Shoot First Eat Later

San Sebastian: Pintxos Bar Hopping

As I mentioned before San Sebastian is well know for all the Michelin Starred restaurants but it’s also very popular for pintxos (pinchos) or tapas. You can say we went to San Sebastian just to EAT!

We didn’t waste any time. Our first night we walked from our hotel Parte Vieja (Old Part) where all the pintxos bars were. On the way there we passed by this clean and lovely park.

The city was small and we just walked to most places.

If my cousins didn’t do research beforehand we would have a hard time to choose from all these restaurants and bars.

It was astonishing to see a beautiful baroque church, the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus, at the end of these buildings.

Basilica of Saint Mary of the Chorus

My cousin in law Chee with my niece and nephews met us in San Sebastian. They came from Virginia and Los Angeles. Rochelle and I were the only ones who came from the other side of the world, Manila.

The first stop on our pintxos bar hopping was the hip A Fuego Negro bar.

A Fuego Negro Bar

My cousins who did the research on where to eat also made a list on what pintxos to order. I was surprised they ordered sliders or mini Wagyu burgers served with fried banana chips.

Makcobe (mini Wagyu burger)

They were pretty good for burgers and the kids just loved them thus more orders. Yes kids were allowed in the bars. We were a big group of 8 adults and 4 kids so we just huddled against the wall where a narrow ledge was home to all our food.

The best thing with A Fuego Negro was their creative food presentation. A tin can normally used for sardines contained foie gras topped a caramelized shell of sugar. We had to pull the top of the tin open. A jar of honey was provided for this sweet, salty, decadent treat. Even the kids loved this! The kids in our family are all future gourmands.

foie snack

The lean Iberico ham was wrapped in a big sheet of paper and it looked like a gift we had to unwrap. And it was a delicious gift indeed.

1/4 Iberian ham (shoulder blade)

How imaginative was this? Cod fish fried and puffed up to look and taste like chicharon.

fried cod fish trips with young garlic sauce

To get to the next bar we had to pass Plaza Constitución which was the equivalence of Plaza Mayor in Madrid.

Plaza Constitución

Bar Borda Berri

Bar Borda Berri had a more traditional ambiance and food presentation but the quality was excellent.

Bar Borda Berri’s menu

An order of stewed beef cheeks consisted of one piece. We ordered three right away.

Carrilleras de Ternera al Vino Tinto (beef cheeks)

It was so tender and the combination of sauces was beyond anything we’ve tasted another order was placed. The men loved this dish the most.

Another specialty of the bar was the squid ink risotto. I liked the intense flavor of the squid ink and the al dente texture of the rice but it was too salty.

squid ink risotto

It was a good thing eagle-eyed Sharon saw this on the bar and ordered a small plate to sample. I just about fainted with delight when the sharp Idiazabal cheese with the creamy rice hit my palate. It was like the best mac n’ cheese you’ve ever eaten and multiply that ten times. I don’t know how many additional orders we made since the kids loved it too. This was my favorite pintxos for the whole night.

risotto de Idiazabal

Don’t lose your fork and dig in. There were no extra plates or napkins. Just eat as you please and be quick about it since my cousins have this no holds barred attitude towards food. Well we all do.

While some adults were inside Bar Borda Berri most of the kids were inside Quebec Cafe.

Quebec Cafe (Creperia)

Since there were no chairs for us in Bar Borda Berri others sat here and got fed risotto and beef cheeks while waiting for their crêpes.

Nutella banana crêpe

It was actually good! The adults also had a lemon crêpe which the kids didn’t like. Good for us 😀

These young cousins attacked and demolished the crêpe in a flash while their respective parents behind them were oblivious. Another one please!

While the two previous bars were on my cousins’ list based on their research this last we went to this last bar on a whim. Our basis for choosing it was the number of people inside and the tempting display of pintxos on the bar.

