Tag Archives: paella

El Playa Faro Restaurant, Mijas Costas, Spain

We were going to ignore this restaurant by the highway during a trip to Andalucia last November. It was off-season, and if this place was popular in the summer it definitely did not look appealing in the dark, deserted on a highway roundabout. But I heard a lady take the time to thank our resort’s front desk for the suggestion one evening, so I kept it in mind. One night after driving back from Seville, we decided to give it ago and we were so pleased that we even went back a second time.

El Playa Faro is a quiet restaurant that is not flashy or touristy, but with offerings that were at par (if not better) than a lot of more popular places in Malaga area. Continue reading

Paella For Two

When I was first displaced from my homeland, I learned that the best way to relive and return to a geographically inconvenient location is by cooking its cuisine. This is how I learned to cook Filipino dishes and replicated the aromas of kitchens back home. Smell is, after all, the strongest trigger of memory. And it’s my weapon of choice for homesickness.

Homemade paella! I can never get tired of it.

Homemade paella! I can never get tired of it.

Of course, paella isn’t exactly Filipino. But, but, but if you’ve done your homework at all then you would know that paella graces many feasts in the Philippines, more festive and complex than regular mainstays like noodles and fried or roasted pork, and often too delicate to successfully make for a large party.

Mmmmmmm….

Plus you know how I love Spain. 🙂 Let me count the ways: Continue reading

El Patio Bodega, Malaga, Spain

We had the best paella at El Patio Bodega in Malaga, and just by pure luck. We came from the nearby Bodega Bar El Pimpi (post coming soon), the first place we tried upon arrival in Malaga. But their hot food wasn’t going to be served until later that evening, and we were told that there would be no paella. We had some anchovies and sangria and looked for a place for dinner. We had to have paella. That’s the reason we were in Spain!

Oh my. Seafood paella.

Oh my. Seafood paella.

I’ve got some nerve declaring their paella the best, when we had many others we were very happy about. I especially enjoyed El Patio’s paella because it was the only one that was served to us in a perfect al dente, a point that from experience is not only hard to achieve but also disappears within a few more minutes exposure to heat. Other than its consistency, the rice was still very moist with broth that settled in the bottom of the pan, and one whose flavor was infused with saffron and flavors of the ocean. Flavors of shellfish and mollusk dominated the dish, leaving no doubt as to the base of the sauce. Our server told us that their paella recently won 2nd prize in a contest, beaten only by a chef from Malaga who worked in Las Vegas(?) Continue reading

Pipa, New York

I’m a sucker for tapas like everyone else, but even more so since I visited Barcelona. Since then, all tapas places have become an inevitable comparison to my love, Bar Rodrigo.

The show-stealing paella comes with half a lobster as a crown. Great job.

I was at Pipa to celebrate a happy occasion, and like a dictator I monopolized the menu and planned out our dishes ahead of time. I had been studying the menu for few days. Next to Tertulia, my favorite tapas place in NY (but impossible to get into after six), Pipa is a close second. Their sangria rocks too, a little too much actually. It’s like a small docile horse that gives you the smoothest ride but catapults you several feet into a thornbush right before you reach your destination. Continue reading

Paella at Blue Ribbon, Brooklyn

Paella is among my favorite dishes. A good paella always brings me back to Barcelona, to a moment in a an old-fashioned restaurant, savoring the saffron flavors of the moist and tasty paella that was cooked leisurely to order.

My favorite paella outside Spain

Continue reading

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...