After an afternoon of upcoming dinner prep and relaxing, we headed out to meet our friend, TX, at Boqueria for tapas. It was the last day of the Blackboard Eats deal of 30% off for the restaurant, and we knew beforehand that we definitely wanted to take advantage of this deal. We had all been to Boqueria before and enjoyed their wide selection of tapas paying full price, so the discount was just icing on the cake.
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They don’t take reservations for parties under 6 people, but with the monsoon going on outside, we were seated almost immediately. After ordering some drinks, we started off with eight tapas for the three of us. Some of the tapas were small, so we figured we could always order more later.

Cojonudo- Fried quail eggs and chorizo on toast. The yolk was nice and runny, but the egg flavor overpowered the chorizo.

CT says: This was my first choice and I enjoyed it! Though the chorizo could have been cut a little thicker, I liked the saltiness combined with the runny egg and crunchy toast. I’d get it again, for sure.

Espinacas a la Catalana- Sautéed spinach, garbanzos, pine nuts, garlic, raisins. I decided to order this to be “healthy.” It was quite tasty with the spinach being only lightly cooked. I could have done without the raisins.

CT says: I liked the raisins! I thought their sweetness went nicely with the garlicky spinach.

Pan con Tomate- Grilled bread rubbed with tomato, garlic and olive oil. Super classic and for $5 pre-discount a must order. I enjoyed the salty olives that complemented the sweet tomato.

CT says: A classic and delicious, though I wished it had a little more tomato. I’m a tomato-fanatic, so I could be nitpicking, but I wanted more.

Tartar de Pimiento y Pulpo at Soho- octopus Carpaccio, roasted red pepper, scallions, cornichon. This was one of the nightly specials and a must order for me since I love my octopus. The octopus was sliced very thinly and super tender. Surprisingly it wasn’t chewy at all since it usually is 99% of the time. Quite possibly the best octopus dish I have ever had. We all agreed it was the best dish of the night.

CT says: The octopus was quite soft and tender. I could have eaten this whole plate.

Bombas de la Barceloneta- Two beef and potato croquettes,“salsa brava” and garlic aioli. These were pretty good. Although the beef was a little dry, the potatoes were nice and creamy.

CT says: My second choice, and pretty decent. Not greasy at all. The beef could’ve been a little better and more flavorful, but I wasn’t complaining.

Txipirones- baby squid, frisée, romesco vinaigrette, tomato confit and crispy scallions. This was probably the least liked dish of the night. The squid was underseasoned and extra chewy while the frisée had a lot of brown leaves. I guess they can’t all be winners?

CT says: There was something off about the flavors in the dish. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t really good either. Pass.

Albóndigas- Lamb meatballs in tomato sauce and sheep’s milk cheese. These were mediocre at best. It was pretty difficult to determine what kind of meat was used because it didn’t especially taste like lamb. The tomato sauce and the side of charred bread were the best parts of this dish.

CT says: The texture of these meatballs was really strange. Not quite dry, but almost gritty? However, I really enjoyed the tomato sauce flavor. It was pretty tangy was flavorful. I, too, soaked up the sauce with the crunchy toast.

Another special of the night was a flatbread with goat cheese, figs, arugula and a cured meat that I believe was jamon serrano. There were four nice slices on a super long board.

It was also another winner with the right mix of salty, sweet, creamy and crunchy. I would definitely order this again.

CT says: My last choice and fantastic! I love this flavor combination! Though a daily special, it is a must order if it is on the menu.

Apparently there was a rule that we couldn’t leave without getting the churros. It was a fair sized order of long churros. The chocolate sauce was nice and rich unlike what was served at Yerba Buena. Now that we are back from Panama, we have a little more self-control and were ok with leaving a churro behind.

CT says: These were good churros! Warm, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. he chocolate, though not quite as thick as I’ve had in Spain, was thick enough to nicely coat each churro in chocolatey delight. I also appreciated that the chocolate wasn’t too sweet. Overall, a great finish to the meal!