Bar Txalupa Jatetxea

This is what I pictured a typical pintxos or tapas bar would look like based on what I saw on food tv shows. You choose whatever you want and pile them on a plate and pay at the cashier at the end of the counter. Pintxos turo-turo.

As good as they all look I grew wary when I saw the microwave oven which they used to warm up some of the pintxos.

Rochelle and I were already full so we just chose these to share. I was right they weren’t very good compared to the first two bars. The bread was hard and almost stale and taste was mediocre at best.

My cousin Sidney chose this for his family. He agreed with my observations but food was food and he was happy.

The kids still had room for gelato after all that food.

gelato

It was a nice walk back to the hotel. The beach was empty and the weather was cool.

A view of our hotel at night.

Good night San Sebastian! I love your pintxos and I will return.

A Fuego Negro
C/ 31 de Agosto, nº 31, 20003 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
telephone: +34 650 135 373
menu
website

Bar Borda Berri
Fermín Calbetón nº 12 20003, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
telephone: +34 943 430 342
Facebook

Quebec Cafe (Creperia)
Fermin Calbetón nº 11, 20003 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
telephone: +34 943 900 560
Facebook

Bar Txalupa Jatetxea
Fermín Calbetón nº 3, 20003 San Sebastián
telephone: +34 943 429 875
website

San Sebastian: Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra

San Sebastian located in the north of Spain in the Basque country may not be as popular as Madrid or Barcelona but in the foodie world its the star of Spain. San Sebastian boasts of more Michelin starred restaurants per capita than any city in the world. I may be the only food blogger in the family but my cousins are also foodies as well as oenophiles or winos as I fondly call them.

My cousins chose the Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra as our home for two nights. It was our favorite hotel in our whole European trip. We paid only a little over €150 for a standard room (city view) in this hotel that had a entire beachfront behind it. Their rates are very affordable considering the hotel was a 4 star luxury hotel.

The hotel just finished with renovating all the rooms and I applaud their use of all LED lighting. Our room was pretty big by European standards.

Not much frills but we had a small refrigerator, digital safe and free wifi in the room.

I really appreciated the extra door that closed off the closet and bathroom area. Rochelle can make as much noise packing and repacking without disturbing my beauty sleep.

We both loved the huge and well lit bathroom with a separate wet area.

We had to angle the rain shower head away from the wall to take a shower. If we left it straight we needed to be plastered to the wall.

Why did I post a picture of robe hooks? Because it’s a rare sighting in European hotels. Well, the hotels we stayed in.

The robe hook came in handy with our beloved clothesline. It was only at this hotel that our clothes took forever to dry.

They continued with being ‘green’ with all paper wrapped hotel amenities.

Only the liquid toiletries were in plastic containers.

Another much needed and rare feature, tissue paper. Our hotel in Madrid and Barcelona just gave us a small packet of tissue paper.

An extra touch in the bathroom. Strange location but thoughtful of them.

Our room didn’t have a sea view but we had a big balcony.

My other cousins got the suite with sea view room. Here’s the sofa bed their kids slept on.

This was the Bar Swing restaurant just off the lobby.

This was the beach right behind the hotel. Only my niece and nephews went swimming.

Our hotel stay didn’t come with breakfast so we had our morning espresso at Chez Croissant right across the hotel.

On the first day I had the multi-cereal croissant with my espresso. It wasn’t very good.

The next day I bought multi-cereal croissant from a stall in the supermarket nearby and it was so much better. Their espresso was quite good.

Hotel de Londres y de Inglaterra
Zubieta 2, 20007 San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa) Spain
telephone: +34 943 440770
website

Dinner at Beso Cucina Vinoteka

Last June I went to Europe specifically to Spain, Italy and France. The trip which I’ve started to chronicle here made me realize which cuisine I liked best based on the food I ate in those countries. In order of best to least it’s Spanish, French and last is Italian. Since I’ve been back I’ve already eaten at Cova and now Beso wishing to replicate those fond food memories.

Beso Cucina Vinoteka is located at Bonifacio High Street right next to Mango Tree and Elias.

