Chowing Down

Sidrería Arriaga

This is, quite possibly, the most fantastic steak that I've had in years. But I get ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning. Sidrería Arriaga is a cider house in Bilbao (check out that blog post!) that my hostel recommended, with the warning that it was a bit expensive. Ultimate price? About 35 euro--but hear me out!

The cider house, like any other, has giant barrels in the wall for their cider (and it's not apple cider to give the kids on New Year's Eve. It's a grown-up drink for sure.) and you just serve yourself--unlimited refills! I ordered the four-course Cider Menu, but I'll describe three courses; dessert was walnuts and cheese. Lame.

I started my meal with a hefty glass of cider (seen in the top right above), and chorizo with murcilla, a Spanish blood sausage. It was smothered in a tomato sauce and had red peppers on the side. From bite one, it took my breath away. The chorizo tasted a bit like chicken, which was a little different from the chorizo I've had before, and the blood sausage was really quite good. And not what I expected either!

In Spanish my second course is called a tortilla de bacalao, or a codfish omelette. It was a little salty, but it paired really well with the cider (as did my first plate), so I really enjoyed it. I'm not a huge fan of eggs, but the omelette was so fresh that I finished the whole thing.

And now the star of our little blog post:

This steak was incredible. I really don't know what else to say. It might have been seasoned, but I never tasted it. It was just that wonderful flavor of a perfectly grilled steak. It was juicy, it was tender, and it was giant. It was at least an inch thick, and I wanted so badly to finish it. The waiter watched me taste the steak, and laughed to himself as he watched. I was loving the food. That steak bested me, and I couldn't finish it off. So regrettable.



Restaurante Somorrostro
Chef's Dinner (Without Kangaroo)

There wasn't kangaroo, but there almost was. It was definitely on the menu. My aunt, Cindy, found a very nice secluded restaurant in Barcelona (via TripAdvisor), with a chef's dinner of 7 courses--3 starters, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. And, well, all I have to say is WOW. We started with some fish, served with a tomato salsa and an olive pesto type sauce. And the black streak on the plate? That's cuttlefish ink--no flavor, but it looks pretty cool. We ate it really quickly because it was very good.

Dish two came out a while later (we ate too fast, apparently). Marinated hake fish with sweet potato chips, and a lemon foam. And yes, we ate too quickly again.

Dish three? Fried squid. I'm not a huge fan of calamari, but this was prepared very well, so we all enjoyed it. And it was the perfect amount, too, because by the end I was getting a little tired of the texture.

And that was just the starters. Now it's time for entrees!

We had paced ourselves a little better by this point, so we didn't have to wait too long to find out what our next dish was. Bacalao (which I recently discovered is just cod), popular in Portugal and the Spanish coast. Fish served on top of a bed of vegetables. I wasn't a huge fan of the vegetables though. And the piece of charcoal on the right? Nope, it's not charcoal, it's actually a POTATO. I was blown away, even though it had a bit of a strange flavor.

Next up? Steak. Juicy and tender, with a caramelized onion that was fantastically sweet. I believe it was served with a mashed cabbage that was quite good. On top? A bit of paté, which I avoided like the plague. After one bite of it, I figured I would stick to foods I understood--at least for this dish.

Finally, my favorite part of any meal...dessert. I'm switching the order of dishes here because the first dessert was miles better than the second. But fantastic nonetheless.

The waitress walked out with four bowls and set them in front of us. We had watched the chef making this last dish (with a blowtorch) so we figured it was creme brulee (excuse the lack of accents. I know Spanish, not French). When she set it in front of us, we discovered that it was topped with pineapple. Overall, this dessert was a bit runny, so not my favorite. Let's move on.

What could be the most fantastic dessert I've ever tasted. A base of granola, with a raspberry reduction, whole raspberries, and a sort of gelatin, all topped off with whipped cream and a caramel sauce. The chef brought this out personally--he was proud of it. Somehow, the raspberry flavor was incredibly intense, and went through every possible texture: crunchy granola, then the whole raspberries, the softer gelatin, and the sauce. It didn't look that great, but once we tasted it, we were blown away. I could have eaten 3 or 4 more, it was so delicious.

Chocolatería San Ginés

Everything I've heard tells me that this is a Madrid must. And I see why. Thanks to a helpful tip from my hostal hosts, we found it fairly easily. It's tucked back on a small street called Calle San Ginés, off of Calle Arenal from Puerta del Sol. You can tell from the moment you walk up that the place has been there forever. It's a nice break from the bustle of the streets around it. They've got several tables outside where you can sit and enjoy the sun or people watch--whichever you prefer. There's also a neat little (very) antique bookshop on the corner where you can pick up any kind of book in Spanish for a really good price. It's open 24/7--so after a late dinner, or an even later night at a club, it's perfectly acceptable to stop by and grab some coffee. 

Well, more like "grab some chocolate." It is called a Chocolatería after all.  I recommend the classic-- chocolate con churros. According to the English menu, this is hot chocolate with churros, but it's like no hot chocolate I've had before. It's incredibly thick. Closer to a chocolate sauce than an actual drink. It's mainly there to dip your churros in, but you can drink it too. The café con leche (coffee with milk) is also really good, and strong, but it doesn't go as well with the churros. I've been back several times; the churros are always fresh, the chocolate and café con leche always hot. It's one of those great hole-in-the-wall places that I'll never forget.

100 Montaditos

First, a pronunciation guide. It's not one-hundred montaditos. It's Spanish! So it's said like "See-IN Moan-tah-DEE-toes."

These are all over the place in Madrid (I found five in 2 weeks.). Here's the scoop: Montaditos are like tiny sub sandwiches. As the name suggests, there are 100 different varieties on the menu, ranging from 1 euro, all the way up to the hefty price of 2 euros. Where do they make their money? Well, it's not on the sandwiches, and it's not on the drinks, either. The regular price for a mug of sangría is 2 euros, the same for a mug of beer. HOWEVER! If you buy a montadito, then a beer is only 1 euro! They have good salads and appetizers, at about 4 or 5 euros apiece. So far I've yet to be disappointed with what I've ordered, even though I almost never know what I'll be getting (the entire menu is in Spanish).

You order for the table on little cards where you fill out which montaditos you want, and how many. Then you take your ticket to the bar and pay, then wait on them to call your name to pick up your order. The whole call-your-name thing makes it fun though. Why? They always say, "Philip, por favor." So if you put a stupid name, they have to call it. The best I've heard is "Atención, por favor." My whole table waited expectantly for five minutes!

Now. This is where things get crazy. On Wednesday night, there's what I like to call "Miércoles (Wednesday) Madness!" On Wednesdays, everything except the salads is 1 euro! Appetizers, montaditos, drinks! And the salads are only 2 euro, so that's no biggie either. Wednesday nights are packed because everyone wants to take advantage of the awesome deal. As a whole, the restaurant has a really relaxed atmosphere. I go there all the time with friends--party because it's cheap, and partly because it's good.