Tag: boquerones

Postcard from Valladolid, Spain: Offering you final virtual menu from 2022 trips

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Above, Pide por esa Boquita croquetas

Croquetas start out many a meal in Spain, so it only seems appropriate to feature one more plate. The above is definitely a recommended one – a split order of croquetas with half squid ink and half cecina and membrillo at Pide por esa Boquita. The small restaurant felt bright and contemporary and attracted us back for a repeat visit. The seasonal salads were creative; lobster and vegetables were prepared in a not-too-heavy tempura batter; and the tuna tataki merited ordering again.

It was nice to spice things up for a change of pace at Indian Aderezo. The samosas were filled plumply, and the curried vegetables and garbanzos suited us well.

Filled with locals, Restaurante Niza offered us our requisite Italian fix.

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Postcard from Malaga, Spain: Cuisine anchored by seafood

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El Pimpi Bodega Bar

El Pimpi Bodega Bar is an institution in Malaga. Although it was not founded until 1971, the buildings and décor are much older. Enormous wooden wine kegs line the hallway of the entrance.

Historically, los pimpis were the young men who would head to the docks to help unload cruise ships and then freelance their services as informal tour guides for the newly arrived tourists. El Pimpi has numerous dining rooms and a bright patio, but unfortunately it feels as though pimpis just led an entire boatload of tourists there. Definitely worth visiting though. Somehow we found a slow time, like early on a Monday evening, to belly up to the bar for a glass of wine and a tapa-sized order of croquetas. Both were perfect.

But on to seafood. And where to find the freshest? Head to a market. El Mercado Atarazanas is reputed to have the best. Tourists and locals in equal numbers compete for high tops with stools outside the market. The first time we landed at was a relative newcomer, Happy Fish, the name of which worried us. Too close to “happy meals.” But, fortunately, that was not the case. We felt reassured by the fact we were brought a bottle of wine that coincidentally bore the name of our favorite restaurant almost anywhere – La Biznaga in Oaxaca. On two other occasions we snagged space at the longer established Bar Mercado Atarazanas.

Both delivered great fresh seafood. We dove into platters of boquerones fritos (fried fresh white anchovies), chiles padron, fried eggplant, tortillitas de camarones (shrimp fritters). By our third trip to Mercado Atarazanas and after almost two months of opportunities, we finally got up the courage to take the plunge. We ordered an Andalucian delicacy we had been avoiding – ortiguillas de mar frito.

In the sea, these anemones use their long swaying tenacles to sting and entrap fish. Green algae filters through their somewhat translucent bodies. Restaurants serve them battered and fried. Hey, anything is good fried, right? Ortiguillas come close to a fried oyster in texture, but an oyster with a belly-full of blackish green algae. That makes them sound horrible, which they weren’t. Just a tad challenging for us. We did make it through about two-thirds of the way through our media racion (no tapa-size available). Box checked. More boquerones, please.

The market seafood stalls are packed, but locals have an escape spot away from the maddening crowd – La Peregrina. Not always easy to snag a table, but there is more elbow room. The place is somewhat sterile compared to the bustling market, but loved that women seemed to rule the open kitchen. All the same dishes can be found here. The grilled pulpo was perfect, but the pincho (skewer) of red tuna blew us away. You cannot tell from the photo, but it was seared on the outside and rare in the center – wonderful.

Happy Fish Atarazanas La Biznaga wine
La Peregrina fried eggplant
Bar Mercado Atarazanas ortiguillas de mar
El Gastronauta “vinyl” placemats
Happy Fish Atarazanas tortillitas de camarones
Happy Fish Atarazanas boquerones fritos and chiles padron
Bar Mercado Atarazanas fried eggplant
Taberna de Cervantes chiles padron
El Pimpi Bodega Bar
El Gastronauta roasted red pepper with provolone
Bar Mercado Atarazanas pincho de pulpo
El Gastronauta black paella
El Gastronauta stir-fried vegetables with red tuna
La Peregrina boquerones fritos
Happy Fish Atarazanas mussels
Taberna de Cervantes wild mushrooms, asparagus and artichokes
El Descorche Sorbos & Mordiscos fideo seco with cuttlefish
La Peregrina pincho de atun
Taberna de Cervantes croquetas
La Peregrina pulpo
El Gastronauta brownie
Bar Mercado Atarazanas chiles padron
Restaurante Tita Che mussels
El Gastronauta
El Gastronauta eggplant with goat cheese

By all inside appearances, La Taberna de Cervantes appeared a perfect place to delve into traditional dishes, and our food was fine. But our waiter totally ruined it for us. Menus in the Andalucia region often feature three sizes of servings – tapas (light appetizers), media racion and full racion (full size). Our waiter, acting like a greedy pimpi trying to take advantage of tourists just off the boat, kept trying to upsize us, saying we needed raciones of everything. Oh, and better wine. And the “background music” was a commercial radio station playing tired cheesy tunes. Not a good experience, but, who knows, the “parent” restaurant does get good reviews….