I went to Beso with my Europe travel buddy Rochelle and her hubby and son. She said the best Margarita is still at Chili’s. In short this failed her taste.

Margarita P200

Rochelle loved her soup.

spiced red lentil, bacon & chorizo soup P230

I never saw the combination of chorizo and chocolate on bread in any of the places we ate at in Spain. As strange as it may seem the saltiness of the chorizo was a nice contrast with the subtle sweetness of the chocolate spread.

chorizo & chocolate on toast P210

The ingredients of the croquetas were all so finely mashed together that I wasn’t able to taste the distinct flavors of each ingredient. The bechamel sauce was a bit too rich and honestly these croquetas could have been filled with anything or even just sauce. It was nicely fried and crisp though.

jamon, chicken & manchego croquetas P410

This gambas appetizer had 5 large prawns and cost only P380 and that’s a good deal. The only problem was the prawns were hard and overcooked. On a positive note, the sauce was heavenly. There was a generous amount of chorizo and the white wine sauce was delicious. We had to order bread just to mop up all the remaining sauce.

gambas sauteed in chorizo, white wine & parsley P380

The menu said the bread was warm sourdough. I’m sorry to say it was more like a giant warm pandesal. The spicy, garlicky olive oil dip was good though.

bread & extra virgin olive oil P55

We love lengua and this dish looked pretty good right? When I tasted the tender and succulent ox tongue I exclaimed, “madre mia, que horror!!” It was so freakin’ sweet!! It seemed like they poured a cup of sugar into the pot. No exaggeration. I asked the waiter if it was supposed to be that sweet and he replied, “I don’t know since I’ve never tried it.” I don’t know what Rochelle did with the leftovers she took home.

braised ox tongue P520

The black squid ink paella came out still very wet. As you can see from the picture you can hardly see the shape of the rice. I really liked the briny and tangy flavor of the paella. It tasted very lemony which Rochelle found too sour. Different tastes for different folks. I liked it she didn’t.

squid ink paella (2-3 pax) P580

If you’re expecting the traditional paella made with saffron and broth this is not it. Beso’s paella was loaded with tomato paste or sauce. It wasn’t bad at all just not very traditional.

Beso paella (2-3 pax) P580

One look at the churros and I knew it wouldn’t be good. One bite and I knew I was right. The churros was very hard and seemed to have been previously cooked and just re-fried. The oil tasted rancid too. The chocolate was very watery and tasteless. I had to return this and ask it to be removed from our bill.

churros & chocolate P180

Rochelle’s young son had good taste and ordered the rice pudding which was surprisingly very good. It was creamy and had the perfect level of sweetness with a hint of vanilla. This erased the nasty after taste of the churros and we left a little bit happier.

Spanish rice pudding with vanilla & almonds P155

The prices were quite fair and you get a good amount of portions. Would I go back? Maybe. Would Rochelle? Probably not.

Beso Cucina Vinoteka’s menu

Beso Cucina Vinoteka
7th Ave. corner 29th St. South, Bonifacio High Street Central,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
cellphone: +63926 614-9695, 0917-819-5831
Facebook

Bilbao: Lunch at Bistró Guggenheim

When we planned for our trip around Spain we decided to rent a car from Madrid’s airport then drive to San Sebastian then to Barcelona. We could have ridden the train but cost wise renting a car was cheaper and more importantly we were able to take a detour to Bilbao just to see the Guggenheim Museum.

Bilbao was so different from Madrid. The weather was much cooler and the architecture was beautiful.

We parked our car at an underground car park and walked to the Guggenheim.

I really wanted to see the museum built my Frank Ghery more than the modern & contemporary artwork inside. This museum clad in titanium, glass and limestone made Bilbao a tourist attraction when most tourists used to bypass this city for more the popular cities like Madrid and Barcelona.

In front of the Guggenheim is “Puppy” a floral topiary made with 70,000 fresh flowers by artist Jeff Koons.

