If you had a time machine and could travel back 20 years to the simpler time of 2003, what aspect of daily life would you most like to bring back to the present day? For those with short memories, or who perhaps weren't born yet, let me paint the scene: Labour is in government, Where is the Love is the biggest-selling song of the year, and Apple has just introduced the iPod3 with a capacity for up to 10,000 songs.
It's the year of the final broadcast of Blind Date and the first announcement of a new Dr Who reboot. Velour tracksuits are in fashion un-ironically; Bennifer is in its first incarnation, and the average house price in the South West of England is £174,482.
It's also the year that Bar 44, a restaurant group specialising in tapas and sherry, opened its first location in Cowbridge. To celebrate reaching adulthood, the company, which has a popular Clifton outpost, is doing the unthinkable this January and bringing back some of its classic tapas dishes and cocktails at the price they were when the first Pirates of the Caribbean film hit the cinemas.
Read More: I tried Bar 44's 'Spanish tapas style' roast dinner and all but one element was delicious
Founded by brothers Tom and Owen Morgan, the Bar 44 group has made a name for itself with its modern Spanish food and drink, and an Iberian take on the great British Sunday roast that Instagrammers can't get enough of. It now includes locations in Penarth, Cardiff and Clifton Village in Bristol, all three of which are participating in the company's 20th birthday promotion, available every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the rest of this month.
Intrigued by the prospect of tapas from £2.95 and cocktails from £3.95 and hoping to experience a bit of early 2000's nostalgia, I headed out to the Clifton outpost to see if turning back the clock on prices could deliver a filling tapas meal.
The ornately tiled and deceptively spacious restaurant on Regent Street has seating options at the bar, where there is vermouth on tap, but we opted for a table. A menu to celebrate the chain's 20th birthday is available in addition to the standard a la carte and consists of three dishes and drinks.
The food options skew meaty and cheesy, so vegans and vegetarians may not be best placed to take advantage of this deal. All the dishes are also light on carbs, so unless part of your 2003 trip down memory lane includes revisiting the Atkins diet, you will likely end up doing as we did and ordering a few full-price items off the main menu to supplement.
Starting with the drinks, there are three cocktails made to order by the bar staff and elegantly served. For £3.95, There's a generous glass of classic sangria with a juicy Christmassy flavour and a warming slog of brandy. For £1 more, you can plumb for a zingy and briny margarita that's dangerously easy to drink or a sour and zesty 'pissed Patagonian' red wine float with Pisco and Cointreau.
First out of the kitchen came a pair of sobrasada sausage and almond-stuffed dates wrapped in pancetta and sat proudly on a bed of red pepper piperade. The sugariness of the dates and the earthiness of the paprika and meat finished off with salty crisp bacon make for a substantial and flavour-packed morsel.
Any concerns that this dish might be too rich quickly evaporate as we knock them back in one and quickly mop up the tangy red pepper relish. It's a perfectly balanced mouthful, even for my dining partner, a self-proclaimed date hater. At £3.95 for just two, these moreish mouthfuls could very quickly start to rack up.
More substantial was the next plate, a trio of welsh lamb meatballs in sherry costing a mere £2.95. The robust flavour of the lamb marries excellently with the sweet nuttiness of the sherry sauce, that's so delicious you won't hesitate to shell out £4 for some dipping bread.
The final dish on this special anniversary menu is a curious deep-fried manchego accompanied by tomato and shallot relish, pickles and caper berries. The cheese looks a little like an undercover chicken nugget, but inside is a gooey and intense cheesy centre backed up with crunchy, vinegary tidbits.
I cannot fault the three dishes and drinks on the menu, except that it would be nice to have just a bit more on the plate to make them easier to share without feeling mean. It's worth bearing in mind that once you start adding in dishes from the main menu, such as a small tortilla at £6.90 or the chunky patatas bravas we ordered to assuage our appetite for some carbs at £5, the bill quickly creeps up into more contemporary territory.
If you want to enjoy tapas at inflation-busting prices during the remainder of January, I'd certainly recommend trying out the delicious mini-menu at Bar 44. However, I'd suggest doing so Spanish style by taking a seat at the bar for a drink and a light bite if you want your wallet to feel the benefit.
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