Tag: Spanish food

Panadeira (Bakery) – London Walworth Road

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Apart from experiencing the Spanish bakeries in Spain, thought I might as well try out this Spanish bakery on the Walworth Road (there’s a couple I think in Elephant and Castle – near the train station entrance). It’s been around for more than 6 months!
So this bakery replaced what was the bridal shop which is now next door, it was then converted into a shop for a fairly short while (guess that didn’t work out) then now this Panadeira (Bakery). 😀 
I was out with MummyGeek, but had already a big bowl of beef brisket noodles and a plate of veggies to go with it… since I was passing, I thought I might as well top up with some Spanish goodies. 😋

I bought three items which I found interesting…

First was this beef ball. Wow it’s massive! Looks crispy on the outside… but what’s inside?

It was this amazing mix of salty beef, cheese and I think there were a few veggies… It was actually too salty and so I had to get a bit of ketchup to suit my palate. A bit oily but nice. I would go for it again!

Next was this corn bread… I thought it would be mega sweet, but it wasn’t. Tasted grainy. It had some sweetcorn pieces. Not sure what to think of this one really… I think I will need another go at this…

And lastly, which I took to work in the end the next day, is this hot dog bun… When cold the bread tasted slightly sweet and tough. So I don’t recommend eating this cold. It dried my throat badly… I placed this in the microwave for 30 seconds, and it actually tastes better when warm. Make sure you this one as a warm bread!

Overall a good experience! Total spent was £6 if I remember correctly…

Lots of Spanish speaking peeps were there on that Sunday I went… Wow. 
Definitely not a big competition to the other bakeries as this one is quite unique. 
The other bakeries on Walworth Road shouldn’t be too alarmed with this newish entry. ^_^

Address: 201 Walworth Road London SE17 1RL

Barcelona Tapas – Lordship Lane, East Dulwich

On By Bao Bao QiuIn Uncategorized2 Comments
Another night out!! Another colleague leaving!! Endless changes that happen in my workplace… Heheh. We have people coming and going in my workplace, it’s endless and there’s always a leaving party or a drinks party, so I always end up going to many… But you will probably not want to know about all of that! You want to know about the food I ate, right?! ^_^

I suggested to my colleague to look at restaurants in the East Dulwich area as there’s a large range of restaurants in that area… it’s a bit far from the workplace but it’s better than going into Central London for a leaving meal… He suggested this place, Barcelona Tapas! Yay! I’ve been here before a few years ago for a Christmas party and I remember I had a lot of bread at that time and hadn’t enjoyed all the food that was to come as people were arriving late and I ate a lot of bread… I’m actually quite happy he chose this place because it is a very nice Spanish restaurant for the locals around the Dulwich area and I wanted to retry everything. There are 3 other Barcelona Tapas Restaurants around London, so check out their website for more details… 

Sorry for some fuzzy pictures, I think I need a new digital one ¬,¬ (going on a spending spree one day for a new digital camera)…
A very nice welcoming restaurant

The outside

Inside the restaurant… a few more families and people came later… It opens at 5pm on Monday – Thursday

At the start of the menu

Cutlery

My sangria… very sweet drink
We were a bit late, but the place was empty, I think it was too early for the locals to go out and eat, plus it was a Tuesday we went on and it opens at 5pm! It was only five of us there, but we enjoyed ourselves… And that included Mr Bear. I got him out of the office early as he’s been staying late for months in another job… Poor guy 😦

Anyway, we ordered the Set Menu 3 which is £28 per person. A bit expensive but I enjoyed every bit of food that came to our table!