It was around 1:30 pm when we arrived and we didn’t have time to go in the museum and we wanted to just eat lunch. We immediately made reservations at the Bistró inside for 2:00 pm.

This was the view from the museum.

There was another restaurant behind the museum called Nerue and we wanted to see if we could get a table there. We had to go down these stairs.

Another view from below the wide steps.

Maman (French word for mother ) is a sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which resembles a spider, is amongst the world’s largest and most impressive, measuring over 30ft high and over 33ft wide, with a sac containing 26 marble eggs. Its abdomen and thorax are made up of ribbed bronze. Wikipedia

You can tell I was fascinated with this art installation.

You can see the marble eggs in this picture.

The restaurant, Nerue was full and wasn’t taking any more reservations. It didn’t look full though.

The food here was more expensive than at the Bistró.

Nerue’s menu (click to enlarge)

back of the Guggenheim museum

This was the bar at the Bistró Guggenheim. People were lining up to get tapas.

If we didn’t eat at the table I would have been happy with their unique and delicious looking tapas.

tapas at the bar

I just wasn’t too thrilled with their dessert options. I’m not eating muffins in Spain.

The Bistró had a very casual ambiance.

I was very impressed with the menu printed directly on wood veneer. We all decided to have the set menu that cost €25.40 for 3 courses and include a bottle of wine and water.

Bistró Guggenheim Bilbao menu

I thought we were going to be given a bottle of water each but we had to share one bottle among the three of us.

A bottle of wine for the three of us was just right. I wonder if they give solo diners a whole bottle too?

Palaciego Rioja

homemade bread

These small and round olives were the best ever. The taste was delicate and the texture was soft. I wonder what these are called exactly.

olives

Rochelle chose the most unique entrees while Sha and I had safer choices. She started with this unique watermelon and tomato gazpacho. She

tomato & watermelon gazpacho with seasoned tuna tartare

For our starter Sha and I chose the seafood rice which was just like paella but much better. The rice was perfectly al dente and the stock used to make the rice was excellent. I could taste the nuances of the shellfish use. I don’t normally like ‘foam’ but the garlic mayonnaise foam imparted a strong garlic flavor perfect with the rice.

creamy seafood rice with rock mussels & garlic mayonnaise foam

If you guessed this was Rochelle’s main course then you’re right. I tasted some of the tapioca (sago) and it was savory which was kinda weird. My brain was used to sweet tapioca and it couldn’t process the fishy version. Rochelle said the fish was just ok.

cod confit over tapioca pearls with seafood & “pilpil”

Sharon was very happy with her fork tender pork.

roast pork, hazlenut cream & watercress salad

The picture doesn’t do justice to one of the best lamb dishes I’ve ever eaten. I usually just like lamb chops but this chunk of lamb was so tender and very, very fragrant. The flavor of whatever seasoning was used permeated all the way in the meat.

roast boned lamb with pumpkin puree & a touch of coffee

Since Rochelle loves whipped cream this foamy dessert was just up her alley. The picture with apple juice poured into the foam didn’t look as good as it tasted so I didn’t post that.

caramelised curd foam with apple juice

Sha chose the best dessert. The chocolate sponge cake was so soft and it reminded me of the texture of mamon. It was the strong coffee mousse that I loved best.

chocolate sponge cake, coffee mousse & milk ice cream

My healthy dessert of crisp Fuji apple cubes lightly poached in liquorice juice was very interesting and refreshing. The cheese ice cream was very mild and complemented the apples. Those green leaves on top tasted like liquorice too.

fuji apple in liquorice juice with cheese ice cream

The food was amazing and very worth the price we paid. This was the second time I ate in a museum restaurant and enjoyed it. The first was in Los Angeles’ J. Paul Getty museum. Do all the restaurants in museums really serve fantastic food?

