“8 HOURS” baked tomatoes in sweet Oloroso - what a dish!! @ Cambio de Tercio-Tendido Cero-Tendido Cuatro-Capote & Toros.

I went to Cambio de Tercio the other night after work with Andy and experienced some really unique and exciting dishes!! 

Since the opening in 1995, Cambio De Tercio has concentrated on Modern Spanish cuisine.

The restaurant is located on Old Brompton Road, the nearest tube is South Kensington.

The interior of the restaurant is bursting with personality. 
Filled with bright colours and huge Spanish paintings which look really effective and bold on the vibrant walls.

Andy had been here before and hadn't shut up about it. He knew exactly what to order but we also went for a few wild cards too. He had not stopped going on about the '8 hour Tomatoes' so these were definitely on our list!

We sat down to eat at 7pm and by 7.30 the restaurant was totally full! I really loved the buzzing atmosphere, it seemed like this was the place to be......and it was :)

We started off with two glasses of house Cava which was refreshing and exactly what you need after a long day at work. 

And then we were on to the wine :)

Andy chose this and assured me I would love it.

It was really beautiful, we have similar tastes in wine.

Happy times, bring on the food :)

We started with this -

The famous deconstructed Spanish Omelette from EL BULLI (El Bulli was a Michelin 3-star restaurant in Catalonia, Spain. It was voted one of the best restaurants in the world but is now closed)

Think warm gooey cheese omelette .....but that doesn't do it justice. It was soooooo delicious and different and YUMMY. 

Next we had .....

Sardines marinated in sherry vinegar, Arbequina olives, baby gems and Martini Rosso jelly.

This was a wild card. It didn't amaze me. 

It was too strong in flavour but it gave the wine a real kick! 

And now the dish I had been waiting for..........

8 hour Tomatoes!!! 

Baked tomatoes in sweet Oloroso - Oloroso ("scented" in Spanish) is a variety of fortified wine.

WOW

DREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAMY!!!!

I was in a good place :)

It tasted like a kind of sweet tomato jam, each mouthful just melted in your mouth!

What a great idea and such a unique 'signature dish' to promote the restaurant.

I will be going back for more very soon!!!! 

Next up, one of my favourites! 

I was really looking forward to this and it did not disappoint.

The octopus was juicy and just perfect :) but ooohhhhh the sauce!!! The cheesy, potato sauce was amaaaaaaaaazing, similar flavours to the El Bulli dish.

Time for some MEAT........

Grilled lamb cutlets!

They were tender, pink and bursting with flavour.

And to finish our Spanish journey......

Crispy Serrano ham Croquettes, thyme and tomato sauce.

Andy was full up so I ate them ALL!!!!! Soooooo goooooooooooood, really appealing to the child within :)

What a FANTASTIC meal!!!! 

I couldn't manage dessert but we were given complimentary chocolates which were HEAVENLY.

I also ate all of these so as you can imagine it finished the meal off well!

You can really take your time in a restaurant like this, each course is exciting and full of different and exciting flavours. That's what is so lovely about the Spanish style of eating.

If you like Spanish food you MUST check this place out!!

http://www.cambiodetercio.co.uk/cambio-de-tercio/en/

Transport yourself to Barcelona @ Pix Pintxos Soho

I went to watch a show last night (Thursday) at the Soho Theatre with my friend Katherine. The show finished at 9pm and as we had been drinking a fair amount of booze all evening, and were a feeling little tipsy, we decided to grab a bite to eat.

It was a lovely warm night and Katherine had been telling me all about her adventures in San Sebastian Basque Country Spain, as she had recently come back from travelling around Europe with her boyfriend. This got us both craving Tapas and Red wine!

We decided to go to a place called Pix which is inspired by the pintxo bars of Barcelona and San Sebastian and it was only around the corner........perfect!

There a few Tapas bars to choose from in Soho, it seems this is becoming the new, trendy way of eating.

Pintxos (pronounced peen-chos, meaning ‘thorn’ or ‘spike’) are a kind of Basque-country bar snack, held together by a skewer and served in a shot glass, ramekin dish, or on crusty bread.

The concept.....

As we walked in we could see the Tapas selection, it looked delicious and we couldn't wait to try these little, Spanish creations.

