Jamon Y Vino
Where? Jamon Y Vino (Eixample, Barcelona, Spain) Map
When? Saturday January 13, 2024
Who? Me
Food Style? Spanish
Ham and Wine - I’m not here for either of those things, I’m here for paella. There’s a sample menu outside and for €16, I can get a decent looking seafood paella. Unfortunately as soon as I open the menu to the page, it says “for two people only” and my heart breaks. Instead I go for the Spanish omelette, and a steak to balance out the seafood I had for lunch.
Appetiser
Tortilla España: Spanish omelette
Everything arrives at once. The tortilla is a bit cold in the middle but I’m hungry and wolf it down. It tastes pretty good, eggy and potatoey all through.
Appetiser
Entrecot a la Brasa: grilled beef steak
The steak is still sizzling on the hot plate, and I can see it needs to cook a bit. It’s tasty and well seasoned, but nothing exceptional. It goes really well with the pa amb tomàquet, and the padron peppers are always a good time. I dunno, I’m disappointed from the lack of paella and this was okay, not bad, but not amazing, especially given the restaurant’s proximity to Sagrada Familia. I’ll do some proper research tomorrow to get a nicer place.
Dessert
The waitress surprises me with a tray of dessert and I just pick a nice-looking one at random. So far everything has been conducted in English so I wasn’t expecting the explanation of the dessert to be in Spanish. I don’t actually know what it is. It’s got a white chocolate and nut shell, with a soft sponge and custard on the inside. It’s really good, lots of rich, chocolatey and nutty flavours, though I can’t figure out what nut is it. It lifts my spirits, and I feel less bad about coming here.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:50am on Wednesday March 6, 2024 :: 0 comments :: 
Goiko Grill
Where? Goiko Grill (Sant Marti, Barcelona, Spain) Map Menu
When? Friday January 12, 2024
Who? Me
Food Style? Burgers
It’s Friday Friday, or in Spanish, viernes viernes. I’m back in Barcelona and it’s after work and I’m hungry. I haven’t been eating out as much as I want to, but hopefully the weekend will be a good time for that. My first option was an Italian place that I’ve been to before, but it was full, so I decided to try this trendy looking burger place instead. 
The table mat says “here, Kevin Bacon is a hamburger” so that’s exactly what I’ve ordered. I’ve also gone with some patatas rustica on the side. They have a selection of incredibly fat-looking burgers, including one that looks like it's about eight inches high called the Kevin Costner, but there's no way I could stomach something that large and live to tell the tale.
Burger
Kevin Bacon: minced meat mixed with bacon bits, crunchy onion and American cheese
The fries are nicely seasoned, but a bit floppy. That sauce is really good though, it’s a mildly spicy barbeque sauce that goes perfectly. The burger itself is juicy, well seasoned, needs a little bit of the barbeque sauce to lift it. The cheese and the caramelised onions are prominent flavours and make a big difference. Pretty solid as far as burgers go, but not mind blowing or anything extraordinary.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:36am on Wednesday March 6, 2024 :: 0 comments ::
Peumayen Ancestral Food
Where? Peumayen Ancestral Food (Bellavista, Santiago, Chile) Map Menu
When? Friday November 24, 2023
Who? Me
Food Style? Elevated Traditional Chilean
Bellavista in Santiago is a pretty trendy and expensive-looking neighbourhood with fancy restaurants and worst of all, people on the street yelling at me to come into their restaurant. This restaurant I’ve chosen is very quiet and takes reservations online, and best of all, they answered in English when I tried to speak in Spanish. Sometimes that's not a positive, but it’s been exhausting trying to navigate the language barrier and that means I really need to step up my Spanish game. I’m by myself because the others wanted to try another restaurant I didn’t want to go to.
There’s a heavy emphasis on traditional Andean cuisine here. We’re talking about pre-colonisation Chile, really going back to the roots of this country and its history. I’m fascinated and excited at the same time, and I’ve gone for the Mix Origins Menu, a combination of land and seafood. 
Of course, I’m going to enjoy a traditional pisco sour as well. Oh, and a lemonade so I don’t get too drunk off the pisco. They’ve given me some coco tea, commonly used to alleviate the effects of altitude sickness. I’m well acquainted with this, after my experiences in Peru.