Final shots of Bilbao from inside the car. It looks like Amsterdam right? I wish we had more time to go around Bilbao since the city looked really clean and nice but San Sebastian was another 2-3 hours away and my other cousins from the USA were already there and have been texting our whereabouts.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Avenida Abandoibarra, 2
48001 Bilbao
BIZKAIA
Spain
website

Bistró Guggenheim’s website

Madrid: Chocolateria San Gines

Paella ✓ cochinillo ✓ sangria ✓ tapas ✓ the only thing left on our food craving list was churros con chocolate. It was our last night in Madrid and we desperately wanted churros so we went to the where the guide books recommended, the oldest chocolateria in Madrid, Chocolateria San Gines.

Living in the Philippines I’ve been exposed to Spanish food all my life. I remember when I was young my favorite snack was churros con chocolate from La Cibeles in Greenhills. Raise your hand if you’re old enough to remember that place. When that closed Dulcinea came into the scene and the presence of churros prevailed. When my cousins come home from the US churros from Dulcinea is a must.

We wanted to try the real and authentic churros and see how it compares to the ones in Manila.

The procedure at the popular chocaleteria was to line up at the entrance, place your order and pay for it then sit at a table and wait for your freshly fried churros or fried choux pastry.

We saw a guy cooking churros non-stop in the kitchen. The churros comes out as one whole long, circular pastry.

This guy is in charge of cutting the pastry into long stips. An order has 6 pieces of churros.

We were greedy and had 2 orders of churros.

My friend who just came from Spain told me not all places cook churros on site. Most places have churros delivered to them already cooked and they serve it to the customers either warm if you’re lucky or hard and cold which my friend experienced first hand.

The churros we had was hot and fresh but we were a bit disappointed with the oily and salty churros. The chocolate was thick and sweet but I found it lacking in intensity. I wanted it more chocolatey and preferably more bitter. It tasted just a little better than milk chocolate.

For those who are trying churros for the first time this would probably satisfy them. I’m sorry to say it didn’t meet my churros standard.

chocolate con churros €3,70

Chocolateria San Gines
Pasadizo de San Ginés, 5 · 28013
telephone: +34 91 365 6546
Big Groups Booking Phone : +34 91 366 3733
reservas@chocolateriasangines.com
Open everyday from 9.00 am. untill late night.
website

Madrid: Tapas at La Muralla Bar-Restaurante

We asked the staff our hotel’s front desk where locals go to eat tapas and he told us to go to the La Latina area which was lined with tapas restaurants.

We took the taxi and passed by this grand structure. Anybody know what this is?

Our taxi driver dropped us off here and said both sides of the street had good tapas but he suggested we go to the left side heading to Plaza Puerto de Moros.

True enough there were many restaurants to choose from but there were hardly any people and it was 7:30 pm already. Some places were not even open yet.

These are some of the typical tapas menus.

We met a Filipino waiter and asked him where all the people were. He said they usually come out starting 10:00 pm! I don’t remember what finally made us choose La Muralla but it was okay and we only planned to eat some tapas and go to another place after.

Rochelle and I went inside to choose tapas while Sharon sat outside at our table. We wanted to surprise her with this yummy looking chicharon so we pointed to the waiter and indicated we wanted one order. He nodded and said, “si, chicharon.”

I’ve never liked olives but since these were free and I was in Spain I gave it another try. It was actually good not like the super salty olives I’ve tried before. This had a milder flavor.

sangria €13

At our first meal in Madrid we had fried boquerones or anchovies. I liked these fresh anchovies marinated in olive oil and vinegar so much better.

boquerones €8

The manchego cheese marinated in oil was wonderful with bread.

Manchego cheese €12

When we inquired why our chicharon was taking so long since it was already cooked and sitting at the bar the waited replied in rapid Spanish and all we understood was it still being cooked. We assumed they wanted to give us freshly fried chicharon or pork rind. We were surprised when this came out. I exclaimed, “lechon kawali!”