All in all, Boqueria has a nice selection of well-made tapas. With the BBE discount and 2 drinks each, it came to a little less than $50 each. Not too bad for a Friday night dinner in Manhattan.

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Post tags: Blackboard Eats

They have a large selections of wines with a few on special. I forget which red we picked, but it was under $30 and quite drinkable.

After reviewing the menu, we ordered a bunch of tapas. Although the restaurant calls itself “Thai inspired,” it is simply a Thai restaurant. The tapas are simply smaller versions of traditional Thai dishes. You will not find the least bit of Spain in the place, not even the traditional little round plates.

CT says: I like that they serve mini-portions of everything, include their curry dishes. It provides a nice opportunity for two people to try more items without over-ordering. Perfect for us!

First up, some Pork balls. These were meh-tastic. They were definitely frozen and super chewy. The excessively sweet, sweet & sour sauce on top made the dish even worse.

CT says: Agreed. Definitely not something I would order again. Although, I found the sweet & sour sauce helpful in masking the otherwise unappetizing dish. I probably enjoyed the iceberg lettuce the most in order to freshen my mouth after eating the sad pork.

Next were some Summer rolls. At least these were made fresh. Other than that, they were pretty average. The crisp veggies balanced the less healthy items we ate.

CT says: I really like summer rolls, so they are my staple item in any Thai meal. It’s hard for them to be bad, but easy to be average. These were average, but I was still happy with them. The peanut dipping sauce was nice too; not too thick or too thin.

Chicken Laab. This was actually pretty good. While it wasn’t even in the same universe in term of heat compared to the duck laab at Kin Shop, it had some of that good back of the throat heat. Yes, it was white meat. The seasoning more than made up for that.

CT says: I really enjoyed this appetizer, very light with a definitely kick in the aftertaste. I would order this again.

Roast Duck over Rice. Unfortunately the duck was cooked poorly. As you can see there was a lot of gristle and the fat wasn’t rendered out as much as it should have been.

CT says: Agreed again. I thought the flavor of the duck was good, but just too fatty and not in a good way. I previously had the duck wraps and those were fantastic, so I thought this would be good too. However, I think the wraps benefited from having select pieces of duck placed into each wrap instead of a whole portion with all the fatty pieces. Next time, I’ll stick with the duck wraps.

Finally, some Massaman Beef. This was ok. The sauce was able to mask the quality issues of the meat. I have become a fan of Massaman flavors since the goat we had at Kin Shop. The side of rice was helpful in sopping up some of the tasty sauce.

CT says: The beef was terrible. I got a huge piece of fat and almost no meat. The curry was ok, but I was already incredibly disappointed. I had been here twice before and always had delicious food! I was so excited to finally bring TT here to experience it and then the meal was not even close to expectations. Maybe it was an off night or the wrong dishes or maybe the restaurant just went downhill in the last couple months? Whatever the case, I was disappointed. I would like to go back again one night to try the original dishes that I had, to see if those are still good, but I have a sneaking feeling I won’t convince TT to join me again.

All in all, I was disappointed in the restaurant. It was basically small versions of mediocre Thai dishes. At least it wasn’t expensive. CT felt bad because when she went on two previous the food was much better. If you are looking for a reasonably priced glass of wine in the area, be sure to stop in, but skip the food.

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Months and months ago, HB came across a deal for tickets to Wicked.  I’ve been dying to watch Wicked forEVER but could never get tickets, or they were in the wrong area – I was even willing to pay full price for the seats I wanted, but I refuse to pay for orchestra seats in the back of the orchestra.  Why should I pay $112.50 (or so) to sit 20 rows back when the people sitting in the first 10 rows mostly paid that as well?!  In any case, we managed to get tickets for a reasonable price (considering it’s a consistently sold-out show) for what turned out to be great seats – I was pretty much in the exact center of the orchestra section and could see everything easily.  (Also, the show was fantastic.  I had such a great time!) 

But before any show, you really need to eat something, yes?  So I suggested Casellula, where I’d been once before and really enjoyed it – just over two years ago.  It was only an avenue and a half away from the theater, which also really helped.