Amuse Bouche
Spicy quinoa, garlic mayo
Mmm. Fluffy and piquant with a hint of creamy mayo to even it out.
Appetizers
I’ve barely had time to catch my breath when the starters arrive. The waitress explains everything to me and I absorb as much as I can. I have no idea what it’s all called but left to right represents north to south of the country, including Rapa Island - Easter Island. Each portion represents a different culture and is made with very traditional ingredients.
The first is doughy and heavy with a very earthy flavour. It’s made from quinoa flour. The chilli sauce is tart and brings the quinoa ball to life. The flour tortilla is the same as the one from the amuse bouche.
The second is pleasant and sweet, it tastes like moist but dense banana cake. I think it’s plantain.
The third is fried and appetising, crispy and fluffy inside. It’s potato. It goes best with the chilli sauce.
The fourth and fifth are white and green beans respectively is made from white bean. They're nice and tasty, but not as good as the potato croquette.
I really like the taste of honey on the sixth one, it’s very floral and brings out the sweetness in whatever I’ve just eaten.
The seventh one is another dense fried potato ball. I like the taste of this, the oil has captured some additional aromatics.
Starters
Corn pastry with azapa olives and cancha powder/Roasted paprika in kalatanta and goat cheese with ulmo honey/Crispy fried blood sausage and onion jam with red wine and merkén/Salmon tartare with mango and chañar sauce
Oh. These are the starters. Everything is so colourful and beautifully presented so you can see each individual element. The first is a delicious corn pudding with a bitter fruit on top to balance those flavours.
The second is a blood sausage. Normally not a fan of how overly rich blood sausage can be, but that sauce and sweet onion jam give a creaminess and sweetness to the crispy batter and it tastes fantastic.
The salad is simply dressed with vinegar to cleanse the palette for the next one, a goat cheese and peppers cracker. Wow this is good. That smokiness from the capsicum balances the saltiness from the cheese and the sweetness from honey.
The last one is salmon tartare. It’s got a sweet fruity sauce made from a tree in the north and plenty of red onion to give crunch and and some mango for acidity. I love it. It’s got some really complex flavour and it’s perfectly balanced.
The pisco is starting to hit.
Mains
Chochoca stuffed with creamy eggplant and mushroom sauce/Creamy mote with algarrobina pork and pickles/Smoked caldillo with shellfish and conger eel
Oh no, I sense mushroom. The first is chochoca stuffed with eggplant and mushroom with toasted corn. It needs a bit of seasoning, that thick dough isn’t doing it for me.
The second is pork with pickle and mustard seed on mushroom risotto. The pork is beautifully soft and sweet and sticky. I want to just pick it up with my hands and clean the bone, but the meat is soft enough for me to pry it off with the fork and knife. The mushroom risotto isn’t too strong and I chow it down as best as I can.
The last one is a seafood stew. It’s delicious and tastes very clean, and has a big hit of spice. The mussels are meaty and the star of the dish, the eel is soft and breaks away nicely with the spoon. I really like this, it’s fresh and appetising.
They wipe my table after taking the dish away and I can’t help but recall my time at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay where they would use the back of the knife to decrumb and iron the pristine white sheets.
Dessert
Mote with dried peach/Profiterole with lucuma and milk candy sauce with pisco/Papaya pie/Butter crumb, mango gel and melon gel
The first one I actually had earlier in the day. It’s common on the streets as a cooling drink, it’s very reminiscent of Chinese tong sui. It has wheat grain - they call this mote, and it's very similar to barley or rice - and dehydrated peach in a sweet liquid.
The profiterole is delicious and the lucuma is quite pleasant. I love the combinations with the mango and melon gels, they’re extremely tasty.
However the best is hands down the papaya pie. It’s so intensely flavored and that meringue helps add some sweetness to the tartness.