It was packed with a great buzz to the atmosphere. We were greeted by a friendly waiter who, luckily, had 2 spaces left at the back of the restaurant!

He explained how it all worked and gave us 2 plates.

The drinks list is designed to showcase some of the best wines and Cava that Spain has to offer – or you can try their traditional pintxo cider for the authentic experience.

We ordered 2 glasses of the house Rioja and then went to get our Pintxo treats! :)

Hmmmm what to choose..........



YUUUUUUUUM!!

 As you can see there was a great choice!!!

We only wanted a few dishes (sticks) to share.

We went for ......

1 brie, pancetta and foire gras mousse

1 chili chicken kebabs with mint and coriander sauce

1 spinach and sweet potato tortilla

AND

1 Iberico ham (on crusted bread) which I had never tried before but Katherine had it in Spain and said I MUST try it.

The house wine we were given was really nice, very fruity which I love and it went perfectly with our little dishes.

The Tapas was delicious, my personal favourite was the brie, pancetta and foire gras mousse yummmmmm. They were all really tasty!!

We shared each 'stick' which was fun and took our time between chatting and sipping our wine.

I could have stayed in there for hours, drinking more wine and going up for more food. I noticed they kept bringing more plates of Tapas out so there were new things to try! Dangerous, I wanted to try it all!

The ambiance of Pix was fantastic. It's a such a fun place to catch up and relax with friends and a great concept of casual dining - just how it's done in Spain!

The bill was £22 which I thought was pretty reasonable! As we only had a light bite I would suggest getting 4/5 sticks per person, so you're looking at roughly 12 - £15 on food, depending on what you choose.

There were desserts too, different types of cakes on sticks and lots of interesting mouses, espresso chocolate cups and summer fruits with chantilly cream in shot glasses plus a few other interesting ones that I want to go back and try ;)

I'm sure the hotter the days get in London the busier Soho will get so be prepared to wait for a seat but once you're in it's totally worth it!

There is also a PIX in Covent Garden.

I will be going back for sure!

www.pix-bar.com

MORITO - recent discovery!

On Saturday Andy and I went for a walk.

We were starving and went on the hunt for somewhere new!

We walked from our house in Angel (London) to Exmouth Market.

Exmouth Market secretly hidden in-between Angel and Farringdon and has lots of interesting restaurants, bars and cafes. It's got a really cool, trendy vibe.

We walked past a little Tapas restaurant called Morito and thought hmmm we're really in the mood for some Tapas :)

We were seated by the window which was lovely, it's so nice to be able to look out the window and see the world go by.

The cocktail list was far too good so we asked them for two of their most popular ones.

We had a 'rebojito' which is fino, lemonade and mint.....

.....and a 'cava pomegranate' cava and pomegranate juice......

They were both beautifully refreshing and bursting with flavour. We had never tried fino and lemonade before but it's now our new favourite drink!

So time to order some foooooood!!!
It's always so hard with tapas, every dish sounds amazing!

We started with the lamb chops, cumin and paprika with a dish of  chickpeas, pumpkin, coriander and tahini.

Both dishes were outstanding! The chickpea dish especially had such unique flavours, I couldn't stop eating it!

The puntillitas arrived - fried baby squid. Really nice but nothing special.

To go with our tapas feast we ordered a carafe of red wine - borsao garnacha/syrah @ £11. It was really bold and fruity and went really well with each dish.

Then the next dish arrived....charcoal grilled leeks and romesco YUM!!!!!

Romesco is a nut and red pepper-based sauce from Spain. It is made from a mixture of roasted almonds, pine nuts and hazelnuts, roasted garlic, olive oil and peppers. I had never tried it before but I love it...will try and make it at home :)

And then one of my personal favourites! Pulpo a la gallega - octopus, potato and paprika.

WOW! It was the BEST octopus I have ever had!!!! Next time i'm ordering two!! Sooooo fresh and delicious!!

It's crazy to think they cooked all that amazing food in that TINY kitchen!!!!!

What a great discovery! It's funny how it's been so close to our house all this time but we had never been. We will be going there allot now!!
Tapas is so much fun and it's so nice to relax and take your time between each dish.