It may look exactly like our Filipino favorite fried pork belly but this had a different flavor. The pork was cured first thus the pinkish color of the meat before it was fried. It had a smokey tasted just like bacon and it was super crispy. I don’t know what language confusion gave us torreznos instead of chicharon but we were all happy to have tried this.

torreznos de Avila (fried pork belly) €8

The prices were very, very reasonable considering the portions were quite generous. Too bad I was too full to go to eat more tapas but I was craving for dessert.

La Muralla Bar-Restaurante
Plaza Puerta de Moros, 7 Madrid – Spain
telephone: 91 365-7560
website

Madrid: Plaza Mayor

Walking distance from Mercado San Miguel was one of Madrid’s most popular attractions, Plaza Mayor. Asides from tourists this place is also home to demonstrations and rallies. Thankfully that day all we saw were tourists and these men doing a seemingly unbelievable feat.

The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of multitudinous events: markets, bullfights, soccer games, public executions, and, during the Spanish Inquisition, “autos de fe” against supposed heretics and the executions of those condemned to death. The Plaza Mayor also has a ring of old and traditional shops and cafes under its porticoes. Celebrations for San Isidro, patron saint of Madrid, are also held here. The Plaza Mayor is now a major tourist attraction, visited by thousands of tourists a year.
Source: Wikipedia

These are residential buildings with balconies that surrounded the plaza.

I don’t look like a tourist do I?

How did they do that? I can’t decide who has the harder job – the guy holding the pole with the weight of a man in the palm of his hand or the bearded man balancing on one hand and keeping still the whole time.

I was looking for an invisible platform he could be sitting on.

Even the dog couldn’t help looking.

Around Plaza Mayor are numerous shop and lots of shopping with most of Spain’s famous brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti and many others. We went in the French based La Cure Gourmand.

I don’t know how I managed to leave this sweets wonderland without buying anything. I guess it was indecision and confusion on what to buy.

This is what the interior of Museo del Jamon looked like.

I saw this same scene on a tv show. People would order a plate of ham and just eat in while standing at the counter.

Madrid: Mercado San Miguel

Without a doubt our favorite place in Madrid was Mercado San Miguel, one of the oldest covered markets in Madrid. This renovated market was surprisingly modern, clean and filled with all sorts of wonderful foodstuff and tapas.

After our dinner at Restaurante Botin we walked along this street and was surprised to find the market just a few minutes away. We didn’t even plan to go there on our first night but the lure of more food was irresistible.

On the way to the market we passed by this popular tapas place called TragaTapas which had a promotion for San Miguel beer. Is this the same as our own San Miguel beer? The logo on the bottle looked the same.

We saw a lot of branches of Museo del Jamon around the city.

The first stall I saw when I went in the market was this one selling different variations of bacalao (salted cod) tapas.

Ham, ham, ham!!!

We couldn’t decide what to try and buy so we ended up not getting any. We did try their free sample of Jamon Iberico Belota ham. Yum!!!

Majority of the tapas were on bread and were cold. You could literally treat the market as one big tapas buffet and try as many or as little as you desire.

I was impressed with this hi-tech digital weighing scale at the fruit stand. We won’t see anything like this in our markets that’s for sure.

olives

cheese

The cheese stand had their own all cheese tapas too.

nuts and dried fruit

I wish I tried the chicharon ( fried pork rind) made from Jamon Iberico.

This stall also sold potato chips fried in olive oil.

Rochelle and I tried the Pastoret yogurt in the glass jar and it instantly became my favorite yogurt while I was in Spain. They had unique flavor combinations like coconut & pineapple, banana candy milk and green lemon which we bought.

This was the section when I began to feel faint. My eyesight hazed and my heart went aflutter.

I knew I wanted dessert after dinner but how the heck was I supposed to choose from all these goodies? Those chocolate covered palmiers were taunting me again.

I did consider those super cookies but I deemed it too safe and boring.

I ended up buying an almond florentine cookie. Good choice if I may say so.

almond florentine

Arabic sweets

If tapas aren’t enough then there were also fresh seafood available.

oysters

fresh seafood

This monkfish was really huge.

fresh artisinal pasta

Since it was summer it was still really sunny at 9:28 pm.

