Ruta De La Tapa Noviembre 2019
Today was a good day. Noviembre 23, 2019. Today was the day I _____________________. But we’re not talking about that. Later, that is a whole other story. This is all about Tapas, lets go.
We chose the perfect place to live, for us. Food culture, sunshine, sea and soon to be __________. About six times a year the city and it’s various marketing teams host Tapa events in town. Now, everyday we do Tapas. They are typically 1 euro to 1.50 euro for a drink and a tapa. This event is not necessarily a “deal” as each one is 2.50 euro for a drink and a tapa. But, the tapas are elevated. Each restaurant does its best to come up with a creative offering(s) that go way beyond a pincho. This year there were 36 restaurants participating . Last year we hit 18. Not too shabby. This year we downsized a bit and just hit 5. They were good choices though. We were very happy with our decisions. As Bisque Kitt would say, “our decision making skills are exemplary”. You can read about last years Ruta De La Tapas here.
First stop. El Piscolabis
This was our first stop on #tapatorrevieja19 a good start. Tapas were excellent. Vino Tinto not so good, and a small pour in a bad glass. Too bad, they should have at least used better glasses. But it was an excellent beginning. The Alcachofa en tempura rellena, a stuffed artichoke with creme cheese and jamon, deep fried and a side of marmalade was a complex offering of flavors. I will be duplicating this at home. The Hojadrito de Iberico Solomillo de iberico champinon y salsa cazadora was essentially a pork tenderloin, mushroom sauce and puff pastry delight. Yes, it was a good start. But they do need to improve on the wine. Please, at least use a real glass.
Restaurante Rincon De Capis
We celebrated my 50th birthday here. It was amazing. There are more expensive restaurants in town. I would place this one in the finest category of any. Their 7 course menu creativo is not only delicious it is a great value at 25 euro per person including a bottle of wine. You can see the entire experience on my blog post here. But, we are here for the tapas. The first was Gofre gratinado de pavo trufado y verduritas de la Vega con crema de foie. This was a truffle turkey waffle with vegetables and a Foie Gras cream sauce. Yeah, it was as good as it sounds. The other dish was Bonito, similar to tuna. Tataki de Bonito de torrevieja con vinagreta de wasabi y tomate de la vega con alga wakame. I need to continue to give Bonito a try. The one other time I had it, it was smoked and very fishy with lots of bones. This was delicious, very mild in flavor much like Ahi. And… why can I not find Wakame here in the stores?
Restaurante El Pescador
Well what can I say? It is guaranteed we will always come here during one of these events. First off, I like the plates. It matters. Their dish ware is very nice. Then, the plating. The dishes are always visually appealing and the Tapas have also been consistently good. This year was good, but my least favorite from past experiences. The Chipirones salteados con verduras de la vega baja y arroz negro was basically squid ink paella with calamari. Delicious and perfectly cooked, the squid was ridiculously tender, very high quality. The Milhojas de carrillera con patata confitado al vino tinto which is veal cheeks confit potatoes in a red wine sauce was also a good thing. Very tender. But I make this type of thing though at home, often, so it was not too exciting for me. I do think anyone else would find it delightful.
Hostal- Restaurante HB Torrevieja
This seems to be another place we go to almost every time. They have creative ideas and the place just feels nice. I guess we have stayed in many hostels around the world and this place does have that hip young travel vibe thing going on. First lets talk wine. We both agreed this this was the best of the day. Spain does not really do hard tannins. At least not that I have had on a regular basis. This wine was super good. Very dry, hard tannins and a big nose. I looked it up on the menu, it is the house monastrell at $6.50 euro a bottle. I will be coming back for that, guaranteed. Also, we noticed their Menu Del Dia looked delicious and huge! It was $10 euro and definitely shareable for two.
The first Tapa was Falsa langosta de la tierra.Mero, caldo de marisco y verduras veriadas. I honestly can not tell you what the hell this was. But it was good. The black sauce was squid ink I think, there was wakame but the main part, not sure. The literal translation is “fake lobster from the ground. Grouper, seafood broth and vegetables” . It was a bit fishy but we both liked it. The other dish was Ramen. Caldo de ternera, huevo, patata y cerdo fideos. So….. It was ramen. There were interesting ingredients that made it OK. Possibly my least favorite dish of the day, but I think most people would like it. I am from Portland. Ramen is a thing in that city. And one of my oldest friends was the executive chef of one of the best ramen restaurants in Portland. You can read about his restaurant Noraneko here. So the bar is high. Whether you are talking Pho or Ramen there is one starting point. The broth. The broth is the absolute most important part of this dish. This broth unfortunately was quite salty and one dimensional. Nowhere near as complex as it should have been. The ingredients were nice though, interesting. The pink thing, possibly fish cake stands out.
Taberna Del Mar
This is one of those very nice looking places on the promenade. White table cloths, fire pits, sea view. The prices reflect this. Their regular menu del dia averages about $14 – $18 euro per person and I am not sure if that includes wine. But we usually pay around $9 that includes a bottle wine. So, we came here because we have never been here. It was a lovely experience actually. Yes, the location is fantastic and very near one of our favorite restaurants in town, Sunset Beach.
The Calamar relleno con arroz basmati y gamba de Santa pola was a stuffed calamari with basmati rice. Yum. We both agreed this was a winner. The Alcachofa rellena en cama pure de verduras was also excellent. Artichokes seem to be a thing this year.
So there you have it. Another fabulous Tapas event in Torrevieja. We did it small this time. But there is still one more day…..
