spanish Archives - Time for a coffee

October 24, 2023

What should I have?

I was in Bristol and looking for some lunch. As it was a Monday there was no Finzel Reach or Temple Quay street food markets. I headed off to the St Nicholas Market to see what was available. There is a wide choice of places to eat there, though not all are open on a Monday. As per usual there was a long queue for Matina for their excellent Kurdish wraps, even with the recent “dramatic” price increase. I remember the time they were less than a fiver, now they are over eight pounds each. Well I suspect costs have risen for them, they had to rise at some point, but they appears to be rising quite a lot over the last couple of years.

I still have to try the MOMO bar, but decided that wasn’t going to be today. I did consider going for the Low and Slow barbecue box, but in the end headed to La Lola.

The last time I ate at La Lola I had the crispy squid, but wasn’t too enamoured with their chipped potatoes, which were like thick crisps.

This time I went for their seafood paella. I was served quickly, and this a good looking paella with a nice amount of seafood, which included prawns, squid, and mussels.

This was a delicious paella, lots of flavour.

October 3, 2023

Finally made it to Reinata

In March I had a conversation at a meeting with a colleague who had recommended Reineta in Dickens Yard in Ealing. So in April, when staying in Ealing, I had headed out to Reineta having decided what I would order. You can imagine my disappointment when I went there to find it was in fact closed. It was only open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I wasn’t in London on any of those days… Instead I went to Côte.

Back in June I was in London, staying in Ealing. It was a Tuesday, so hadn’t even considered Reineta, but was pleasantly surprised to see that Reineta was open. Well guess where I ended up.

This is very much an informal place to eat, very relaxed.

It was a warm evening, so I sat outside and looked over the menu. Alas the choices I had seen on the (online) menu back in April were not available. I went with two dishes.

The first was a salad with Isle of Wight tomatoes, avocado, pickled red onions and grated manchego cheese.

This was a simple dish, but in some ways too simple. I wasn’t overly impressed with the flavour of the tomatoes. I did enjoy it though.

My second dish was the octopus. This was grilled marinated octopus served with mixed peppers, sliced potatoes and “choricero” pepper.

This was an excellent plate of food, very tasty and quite substantial (for a tapas dish). I really enjoyed the dish. The octopus was tender and full of flavour. I liked the sliced potatoes and the pepper.

Overall these were two delicious plates of food. I would like to have had some bread with the food though.

I enjoyed sitting outside and eating, something that is often challenging to do in the UK with all the weather.

August 8, 2023

La Lola Calamari

I hadn’t actually planned to have lunch in Bristol, but I was shopping in Broadmead and was feeling a little peckish. It was getting past the lunchtime, so wasn’t sure what would be available. I did quite fancy something from La Lola in the end, also I could sit down as well.

I decided not to have the paella, as it was near the end of lunchtime so probably might be not so fresh. In the end I went with the calamari.

This was cooked to order so was nice and fresh. It came with salad and deep fried potato slices.

The squid was delicious. It was nice and tender with a crisp coating. I felt though that the potatoes were like thick crisps. I wasn’t too enamoured with them and preferred the fried sliced potatoes that they use to serve. The salad was nice though.

Overall I enjoyed the food and it was a nice place to sit, eat and take in the atmosphere of the street food market.

July 13, 2023

Time for some more Tapas

Last July I went to La Rueda, a tapas bar in Ealing in London. We had an excellent meal of different tapas dishes. In my review I said:

Overall the food was beautiful cooked and it was delicious. I do hope to visit La Rueda again.

It has been a while, but last month I made a return visit to La Rueda and had some excellent tapas again.

La Rueda Tapas Bar is a one-of-a-kind culinary establishment with a menu inspired by the idea of simple and honest cooking. Starting in 2000, we developed a unique dining experience for all of our guests using fresh and sustainable ingredients—taking you on a culinary journey like no other. From classic recipes to new-age kitchen adventures, each dish reflects our passion for high-quality food presented in a simple yet pleasing manner.

I was given a friendly warm welcome. I looked over the menu. I decided to go for three dishes, a salad, a fish dish, and a meat dish. I went with choices that I wouldn’t normally choose.

For my salad choice I went with the Tomate Y Cebolla – Tomatoes & Onions salad.

The tomatoes were nice and fresh, and the sharpness of the red onions was a nice contrast. The salad was seasoned well.

For the meat dish I went with the Carrilleras de cerdo ibérico – Ibérico pork cheeks braised in Sherry.

I had seen this on the menu before and liked the sound of it. There was two portions of pork cheek, the cooking sauce, and some deep friend potato strings. The pork was tender and full of flavour. The crispiness of the potato add some textural variety. I think I would have liked some bread with this dish.

For my fish dish I was tempted to have the octopus that I had last year. I also liked the idea of the grilled sardines. However, in the end I chose the Boquerones fritos – fried fresh anchovies.

This dish was similar to whitebait, but the anchovies were bigger. They were nice and crisp, and I liked the aioli, slaw, and lemon.