The next day we went back for lunch and this time we knew what we wanted to try.

This was the only seating area in the market. It was not enough and we had to look for an alternative area to stand and eat.

We went straight to the paella stall for a small tapa portion of paella which we shared. It was a bit firm and oily for my taste but it wasn’t too bad.

Next we had a couple of bacalao on melba toasts and foie gras topped with cheese. I wish we could have eaten more but I was still full from our hearty breakfast buffet at our hotel.

I also had a glass of what I thought was lemonade but it was heavily spiked. I think it was white sangria but this stall called it Limonada Madrid.

Limonada Madrid 4€

While we were eating we met a young Filipino guy who was also traveling around Spain and this was what he ate. The white spaghetti like thing on the left was actually angulas (baby eel) which Rochelle had been wanting to try but was scared she wouldn’t be able to finish it. The guy was nice enough to let her try a little bit. He even offered us some ham. He told us that Mercado San Miguel was much nicer and cleaner than La Boqueria market in Barcelona.

I thought I had enough food sightings for the day but my feet led me into this pretty pasteleria near the market.

I gave in and bought a couple of marzipan is a favorite of mine.

Here’s something we Filipinos are very familiar with – lenguas de gato and barquillos. Looking at the food and pastries around Madrid made me realize how ingrained Spanish food is in our culture. I don’t speak much Spanish having failed my Spanish subjects in Ateneo (¡perdón! Señor Prado) yet I didn’t have a hard time understanding the names of the food and that’s the most important thing.

Mercado San Miguel
Plaza de San Miguel, s/n, 28005, Madrid Spain
telephone: 915-424-936

Madrid: Restaurante Botin – the oldest restaurant in the world!

My cousin Sharon booked us a table at the oldest restaurant in the world and it was in Madrid. Initially I was hesitant to go to Restaurante Botin because of the mixed reviews I read online. The ratings were really from very negative to superlatives. But I thought since it managed to stay open since 1725 the food must be something else.

Even before the restaurant opened at 7:00 pm there was already a lot of people waiting to get in.

The dining area at the ground level had an old world ambiance that was quite pleasing.

A room off the kitchen was filled with already cooked cochinillo or roast suckling baby pig, the restaurant’s specialty.

As nice as the ground floor dining area was I was glad they led us to the basement area.

I loved the cave like dining area where it was cooler. It really felt like I was in the oldest restaurant in the world.

Is this the world’s first bag holder?

This was their menu.

Their sangria was strong and sweet.

1/2 sangria €7,50

No free bread here! Each one cost €1.95 and I didn’t remember ordering so much. I didn’t even eat my share.

pan (bread) €1,95 each

Their croquetas was the best I’ve eaten in my entire time in Spain. The chicken and ham wasn’t too finely chopped and I could still taste the texture of the meat. The white sauce that held the croquetas together was thick but not too rich.

croquetas de pollo y jamon (chicken & ham croquettes) €9,10

The black sausage had a strong flavor from cumin and the texture reminded me of liver. Not bad at all.

morcilla de Burgos (black sausage from Burgos) €8,70

It was a good thing we halved an order of the suckling pig or else we couldn’t have eaten other things. Half an order was more than enough for one person. We saw the plates of the other diners who ordered a full serving of suckling pig and it was big. I got the bony part of the pig which I loved. There was more crispy skin and the meat near the bones were even more delicate. It was very juicy, smokey and very flavorful. It was really worth it.

1/2 order cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) €23,95 (full order)

Rochelle got a smaller portion but it was meatier and she couldn’t finish it. We have cochinillo in several restaurants in Manila and they are good but none are as juicy as this. Look at all the natural juice that seeped out on the plate.

Anyone going to Madrid I suggest a meal at the world’s oldest restaurant. Try to reserve a table at the basement and enjoy the suckling pig.