First was the complimentary bread (I asked for another basket after the next dish came out)…
Complimentary bread
The meats Tabla de Ibericos (Iberian cured meat) came out next… Everyone grabbed a bit of meat and ate it with their bread.
Tabla de Ibericos
This next dish is a salty but they are not spicy peppers! Piementos Padron. These are fried, and they are utterly delicious. 
Piementos Padron
The Spanish sausage Chorizo Al Vino came out next. This is cooked in wine, and they are really tasty. We had two of these too.
Chorizo Al Vino
Spanish omelette Tortilla Espanola is an omelette mixed with potatoes and onions. I had a very good chunk of this!
Tortilla Espanola
Spanish Meatballs Albondigas a la Barcelonesa is a very tasty dish! Lots of sauce of it and very meaty.
 Albondigas a la Barcelonesa
Chunky potatoes in Spanish tomato sauce and mayo Patatas Bravas / All-I-Oli. These are just like chunky chips with a sauce on top… Nothing too special but tasty indeed.
Patatas Bravas

All-I-Oli
Fried prawns Gamabas Con Gabardina. These are definitely not like the Japanese versions as they use normal frying batter, but they are definitely good to eat!
Gamabas Con Gabardina
Cheese and fruit preserve Los Cameros Semi Curado Mezcla. After eating this, I bought some Irish cheese just to replace my craving for it!!

Seafood and chicken paella, Paella Valenciana. This is what I was waiting for all evening! I love paella. This was slightly on the raw side, but I only had a small bit… The owner who was serving gave me a little… But that doesn’t matter… I liked the prawns. I was telling Mr Bear and one other, that people would suck the brains after beheading them!! Hahahah, I think that’s why he wanted to take a picture of the following (after this pic)…
Paella Valenciana
Mr Bear said this looked scary, and it looked angry… Hahahah, he isn’t a seafood person, and I can understand why. I don’t even like fish eyes, it’s like watching a human’s eye, bleurgh…
An “angry”prawn
I think we were missing the squid rings Calamares Fritos… I don’t have a picture of it… Doesn’t matter…

One of the guys that was with us inspiringly went to the loo and then lied to the guy who was leaving that he was ordering a cab and that he had to pay the cab fare at the front, hahahah… He actually paid the bill!! Woah. It was an expensive meal which included a lot of beers and my sangria… so unfortunately I don’t know how much the total cost was… Likely over £100… The guy who was leaving (who is Greek) was upset because he wanted to pay… Europeans (except for the British) believe they should pay for the bill as they are grateful for our friendship at work… Heheheh… But it’s the other way around in Britain, we pay for the drinks and the food! Typical for the British to be the opposites to the other Europeans, heheheh. ^_^

In the end my Greek colleague said we should order desserts!! Woah… I was already full… but this is what we had…

Lemon sorbet Sorbete de Limon… It was a bit too cold for the person…
Sorbete de Limon
This is my Ice Cream brulee Helado de Crema Catalana. The top was very burnt, and I have learnt from many cooking programmes and TV shows that you should tap hard once to enjoy a brulee, and not smash the top many times… Hahahah… The ice cream was all melted inside as expected.
Helado de Crema Catalana
This is Pa, Oli, Xocolata i Sal… A chocolate ganache with bread, olive oil and sea salt… Interesting!
Pa, Oli, Xocolata i Sal
And finally Mr Bear had this Helado de Vainilla PX. Vanilla ice cream with a treacle of sherry! Wow!!
 Helado de Vainilla PX
Did I enjoy myself? Yes I did. Did I get to eat lots? Yep!! And would I go again? Yes, indeed!!! I enjoyed this more than La Tasca, as the portions were larger and very satisfying. ^_^

My geeky rating: 5/5

Good points:
– A restaurant in a very quiet area, you can even sit outside!
– Very friendly service
– Larger portions of tapas
– I enjoyed the food this time round
– Good for a Christmas party!! 

Bad points:
– Small toilet area (why am I talking about toilets?)… Because I can’t think of anything really…

Address: 481 Lordship Lane, Dulwich, London SE22 8JY (Check the opening times before going!!)
Telephone: 0208 693 5111



La Tasca – Maiden Street, Covent Garden

On By Bao Bao QiuIn Uncategorized2 Comments
Apparently it’s been a long time since I met up with my friend Miss Money. Well, I last saw her in March, so it’s not that long really! It was my decision to decide where to go to, and so I gave her the choice of what to eat… Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Indian, Italian or Thai… She hates spicy foods unfortunately. 😦 Lots of my close friends don’t seem to like spicy foods!

