Tasty tapas @ Café Sevilla, San Diego

Having a backlog of photos yet to post up of our trip to California is not all chore; as I work through the photos, I get to reminisce of the fun things we did and the delicious food we ate on the trip, weeks and months after we've returned home. After our cycling and beach expedition on Coronado, we took the ferry back to San Diego and had a short rest in our hotel room. Rejuvenated by a quick shower, we all got ready to go out again in search for dinner. Getting to the historical Gaslamp Quarter was a straightforward half-hour stroll from our hotel (near Little Italy), and we were able to take in all the sights much better than if we'd taken public transport or car. The Gaslamp is known as the center of downtown nightlife, and there are many restaurants and bars to be found in this area. Café Sevilla is one of them, serving Spanish tapas and good sangria.

Café Sevilla on the outside:

Inside Café Sevilla:

Café Sevilla has a groovy interior, and dimly lit with almost a nightclub feel. Like everywhere else on the west coast, the service we received was friendly and helpful. The menu consisted mostly of tapas, which is great for sharing and variety.

Sangria, which was pretty potent and packed a punch. There was a choice of red or white sangria, and obviously we chose the red:

Seafood Crepe (US$9) with shrimp, scallop and clam in light lobster saffron sauce. This was a great little seafood plate, and I adored the lobster sauce that complemented the seafood crepe well:

Upon recommendation by our waitress, we ordered the Green Mussels Escabeche (US$7), served ceviche-style with Serrano pepper salsa. Tart and tasty:

One of the new menu items was the Stuffed Piquillo Peppers ($4 each or $10 for three). We ordered all three types - short rib, duxelles of mushroom and seafood. The short rib (pictured in the foreground) was tender and boldly flavoured, sure to please the tastebuds of red meat lovers:

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers #2 - the duxelles of mushroom was my favourite of the three. Beautiful earthy flavours:

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers #3 - the seafood one was nice, but be sure to eat this first as the other two stronger-flavoured stuffed peppers will overwhelm the subtlety of seafood flavours:

Black Paella en su Tinta (US$24) - Bomba black rice with seafood and drizzled with Alioli. The black comes from squid ink, which can stain! Stain factor aside, this dish was delicious, but a little bit too salty:

The Andalusian Chicken Salad (US$14) was a hefty bowl of mixed greens and grilled chicken dressed in a balsamic vinegar-orange dressing. It was a well-composed salad, and I loved the sweet juicy mango dices and the creamy avocado:

If you are in San Diego and you like tapas, Café Sevilla is not to be missed!

[Prices quoted above exclude additional taxes and tips.]

Café Sevilla
353 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
United States
Tel. +1 619 233 5979

Spanish tapas @ Movida Aqui, Melbourne

It seems to me from our recent trip to Australia, that small plated tapas-style eating is in vogue in Melbourne, be it Japanese, Greek or Spanish (this post). Movida is one of Melbourne CBD's most popular restaurants, proven by how difficult it is to secure a table even when booking a few weeks in advance. The newer Movida Aqui is also popular, but it is also larger so it was easier to make reservations. Our third day in Melbourne saw poor hubby mostly bedridden from a nasty stomach bug, but he recovered enough to still honour our Monday night booking at Movida Aqui.

The view towards the kitchen upon entering the entrance to Movida:

The restaurant is sleek and spacious with a quirky design: the bar decorated with colourful milk crates and the walls covered with vintage posters. Movida Aqui seems great for both large groups and intimate company. The service we received was friendly yet professional, and our waitress was helpful with recommendations and allergy-related requests. The menu was not terribly long but it was nicely varied to allow for some quality sampling.

Sangria, in a large glass!

The complimentary bread basket and olive oil. The 3.5-year-old would've finished the whole basket if we'd let him:

Sardina - imported Spanish artisan 'Cuca' sardine with tomato on toast. Full of flavour and texture:

Bocadillo de Calamares - calamari sandwich with Basque guindilla and mayonnaise. Simple but delicious:

Empanadilla - braised beef brisket in sherry pastries. I loved the thick crunchy pastry! The beef was very tender too:

Gambas a la Sidra - prawns cooked in terracotta with garlic and cider. Also very yummy, and the prawn broth was so good with the bread:

Espinacas - sauteed spinach and chickpeas. The obligatory vegetable dish which turned out to be very good. My son wasn't convinced though:

A shot of the kitchen as I was making my way back to the table from the ladies' room:

The food was very tasty and of good quality. My only complaint would be the small serving size (I'm not sure if the glutton in me will get used to the idea of tapas and 'small plates' eating anytime soon). If not for hubby recovering from his tummy bug, we would have ordered many more dishes which would no doubt have put a much bigger dent on our credit card bill.

Movida Aqui
Level 1
500 Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia
(entrance also accessible via stairs from Little William St)
Tel. +61 3 9663 3038

Spanish @ Fandango, Hong Kong

I think it's true that for most people outside of Spain, Spanish food is all about tapas; for me, I'm a little obsessed with paella. This rice dish was the first Spanish food introduced to me (by hubby, many years ago before we married), and I would be disappointed if I walked into a Spanish restaurant only to find out that they serve only tapas and no paella. I haven't tried many Spanish restaurants in Hong Kong, and I was keen for some paella. Fandango at The Toy House stands out for being the only non-Japanese restaurant in the building. I checked that Fandango served paella on their menu, and off we went to have Spanish for lunch.

The first thing we saw when we stepped out of the lift on the 9th floor: two medieval plate armour stands guard just outside the entrance to Fandango. The 3-year-old was understandably a little spooked by them:

The interior was warm and cozy, with a Mediterranean feel. Service was polite and friendly, and we ate our meal quite comfortably. Fandango's lunch menu was very affordably priced, with many choices for each course. Eating here was a breeze for our son, in terms of his multiple food allergies.