Since the first time, I’ve thought often about these: peppadew peppers stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, wrapped with speck.  Little nuggets of sweetness complemented with the saltiness of the speck, these are the perfect little bite.  Love. 

Bacon, mushroom and white bean puree crostini.  A bit hard to split, but the flavors worked really well together – loved the super earthiness of the mushrooms whose name escapes me right now.  Very meaty even without bacon. 

I loved the smoked goose breast last time that the goose breast reuben seemed like a good idea this time, and I was rewarded handsomely with each bite of the delicious meat… and the horseradish aioli… so good. 

Pig’s ass sandwich was another winner, hot, succulent, hitting all the right notes.  The slightly spicy chipotle aioli complemented the sandwich perfectly. 

Mac&cheese came piping hot and though it looked like apples, it tasted really good.  Gooey cheese, pasta, and lardons scattered throughout the dish – excellent on this very cold night.  Yum. 

SpB arrived late and ordered this at the last minute.  We were cutting the time close, but when we mentioned this to the server (whom we’d apprised of our showtime earlier), the dish appeared post-haste.  Unfortunately, this was easily the worst dish of the night: short ribs, onions, peppers, and polenta.  The short ribs were woefully dry and flavorless, though it was tender.  The little pot on the side containing au jus boosted the flavor marginally, but overall the dish didn’t do it for me.  I think we all felt the same way – at least AB and I both agreed that it wasn’t that good – but we four girls managed to put down the piping hot dish within 5 minutes and get on our way to the theater. 

Yvo says: Once again, absolutely lovely service (with some oddness regarding tables, but understandable), wonderful food with just the one minor miss, and reasonable prices ($130 including a generous tip for the above food, plus a soda and two glasses of wine).  I would love to make this my local… mmm… Did I mention the extensive wine list and cheese selection?
highly recommended

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Post tags: meats & cheeses, sandwiches

In no particular order, here are the dishes we shared.

Grilled Calamari with Peppers.  I love my calamari, so this didn’t disappoint, but also didn’t wow me.

CT says:  This was a nice, light, start to the meal and a nice change from the usual fried calamari.  However, nothing very notable.

Salt Cod Croquetas with Romesco Sauce.  A standard tapa.  Nicely fried and the sauce gave the dish a good zip.

CT says:  These were good, but not very memorable either.  I agree that sauce was nice, but I’m not sure I would order them again.

Empanadas with chicken and chorizo.   I believe it was an olive tapanade on the spoon.  These were good, not greasy at all.

Check out the innards.  MMM!

CT says:  Sometime with empandas (or any stuffed-dish), I find myself wanting more filling.  However, these were stuffed with goodness!

A selection of cheeses. Idiazabal, Valdeon Blue, Caña de Cabra, Manchego.  I can only tell you that the Valdeon was the one on the center.  They were all nice, although the one on the top right was a little too soft for my palette.  There was also some honey and marmalade on the plate to spread on the cheese.

CT says:  Yummm cheese!  What’s not to like?!

Marinated Watermelon & Avocado Salad.  This was a great salad.   Super fresh with red and yellow watermelon.  A great summer dish!

CT says: This was one of my favorites – very well-balanced and refreshing!  I could have had this as a dessert-tapa.

Potted Duckling and Pork in olorose sherry wine.  This was quite tasty. I don’t really like pates too much especially the chopped chicken liver we got here, but this was quite nice.  Although it was a small jar, we couldn’t finish since it was super rich.

CT says: This was my favorite! Maybe TT couldn’t have finished it, but I certainly could have… only the strange looks and concern for my health stopped me.  It was light and creamy and delicious!

Check out that fatty, gelatinous, goodness!

We order the “Albondiguillas” Meat Ball Skewers on the 2nd round since CT forgot that her Dad wasn’t a fan of the Potted Duckling and Pork, or any pate. I am glad we got these.  They were really good.  I ended up sopping up the sauce on some of the bread we had, it was that good.

CT says:  These were some of the better meatballs I’ve had.  Super juicy!