In the end it was a choice of Japanese or Spanish. We chose Spanish. Miss Money has not had Spanish food before!! And the only place I know of that does Spanish food is La Tasca served by actual Spanish people (there are other places, but I have never been to them). The one near Oxford Street is closed and the one in St Jame’s Street was a bit far from where were meeting up. So we ended up in Covent Garden. It’s not hard to find La Tasca in Maiden Street. When you see TGI Friday’s, then you know you are near it.

From the window we thought there was no one inside, as no one was seated at the window. But as we went in, there is a bigger dining area at the back. (Sorry for the quality of the photos… not great with an LG phone – but I now have a secondhand Samsung SG4 phone which I bought as my previous phone wasn’t insured 😦 … Now I have to start saving big time!). 
At the back of La Tasca in Maiden Street, Covent Garden
I have only been to La Tasca twice, and usually the people I’m with order for the entire table. I think Miss Money wanted to spend less, but eat different things. I couldn’t recommend much except for the seafood paella and the chorizo. So in the end, we had the “Chef’s Recommends”. That meant we would spend £15 each minus drinks.
All the food we had for the “Chef’s Recommends”


My diet coke… Not sure why I pictured this XD
What’s in the Chef’s Special? Quite a variety of things. Anybody who hasn’t had Spanish food I think should have this as it introduces spicy and non-spicy elements of Spanish food…

This dish was a bit spicy for Miss Money, but she ate a lot of  it!
Spicy Roasted Vegetable Cassolo with Almond

These were nice. A very tasty filling, and reminded Miss Money of chicken kievs. 🙂

Croquetas de Pollo

 Miss Money and I thought the burgers were a bit dry… Overcooked?

Home-made beefburgers

 This was good. It didn’t need the sauce. It was salty, tasty and juicy enough. The fish inside was fresh too…

Pescado Blanco Frito

The Pollo Marbella was ok… I liked the chicken, but this is quite a saucy dish, and we could have had some bread to accompany with this.

Pollo Marbella

 I like paella. But this is ridiculous and small for my appetite. 😦 I like loads and loads of paella!! Next time, I’m going to order a big one! 😛

Paella Del Dia

 I liked the patatas. Nice and spicy for me but not for Miss Money.

Patatas Bravas
Miss Money eats slow, really slow, so I had to try and eat slow too, which I got full quite easily… But I had that feeling that I would have wanted a bit more. Like those big paellas! ^_^

In the end, service was ok, not the greatest. We got seated by the door, with tall chairs and by the small steps where you can feel the waiters and waitresses just flying about trying to get to each customer. I have not been to Spain yet, so I don’t know if Spanish restaurants are like this. In the other La Tasca’s I have been to I didn’t get this feeling about the service.

Total cost came to £36 something, including drinks. A little expensive for what we had. 😦

Here’s one of my Instagram pics whilst being at Trafalgar Square… Was catching up with her about work and life…
At Trafalgar Square… This is the column that gets different designs on it every few months…

And here’s our desert at Boba Jam ^_^
Yummy bubble drinks at Boba Jam!
My geeky rating: 3.5/5

Good points:
– Ok choices on the Chef Special, but I needed more, but not Miss Money. She was really full.

Bad points:
– Didn’t entirely like the table we sat at as the food got cold too quickly
– Hasty service – Miss Money was going to tip them, but didn’t in the end!
– Would consider it expensive – anything over £10 even when I’m paying half and the food doesn’t completely fill me I consider it expensive.

Address: 63-66 St Martin’s Ln, London WC2N 4JS
Telephone: 020 7240 2011 



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