172 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 505-0657
Spain has some remarkably complexly flavored, yet simple, savory food made with exceptional flair. Fortunately, because my Grandma lives in Spain, I've had the opportunity to experience some of the amazing culture and beautiful cuisine. Cafe Espanol has instilled great excitement in me that outside of Spain, there IS great Spanish food. Wonderful food and service is what you will experience here.
Ordinarily when I read something, it needs to be incredibly interesting or else my attention span, already unfortunately short, will quickly turn to something else. However, when I read menus, sometimes you can't budge my attention. At Cafe Espanol, I was blessed with that experience. First of all, when tapas are offered, how can you NOT peruse through each and every item?? I love reading through, salivating and wondering what my meal could potentially be, based on the menu. After a very difficult decision, the tapas I ordered was Chorizo Salteado. It was EXCELLENT. The saltiness of the sausage and sweetness from the peppers and onions permeated the sauce, which was wonderful to mop up with with crusty bread. I could have eaten that all night, to be honest. I only chose one tapas since the others also ordered some (which is typical of a tapas-style restaurant). One other tapas of note was the Tortilla Espanol, a Spanish omelet with potatoes. In Spain, many restaurants devoted to serving tapas and no other main dish, so of course, I would have been happy sampling the tiny appetizers throughout the evening picturing myself in the country, but tonight we all ordered a main course instead.
My boyfriend, as you can see in the picture, ordered a lobster dish and he loved it. I got the Paella Valenciana. This was a big step for me as paella is a saffron rice dish with chicken but primarily filled with a variety of seafood. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, seafood is not my forte, but I want it to be a part of my diet, so I bit the bullet. What happened next was a revelation: I LIKE most seafood! I still don't like shrimp, but the clams, mussels, and scallops were lovely as they were scented with the broth of the dish. There was also an abundance of food- I was given my plate plus a pot-full of more paella. I was generally satisfied, as it was a good choice and one that I am happy I made. It only makes me want to go to Barcelona and experience paella over there!