Restaurante Botin menu in Spanish

Restaurante Botin menu in English

Across the street was this store that specialized in empanadas or Galician pies.

I really, really wanted to try any one of these pies but I was too full to think about more food.

Restaurante Botin
Calle de los Cuchilleros, 17 28005 Madrid, Spain
telephone: +34 913664217
website
Facebook

Madrid: La Ochava & Valpan

After checking in at AC Hotel Carlton Madrid, our home for the two nights, we walked towards Prado Museum where we booked for a 1:00 pm entrance. We bought our tickets online and printed them in Manila. We did this for all the museums we went to this trip.

There were serveral restaurants along the way but we chose to eat lunch at La Ochava because of the pretty pictures. Seriously. Nah we were just hungry and it looked like a decent place to eat.

We thought that paellas were their specialty that’s why we ate there. When we walked around the area after lunch most of the restaurants and cafeterias had the same sign!!!

Some tapas on the bar.

Even though it was so hot outside everyone sat outside. You know why? Because it was even hotter inside. We noticed that the restaurants, pastilerias, boticas (drug store), small groceries in the area didn’t have air-conditioning. How can they stand it?

La Ochava’s menu

The jamon Iberico was smokey, mild and even the fat was yummy and I never eat the fat of anything. It was a good thing we were given free bread which went well with the cured ham.

jamon Iberico €16

I live in the Philippines and we’re known for our seafood but I’ve never seen such huge mutant fried squid rings in any restaurant in Manila. Unbelievable but for it’s size it was very tender. I just didn’t like the soapy after taste. I was the only one who thought that so the others just enjoyed eating my share.

Calamares Fritos (fried squid) €10

The fried fresh anchovies I liked much better although they were big and I had to remove some of the bones. A squeeze of lemon was all it needed. It reminded me of our local tawilis.

Boquerones Fritos (fried anchovies) €8

The rice of the paella was harder and drier than I was used to but the flavor was good. It didn’t have any socarrat (tutong) or crispy crust though.

Paella Valenciana

We then walked to the Prado Museum which is one of the finest museums in the world.

If we didn’t have our tickets already we would have to line up under the hot, hot sun.

This was the last shot I got since photography wasn’t allowed indoors. Let me tell you I’m not an art lover and museums aren’t really my thing but since we were there I had to go. But after looking at the beautiful art works from artists around the world I discovered one I really liked. I was fascinated by the triptychs of Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (El Bosco).

Prado Museum

Nearby are the Reina Sofia Museum and Thyssen museum. If you are an art lover then our hotel is a good location since all three museums are within walking distance.

Reina Sofia Museum

We had the option of going to the Jardin Botanico which we passed on the way back to the hotel but it was too hot and we were suffering from jet lag.

Real Jardin Botanico

I really thought it was a statue until Rochelle noticed his eyes following me. He was sooooo good at standing still.

We were hot and tired and needed something to cool us down. Luckily there was a pastry shop near our hotel. Coffee and sweets should do the trick. Valpan has several stores in Madrid.

OMG!!!!!!!!! I had a hard, hard, hard time not buying those chocolate covered palmiers. My reasoning was if I never tried it then I won’t know what I’m missing.

Their espresso was very good but it was too hot and we wanted cold coffee so we asked for a glass and some ice.

They were sooooooo stingy with the ice. The lady gave me 2 ice cubes and when I begged for more she grudgingly gave me 1 more. Naturally it just melted in my coffee and didn’t cool it at all. In the US when you ask for ice they give you a HUGE glass full. Same in Manila.

We don’t know what any of the bite sized pastries were called and we just pointed out what looked good. This was our favorite. The middle part wasn’t whipped cream but similar to marshmallow fluff.

We got a second fluffly pastry.

La Ochava
Calle de Mendez Álvaro, 2
28045 Madrid
telephone: 915 270 255

Valpan
Paseo de las Delicias, 7
28045 Madrid, Spain
telephone: 915 271 660
website