, so I was happy to taste their tartness coming out. And what really blew my mind was the ‘celery.’ It looked like cooked green onions but tasted exactly like celery, it was the weirdest thing ever, but fun. 
Finally we got Foie Ume: seared Hudson Valley foie gras, green plums, watermelon radish, lemongrass, black pepper, and concord grape jelly (not Smuckers). This was truly a beautiful dish. All the colors and the image of watermelon on the radish half moons was amazing to look at. I’ve been eating foie now for a few years, but I still like to take it in doses, and usually with toast or bread if I can, to cut the fat. There was no bread to be had. Once again though, if you ate a bit of everything together, a sliver of foie on a faux watermelon, a little sweet jelly, and most crucially, a basil leaf, it molded into perfect pairings inside your mouth. From this I learned that foie and basil could be real friends, I’ve never noticed them coupled together before, but I think more people should experiment with it because I loved it. 
So ended our savory meal, but we still had the dessert to come. They have a separate pastry chef, Mr. Cole does not do that himself. And on the dessert menu there were other things that caught my eye more than what we were served, but I’ll have to save that for next time I go back for a few particular dishes and my Spanish wine. I don’t have a copy of the dessert menu so I’m jogging my memory by looking at the picture and hopefully won’t get it to wrong. Here’s what I’m proposing: beet tatin, lemon gelato, Sicilian pistachios, and some sort of tuille. I mention that first because I have no problem remembering that. It was slightly over-salted. And when I say slightly, I mean really. I forgive them, because it can be broken into tiny shards and top off the tatin or ice cream and be that missing link. But if you get a big bite out of it, watch out. The beet tatin was ok, not great. I liked the gelato and crumbled pistachios best, although I’m more of a heavy, creamy, rich ice cream kinda girl (think chocolate, caramel, hazelnut) and not so much a fruit ice cream, but it sufficed, and I wasn’t exactly starving. The colors on the plate were deep and bright, and the dessert was no doubt thought out, but I’d like to see what the other ones taste like (I seem to remember a peanut butter parfait).
Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease and flour your baking pan(s). Combine eggs, ¼ yogurt, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Mix well with a whisk and set aside. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and almonds in a medium bowl. Place butter in the bowl of your stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed for 5 to 8 minutes. The butter will be light and fluffy (unless you’re in Texas and room temperature is more like boiling so the butter will be more melted than fluffy). Add the dry ingredients and the remaining ½ c yogurt. Turn the switch on and off a few times to start bringing the ingredients together, then increase speed to medium and mix for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg mixture and mix well, stopping to scrape down the sides and continuing until fully combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake on center rack of oven for about an hour or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick come out almost clean. Let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour.
Now add the garlic, dried chili, a bit more salt, and the three tablespoons of the citrus juice to the powder and grind and mix until you get a paste. Word of advice: it will be very red so be careful not to stain your clothes (it will most likely stain for hands and pestle and mortar temporarily).
Now let the menu commence. First off there was a gel of sea water and peppers with a cockle, spear of asparagus, and cream of asparagus. Alright, alright, so I just went on about how this was a spectacular meal, but first of all I don’t like peppers. And this was my first sea water gel, and I’m not crazy about it. D gobbled it up though, and this didn’t get me started off on the wrong foot, it just gave me more room for the other stuff. 
Next was the foie. Yes, the foie. This more than made up for previous gel of sea water. I have decided this was the best foie gras I’ve ever had. And I used to be a foie neophyte, it’s just been a little over a year since I first had foie, but I feel like I’ve gotten a good amount in since that. This was seared foie on a coca of leeks (coca is like very thin, crispy bread) and topped with scallions and salt. Man, this was delicious. When we tried it, we were both like ‘whoa,’ and we dicussed what other foies might top it, or if this could be it. I was trying to remember all the foies I’d had, but it was hard to concentrate on anything else but the plate set before me. So I’ve recently concluded that that was the best. Period. 
After the foie gras, we got a tiny dish of peas, a langoustine (a big shrimp), and a foam of various spices. Delicious. I have a weak spot for shrimp, and I’ve been to lots of restaurants here that know how to cook them just right, before that point where they get rubbery, so I wonder why not everywhere can do it…it must not be too hard. But Cinc Sentits followed suit and presented us with goodness. 