The menu changes daily with different specials so you can always try new dishes.
Prices range betweem £4 - £8 per dish, depending on what you have.
Check it out!
http://www.morito.co.uk

Tapas time at El Pirata

A few weeks ago I was walking around Mayfair and I stumbled upon a restaurant which was hidden from the main streets. I was immediately intrigued as it was standing alone, tucked away amongst the glam of Mayfair.

I loved the inside lay-out  as it looked really cool and interesting. The walls were covered top to bottom with art work from Miro and Picasso which gave me the feel this place was packed with culture.

                       

As I walked closer to check out the menu I noticed it was Spanish Tapas, great I LOVE Tapas and hadn't been to a really good Tapas restaurant since Barcelona.

Could this place provide a Spanish retreat.....which we all need in January!

El Pirata Spanish restaurant in Down Street exudes Mayfair style. Matías Costa/©ICEX

When I got home I looked up the restaurant and read the reviews, they were fantastic and lots of people had commented on how authentic the food was and how it was very reasonable and NOT your average Mayfair prices.

This was a real hidden gem that I had not heard of before but I had to go and see for myself.....

I booked us a table for the following Saturday night.

I was really excited to see what this new find had in store for us, I love discovering new restaurants and love it even more when they deliver!

After banging on about it all week to Andy, Saturday finally arrived.

The restaurant is located about 5 mins from Green Park tube, it's secretly located in the back streets which immediately makes you feel like you're going somewhere really special and unique.

As we entered we were greeted by a loud, bubbly, Spanish manager who welcomed us in a very friendly manner, he asked us if it was our first time there.

We explained it was and he smiled, as if to suggest we were in for a real treat and a good night!

         

          So far so good! 

          Drinks at the bar first?

          Oh yes, I was looking forward to  a nice cold glass of cava :)

          I ordered the house, it was very refreshing and light.

The bar staff were really friendly and even said we could eat on the bar if we would like.

I looked around and saw a few people were and thought it's a great idea if you wanted a few casual drinks and dishes.

Scanning the restaurant more it became evident of the lovely mixture of clientele this place attracted, lots of nice couples, some groups of friends, a few families and there was a birthday dinner happening down stairs. I loved the spiral staircase leading down to the lower level, the dynamics of the restaurant gave it a very buzzy atmosphere

We both absolutely loved it, but we were yet to try the food....

After our drinks we were shown to our table, it was a great table, exciting views from both sides, don't you just hate it when your facing a wall!

Our waiter came over and introduced himself.

We asked him to recommend a bottle of wine for us. 

As we drink mainly French reds we explained we didn't  know much about Spanish wine and the waiter pointed out a Pinot Noir for us which was around £30, it was nice of him to not recommend a really expensive wine as some waiters do. 

The tricky part about Tapas is choosing the dishes as there are so many and they all sound delicious!

We both picked out our favourites...

I chose - 

Octopus brushed with olive oil and paprika , 
deep fried medallions of monk fish, 
marinated chicken skewers with chorizo 
and aubergine stuffed with vegetables & topped with cheese.

Andy chose -

Chicken livers in white wine & onion sauce, 
meatballs, 
prawns in olive oil, garlic & dry hot chili peppers 
and then we both decided to try the baby eels in olive oil, garlic & roasted potatoes..

Yes we ordered way too much food, as we always do, but it was our first time there and we wanted to try everything. Next time we will definitely order less.

Each dish was seriously TASTY, we were really impressed. It was at the standard you would expect in Spain.

The baby eels? Delicious! I was a little apprehensive but they were yummy, nice and salty. 

We took our time and the waiter brought out 2/3 dishes at a time.

The wine was OK, nothing amazing but it went well with food....at 14% we were both pretty tipsy by the end which is when a cheeky dessert was required :)

 I had fried banana served with honey and ice cream and Andy had creme brulèe with a crunchy caramelised top.

They were both gorgeously sweet and really hit the spot after our meal.

We had so much fun and really enjoyed ourselves, I will be recommending this place to everyone and going back very soon to try more dishes!

They also do a dinner set menu at either £16.35 per person or £20.95 pp, depending how hungry you are.
I think that's excellent value for money.

Check out the website and get booking :)

http://www.elpirata.co.uk