That was an intense and brief walkthrough of the entire country’s cuisine. So many interesting flavours and ingredients that I’ve never heard of, but also some familiar tastes since a lot of this produce has made it to all corners of the globe. I’ve tried to pace myself with the pisco but I'm feeling its effects pretty strongly, so I order another lemonade. That’s definitely helping. This has been a very pleasant experience, though a little pricey and pretentious.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:29am on Wednesday March 6, 2024 :: 0 comments ::
La Fabrica del Taco
Where? La Fabrica del Taco (Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina) Map Menu
When? Tuesday November 14, 2023
Who? Me
Food Style? Mexican
We’ve got an early start tomorrow and my friends have decided they’d rather eat simple, so I go out in search of something delicious by myself. This neighbourhood has some great options - apart from the parrilla I had yesterday, there’s Armenian, Italian and Mexican. The Armenian place is already busy with a huge queue so, Mexican it is - "La Fabrica del Taco" simply means "The Taco Factory". My Spanish is terrible and I’ve really struggled in Buenos Aires, but at least I’m trying? I manage to order two quesadillas and a drink, and I’ve learned the word for “wheat tortilla” (tortilla trigo) along the way.
Mains
Tacos Pastor y Campechana
Okay it looks like a fry but it’s actually a stick of pineapple. Also these aren’t quesadillas. They’re tacos. And I think they’re both pork, which is good, but wow my Spanish must be bad. I eat up anyway. The salsa verde has the perfect amount of heat, but the meat is a bit dry. Is that how it’s supposed to be? I have no idea. It’s decent. It’s a quick meal and I don’t have regrets like I did yesterday after that massive steak and wine.
At least I got the bill when I asked for “la cuenta”. I didn’t know how to ask for change though so I guess I’m tipping 900 pesos, which is about 22%
Posted by Jeremy at 10:11am on Wednesday March 6, 2024 :: 0 comments ::
La Cabrera
Where? La Cabrera (Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina) Map Menu
When? Monday November 13, 2023
Who? Phoebe
Food Style? Argentinian Parrillada
It’s been a long day walking around Buenos Aires. For lunch, we were in San Telmo Market, grabbing all sorts of different local foods, like empanadas, parrilla and tapas. Lunch ended up going quite late, so I didn’t mind having dinner late as well. I just didn’t anticipate the actual time we would be eating…
Argentina is famous for its parrilla. Delicious barbequed meat, served with chimichurri, it’s no wonder the country is the second biggest beef consumer in the world. I’m at La Cabrera with Phoebe, and I’ve been told the waiting time is two hours, and it’s currently 9pm. We head back to the Airbnb briefly, it’s thankfully only ten minutes walk away, but an hour later, we’re back to sit in the queue. There’s 17 parties in front of us at 10pm, and they’ve served some free samples of chorizo and fries for the hungry people in line. I can see the giant wooden slabs leave the kitchen with a giant tomahawk bone steak, and I’ve decided that I’m going to wait this out or die trying. Someone told me Dua Lipa dined here and I kinda know she’s a singer and she probably has good but expensive tastes.
It’s 10.46pm and my name gets called. I jump. I’m so excited. We’re seated with a massive menu of meats and wine. I’m going for a tomahawk steak and a Malbec, Phoebe’s getting the New York Strip, a classic cut. 
Though Malbecs are commonly used in Bordeaux wines, they are a big deal in Argentina and were brought to the region in the middle of the 19th century. It is currently the most widely planted red grape variety in the country, with the Mendoza region being the leading producer. And, as they say, red wine goes with red meat, so I may as well give this DV Catena Malbec 100% a go.
Side Dishes
Quickly, a bunch of sides arrive, and even they look absolutely stunning with all their different colours. There’s apple sauce, roast tomatoes, potato mash with bacon, corn mash, roast yam, a blue cheese and pickled onion mix, and various kinds of homemade bread.
Mains
Tomahawk Steak
My giant axe of a steak arrives and holy moly, it’s so incredibly succulent and juicy and tasty. It’s pink in the middle and it has those beautiful nuggets of rendered fat in between the meat. I thought they would give us some chimichurri but this is plain with a bit of salt and some creamy sauce on the side. I’m not complaining. I thought I would struggle to finish this but it’s so appetising that I power through like a champ. Phoebe is having a harder time with hers and I don’t have the capacity to help her. We were even thinking of getting flan, there is absolutely no room for that. The salad is practically untouched. I’m also wasted off the Malbec.
I’m very satisfied. That was worth the wait, though I think the steak really needed a proper condiment to go with it. I ask for the bill and it comes with a giant tower of lollipops to choose from. I am so done. It’s time to head home and food coma.
Posted by Jeremy at 5:44pm on Tuesday March 5, 2024 :: 0 comments ::