Now I’ve never been a huge fish fan, but I continue to be surprised with the preparation at certain places. I guess if you’re willing to pay for it, you can get some quality stuff. So this was a red mullet with a squid ink sauce on a bed of wild rice and an alioli foam. Absolutely great. I’m not so schooled in fish family, and I don’t even know if I’ve had red mullet before, but this was a really nice dish, and I ate every last bite. 
Then the meat came. This was a quintessentially Spanish dish. Can you guess what it was? If you said pork, you’re right. I think it might have been cochinillo, which means young pig, and it came with an apple sauce and a roasted apple slice. I’ve either been in Spain too long, or else I actually do enjoy pork now, because this was good. I’ve gotten used to the crispy, salty pork dishes here, and the contrast with tender, fatty meat makes for a real party on the tongue. I wasn’t so crazy about the apple sauce, etc., but it didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of Spain’s pig products. 
How did I already get at the cheese course? I’m ripping right through this review here, I think it’s because I can’t say much more but ‘good’ and ‘yum.’ So, here’s the cheese. I’m not sure what it’s called but I can find out because the second I tasted it I was almost sure it came from a cheese shop in town that we frequent, owned by a friendly Scottish lady. It was served with a little blob of confit onions, and I guess it’s enough to say that I’ve gotten this cheese from the shop more than once on my own, so you could say I like it. 
Onto the first dessert. It was pure pinapple. No, they didn’t just serve us diced pineapple, but they might as well have. It was pineapple sorbet, bits of pineapple, and a pineapple sauce. I didn’t like it. I was hoping for something better, it tasted like pure pineapple. So, I got some guts after a bit of coaxing and asked if there was a different dessert they could give me, claiming a dislike for pineapple. I also mentioned if there was nothing else, I would even take another piece of cheese. So I got another piece of cheese. 
Then the grand finale: thank god there was chocolate involved. I sometimes (always) get a little disappointed when there’s no chocolate to be had. On a tray came floating through the air little cups of chocolate mousse, a scoop of dotted vanilla bean ice cream, in a ring of salty, olive oil cake crunchies. It sounds very simple, there were no foams of who-knows-what, no sea water gels or anything, but it was definitely the right road to take. You can’t go wrong with a good chocolate mousse and pure vanilla ice cream (which I approve of when accompanied by chocolate) and salty crunchies. I thoroughly enjoyed. And I must make one note here, it’s not a bad or good thing, it just happened: every bite it took with the crunchy cake bits reminded me of a cereal I used to eat as a kid, and I don’t know what it was, but something about it gave me this weird taste of childhood, and I couldn’t pinpoint it. I have been told to mention that this is a reconstruction of a very simple Catalan dish, which includes bread, olive oil, chocolate and salt. It's actually quite delicious, sometimes I like to melt chocolate on some toast, drizzle on some oil and top it off with salt for a different dessert. 
So this was the Cinc Sentits experience, and we were the last ones in the restaurant, like the first time there. Their service is friendly, and you might get anywhere from 2-4 waiters at different times, which is a lot for the size of the restaurant; and they all say bye with a smile as they leave the restaurant (I guess this goes along with being the last ones there, even later than the waitstaff). Before leaving, we talked a bit to the chef’s mother who also works there. And when we went back this week for lunch, they remembered us. Side note: this is not typical Catalan behavior, but remember, they lived out of the country for a long time. So we like Cinc Sentits. We like the food, and the people, and it's good to go to a place where people not only give you good service, but ask where you're from. And where if you get some rare pineapple dessert, you can ask to change it for something else. Looking back now, I wish I had just gotten two of the chocolates...
Pork and Spring Onion Dumplings
Now you’re ready to cook them. The key here is non-stick pan. I didn’t have one big enough because you’re going to need to fill it with water, and I only had a very shallow non-stick, so I used regular, which resulted in lots of the bottoms of dumplings being stuck to the pan. Sad smiley. Anyways, in a non-stick pan, heat up some oil until warm over medium-high heat. Add the dumplings, as many as will fit in the pan without touching and fry for a minute or two so that the bottoms get crispy and golden. Then pour cold water in to come half-way up the sides of the dumplings. Cover them and cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated, steaming the dumplings (probably 8-10 minutes). Remove with a spatula (you might want to test one first to make sure they’re done), I put on a plate with a paper towel just to get the excess water, and then serve and eat with the dumpling sauce.