El Gastronauta really should not be lumped together with these more traditional places, but, in order to restrict Malaga to two food posts, I needed a volunteer. Reservations are recommended in this small, narrow casual restaurant popular with a young crowd of locals. Vegetable sides are a bit more creative than many places, and on weekends the kitchen turns out a variety of quite respectable paellas.

More food later….

Postcard from Sevilla, Spain: Sorry, you must be starving by now

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Seems too long since this blog made a food stop.

Fresh red tuna was running while we were in Spain this spring and summer, and the above photo represents an upscale presentation of it from the kitchen of chef Gonazlo Jurado of Tradevo Centro. The name represents a fusion of the words tradition and evolution. An avocado roll, or canelon, filled with shrimp is particularly luscious.

Like Tradevo, ConTendor Slow Food Restaurant is a little more upscale than we tend to frequent, but neither results in particularly high tabs at lunchtime. The long and varied daily menu is written on a large chalk board, and the server reads through the entire thing with you to see if you have any questions. It can be parked on your table briefly for consideration, but on a two-top it is awkward to read and we quickly found ourselves forgetting what some of the dishes were. Everything is presented artfully, such as an unusual deconstructed dessert of eucalyptus ice cream with creamy meringue and basil hazelnut paste on the side.

Quilombo goat cheese with honey
ConTenador arroz con gambas
Arte y Sabor grilled prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
ConTenador ceviche
Estraperlo stir-fried shrimp and vegetables
Al Wadi beriany de pollo
Quilombo seafood paella
Tradevo sardines
Estraperlo artichokes with jamon
El Enano Verde black rice with snow peas
Malavida grilled vegetables
Tradevo avocado canelon with srhimp
Tradevo calamari
Al Wadi kabseh cordero
El Enano Verde wok-style vegetables
Quilombo salad
Quilombo mejillones Gallegos
Malavida avocado and seed salad
Arte y Sabor tuna covered with sesame seeds
Vida Loca boquerones
Vida Loca garbanzo stew
Vida Loca vegetables with jamon
ConTenador eucalyptus ice cream with meringue and basil hazelnut cream
Al Wadi cold squash with pomegranite
Malavida panes de solomilla with membrillo and goat cheese
Artefacto Grill & Beers retinto burger with goat cheese
Artefacto Grill & Beers spinach and pine nut croquetas
Tradevo fried eggplant
Artefacto Grill & Beers zucchini filled with cheesy rice and spinach
Quilombo salmon burger
Arte y Sabor falafel

The winner for our favorite people-watching patio is Quilombo. The casual spot is on an intimate plaza on a mainly pedestrian narrow street frequented by locals. The mussels and salmon burgers are good, but it was the patio that really drew us back.

While one Arte y Sabor Tapas is located on Plaza Hercules, there is an overflow one about half a block away that attracts more locals. The prosciutto-wrapped asparagus and the falafel are welcome changes. Artefacto Grill & Beers is just off the plaza as well, and, as a result, snagging a table at lunch is much easier. Love their cheesy rice-filled zucchini and croquetas filled with spinach and pine nuts. Burgers, from veggie to retinto beer, are their specialties.

We did not realize when we stumbled across Vida Loca that it had only been open a week. The neighborhood evidently was keenly aware, so it was packed. The traditional garbanzo stew and boquerones are spot on, and the plate piled high with fresh vegetables and slices of jamon is uncommonly varied. Tucked away on a side street and seemingly undiscovered by many tourists, tables in Estraperlo are wedged between shelves holding fresh vegetables and other “ecological market” items for sale. We shared a lunch of artichokes with jamon and a stir-fry with shrimp.

We tried more than one Morroccan/Arab restaurant but were shocked to find our most successful meal in that vein right smack in the middle of one of the areas most congested by tourists – a Halal restaurant, Al Wadi. The chilled squash with a pomegranate, honey and lemon sauce is a pleasant starter, and lamb arrives atop the most flavorful savory rice ever entering my mouth. And then, right under the landmark visitor magnet Las Setas, was Malavida Tapas. I almost left it off the list, but the photos rescued it at the last minute. We went on a rare rainy day, so it was empty instead of overrun. The vegetables, the seedy avocado salad and the beef panes are all much better than one would expect to find in the location.

The final stop offered for your meal consideration in Sevilla almost reminded me of the old Europe on $5 a day (pretty nigh on impossible even in the olden days) guidebooks; it was that much a bargain. A simple neighborhood hole-in-the-wall, El Enano Verde offers ridiculously low-priced freshly prepared vegetarian fare. Both our wok-style vegetables and black rice with snow peas resulted in clean plates. I am including this because it is an ideal conscious-clearing spot to balance your budget and your calories after indulging in too many splurge meals.

But, you might ask, where is the pizza? Anyone who knows us is aware we don’t travel for long without pizza. We tried several in Seville but failed to find one we would recommend. But our Spanish options were so abundant we survived easily.