I really enjoyed all three dishes.

April 10, 2023

Made some paella

I made and cooked a paella, or a Spanish inspired rice dish.

I diced an onion and a pointed red pepper. In a hot large frying pan, I put some olive oil and I cooked off bacon lardons, and some diced chorizo. I then added the diced onion and pepper. When this was softened, I added some sliced mushroom. Once this was stirred in I added 250g of paella rice.

To this I added some paella seasoning, paella seasoning, Carmencita Paellero Paella Spice Mix.

This is according to the description the number one selling spice mix in Spain.

I ensured that the rice was coated I added a splash of sherry. I then added some chicken stock and water. Stirred once and left it to cook.

I added some more water as it cooked.

Before serving I added some cooked sliced chorizo, freshly chopped parsley, and some chunks of lemon.

I served this with some freshly cooked fish and salad.

April 4, 2023April 4, 2023

What do you mean it’s not open?

I was staying in London and thinking about going out to eat, I was reminded of a conversation with a colleague a few weeks back who had recommended Reineta in Dickens Yard in Ealing.

Reineta is a Spanish cafe and restaurant.I looked at the dinner menu on their website and the different tapas that were on offer.

I had already made my choice of tapas.

I liked the sound of the mushrooms casserole, made from wild mushrooms with shallots, parsley and mushroom cream and manchego cheese.

I also decided I would have the burned butternut squash with fresh cheese and black truffle.

I thought I would also have the mixed peppers, sliced potatoes and marinated octopus with “choricero” pepper.

You can imagine my disappointment when I went there to find it was in fact closed. It was only open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I wasn’t in London on any of those days…

So no tapas for me.

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023

La Lola Crispy Squid

Working in Bristol and out for a walk at lunchtime. I wasn’t actually intending to have lunch out, but walking through the St Nicholas Market looking at all the different stalls, I was tempted. There are lots of lovely places in the market, there is the new Tibetan stall, MOMO, which had quite a queue. I also did think about Low and Slow, but they were equally popular. In the end I went back to the Spanish stall, La Lola.

Since I was last at La Lola, they have added some walls and windows to their stall, so sitting inside in this cold weather is much nicer. I was given a lovely warm welcome, and I ordered my food, and then took a seat. It wasn’t long before my freshly cooked squid arrived.

The crispy baby squid came in a cardboard container, it would have been nice on a plate (which I have said before), but realise that as a stall, it might not be possible.

The squid had a nice crisp coating and was very tender on the inside. The chipped potatoes had been cooked twice, so weren’t as good as previous visits to La Lola. However they were crisp and tasty. The salad was nice and fresh. It was a delicious box of food, which I really enjoyed.

January 30, 2023

Cooked Paella

I made and cooked paella this evening.

I diced an onion, red pepper. In a hot large frying pan, I put some olive oil and I cooked off some bacon lardons. I then added the diced onion and pepper. When this was softened, I added some sliced baby courgette and diced mushroom. Once this was stirred in I added 250g of paella rice.

To this I added some paella seasoning, paella seasoning, Carmencita Paellero Paella Spice Mix.

This is according to the description the number one selling spice mix in Spain.

I ensured that the rice was coated I added some fish stock and water. Stirred once and left it to cook.

Before serving I added some cooked sliced chorizo, freshly chopped parsley, and some chunks of lemon.

I served this with some freshly cooked fish and salad.

January 12, 2023

Trying a new Paella Seasoning

I have made my version of paella for many years. Well maybe I should call it a Spanish inspired rice dish, rather than paella.

Recently I have been using a jar of paella paste from Waitrose when cooking paella, however it looks like they have stopped selling it. M&S have stopped selling their paste as well, and Tesco haven’t sold their paella seasoning for a couple of years now. I wouldn’t buy the Schwartz paella seasoning as it uses turmeric rather than saffron. I have been known to creating my own “seasoning” using saffron and I did think I would have to go down that road. It was suggested to me to look on Amazon, so I did, and found some paella seasoning. I ordered some. The Carmencita Paellero Paella Spice Mix is according to the description the number one selling spice mix in Spain.

I used it when cooking a paella and was pleased with the end result. It looked excellent.

It also tasted great when we had it with our New Year fish supper. It is something I would use again and will order more once I run out.

August 27, 2022August 26, 2022

Paella

Dare I call this dish paella? Well this Spanish inspired rice dish is a regular dish in our house.

I diced a red onion, red pepper and mushrooms. In a hot large frying pan, I put some olive oil and I cooked off some smoked pancetta bacon.

I then added the diced onion and pepper. When this was softened, I added 250g of paella rice. I ensured that this was then coated with the peppers and onions in the pan. I let this cook for a minute or so before adding a jar of paella paste from Waitrose.

After stirring in the paste I added some chicken stock. Stirred once and left it to cook.

Before serving I added some cooked sliced chorizo and chunks of lemon.

I served it with some pan fried tuna steaks.