CT’s Dad insisted on us ordering dessert.  He really had to twist our arms, but we finally relented.

He loves flan, so one of the dishes we got was Flan Tradicional de Chocolate with Kumquat Confitado, Saffron, Marcona Almonds.  This ended up being more of a chocolate panna cotta than a flan.  Since he expected flan, he was a little disappointed.

CT says: Definitely not a flan, but it was a nice, light, chocolate dessert.

We also got the Bunyols/Cinnamon Fritters with Salty Caramel, Maracuya, Peppercorn Rose, Orange Chocolate.  Yup, that does say Salty Caramel!  These little donuts were nice and made even better by the dipping sauces.  The caramel was had a good amount of salt in it so it was one of the better preparations I had.  It worked really well against the sugar and cinnamon from the donut.  The Maracuya aka passion fruit sauce was also very good.  It had a good sour/sweet balance.  I think we barely touched the chocolate sauce since the other two sauces were so good.  A must have dessert!

CT says: I would go back just for this! The fritters were really tasty on their own – crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.  And I’m a big fan a maracuya – I’ve rarely seen on menus in the city, if ever, so I was very excited to have this and it lived up to all my expectations! So good!

All in all, it was a great meal that gave us a good time to catch up with CT’s Dad.  Prices were reasonable, which was unexpected for that part of town.   We were there later on in the evening, so it wasn’t too crowded, but I am sure it was pretty busy after work.  Thanks again to CT’s Dad for a delicious treat.

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The party was at the Phaidon Store in Soho. Basically a store for all of the publisher’s books. It was nice and bright in there and a good place for a party.

I arrived a little early, so the staff was still setting up. They have a pretty nice selection of books including the book from Ferran Adria of El Bulli.

First up, the Spanish Reds that were offered.

I tasted most of them and they were quite a nice accompaniment to the tapas. I neglected to take pictures of the sherry and white wine offerings. I guess there may be some readers who like whites over reds, sorry.

Cheers.

and here come the tapas…

Luckily they had little cards that explained what each of the items were since the servers only briefly mentioned that the item was.

First up was the Tortilla Espanolo, a potato and egg omelet. Served cold. Tasty, but pretty heavy on the starch. I am not really sure what the topping was. Mayo?

Next was the Chorizo con chocolate. This was a nice slice of chroizo on top of a small dab of Nutella-like chocolate on a crostini. I think the saltiness of the chorizo completely canceled out the sweetness of the chocolate resulting a mellow bite.

Next was the Paquetitos de Jamon, fava bean stuffed serrano ham bundles. Where was the Chianti?(Sorry, couldn’t resist.) This was a nice slice of ham, but the fava beans were completely lost on the inside.

The bar was also setup with tiny glasses filled with gazpacho. I am not a huge fan of cold soups, but this was tasty. I liked the additional touch of a few drops of olive oil on top.

One of the largest tapas was the Brandada and spring ramp pintxo, salt cod and ramps on crostini. The hipsters at the party must have been elated with this one. RAMPS! One of the more flavorful items. The consistency and taste of the salt cod was almost canned tuna-like. Not necessarily a bad thing.

The final item was Salpicon Ponte Vedra, chilled shrimp, onion, and avocado on a skewer. This was quite a refreshing bite. The presentation was nice in the large tapas bowl(no idea what the name would be).

After everyone sampled the different bites, the chef Alex Raij came out to talk for a few minutes. I’ll admit that I thought the chef was a man, so I was a little surprised when she stepped up to the microphone. She spoke about her love of tapas, her restaurants, and answered some questions from the audience.

It was a good sized party and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was a little intimidating being there as a blogger, especially with my tiny Kodak camera as compared to some of the monstrosities I saw being used by some of the more well-seasoned bloggers.

On the way out, we were given a small gift bag. Unfortunately it didn’t contain a copy of the actual book. It had a copy of the menu, a small travel guide for Seville, and a flyer for all of Phaidon’s food-related books. It was a nice evening and thanks to Phaidon & Alex for putting it together. I will have to add her restaurants to my list of places to check out.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: books, Tapas, TT