Small plates are certainly très chic these days (even if our propensity for mixing foreign phrases is not), but usually, the price tag is not quite as nice of a fit. Not that we're above spending a fortune on small bites of delicacies. We do have our weaknesses in that area.

However, we were glad to find that at Tamarindo, we could have the best of all worlds: lovely gourmet Mexican food, served up in small-bites portions, for small enough prices that we could stuff ourselves silly on the stuff.

Our friends whom we invited to join us for this culinary exploration had been looking at the restaurant's website all week -- perusing the online menu and salivating. You see, we are hardcore meat eaters, but our friends are (gasp) vegetarians, or, well, lacto-ovo-pesco veggies, which is not the most restrictive variety, but still, for primarily plant-eaters and devout carnivores to be equally excited about one menu is certainly a notable event.

The real-life experience did not disappoint.

After the jump: five rounds of food! Peel-your-own-shrimp, chipotle purée, and tamarind aqua fresca, among many others. This post is making us hungry.

SFist Julie, our East Bay eater, stops by Tamarindo in Old Historic Oakland for a glorious Mexican meal.