Complimentary bread and a couple of tapas (olives and a garlicky tomato frito):

Refreshing sangria, pleasantly not too boozy. Hubby said his sangria was overpoweringly lemony, and that my glass was better than his:

Hubby's Sopa de Marisco (seafood soup) - the broth was rich in seafood flavours, but lacking in actual seafood:

My Ensalada de Pimientos Asados (roasted peppers salad) - I enjoyed this, and the vinaigrette dressing was not too acidic or oily. I found myself wishing that the salad leaves were torn into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat:

Hubby got the Cochinillo Asado a la Segoviana (roasted suckling pig, Segovia-style) - crackling was tasty, but I wanted more meat and less fat:

My Paella de Marisco (seafood paella) - the rice was quite al dente, and satisfyingly rich with the umami flavours of the sea. In addition to the prawn and shellfish on top, pieces of seafood were scattered among the rice. Strands of saffron were visible too:

Hubby's dessert - Catalonia Cream (creamy custard topping with caramel crust). Like crème brûlée, the caramel crust gave a satisfying crack after a light tap. Not cloyingly sweet or overly rich, it was quite enjoyable:

I chose Profiteroles con Chocolate Caliente, which technically isn't Spanish, but was a good choice nonetheless:

I enjoyed having Spanish for lunch, and hope to try out more Spanish restaurants around HK.

Fandango
9/F ,The Toy House
100 Canton Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Tel: +85 2 2957 8797

Latino eats: Mexican @ Café Iguana and Spanish @ El Pomposo, HK

After weeks of apartment-hunting in Hong Kong, we have finally found one! I like staying at the Four Seasons, but I am really looking forward to having a place of our own, with proper kitchen and place to put our things! I think property-searching has got to be one of my least favourite things, in the same rank as household chores. We spent a couple of Saturday afternoons viewing properties for hours near Kowloon Station, and these were nice apartments with good facilities and the convenience of the Elements shopping mall, but very pricey for a small area. (It's pretty much the same elsewhere around central HK.) If you think that Tokyo apartments were small and expensive (which they are), it's worse in Hong Kong!

Anyway, after being on our feet for hours looking at apartments (which start to look the same after awhile), we were only too glad to sit down for an evening meal on both Saturdays in the rooftop dining area of the Elements mall. (Lighting was pretty dim in both places, and I had to resort to using flash on my point-and-shoot, which I hate doing for several reasons that I won't go into here.) There were several restaurants/bars on the rooftop (dubbed Civic Square), and we ate at a cheerful Mexican place called Café Iguana on the first Saturday there. Friendly service, lively atmosphere, and food was delicious and affordably priced.

Rob got Beef Enchiladas (in chili sauce topped with Ranchero cheese, onion and radish), and the plate came with side dishes of black beans and rice. The beef was pulled (not the strips we were used to getting), and it was yummy and quite filling with all the tasty carbs.

I ordered the Alambre al Pastor (grilled skewers with pork and vegetables). It was a choice between pork, chicken and seafood, and pork was a good choice because I'd imagine the chicken and seafood would have been overcooked.

Dessert: Semolina Pudding. Delicious!

On the second Saturday, we had dinner at a Spanish tapas bar, El Pomposo. The restaurant had a special live band performance scheduled later that night, so there was a busy atmosphere happening. We decided to share several plates, and inevitably over-ordered. Most of the dishes were good, but everything was on the greasy side, The Ensalada de Melon y Jamon Serrano (a salad of melon, artichokes, Serrano ham with olive oil and moscatel vinegar) was colourful, but it wasn't as fresh as I'd have liked it (Rob thought it was fine). I'd heard about how wonderful it is to pair ham with melon, and while it was nice, I didn't think the combination was that mind-blowing.

We ordered Butter Bread to sop up the gravies and sauces, but it was pretty greasy with butter itself. The Caracoles al Ajo (sautéed snail with ham, garlic and sherry) is one of the restaurant's signature dishes, but I didn't care too much for the small chewy bits swimming in a pool of greasy sauce.

The snail dish is on the left of the plate of bread):

Rob cannot resist ordering scallops whenever he sees it on the menu, and the Pinchos de Vieras con Jamon Serrano (grilled skewers of scallops wrapped in Serrano ham) offered at El Pomposo was pretty good, although the ham slices could be thicker.

Another signature dish was Pollo Naranja (blood orange chicken with garlic and paprika). This one was a winner, and we really enjoyed the tangy citrus flavour which brightened up the whole dish.

For dessert, Rob chose Turron Parfait (chilled Spanish nougat), which was not as overly sweet as I'd expected. In fact, it was very nice, like an ice cream with bits of dried fruit and roasted almonds mixed within.

There are many more restaurants within the mall, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to dine once we've settled in the area.

Contemporary Spanish @ Fofo by el Willy, Hong Kong

This is my last post on our trip to Hong Kong, and I'm already having to start packing for our next trip, this time to Australia. I think we need a break from all that flying around after this trip down under.

This was our last evening in Hong Kong, and Rob's lovely aunt C brought us to FoFo by el WIlly, a newly-opened restaurant that serves contemporary Spanish food. The opening of Fofo followed the successful el Willy restaurant in Shanghai. The restaurant had a simple but classy design, and service was pretty good. The menu offers tapas and rice dishes, both traditional and contemporary. I like the idea of tapas, especially when dining in a group, because it's nice and bonding to share food and everyone can get a variety of mini-sized food.

(About the photo quality, we initially had great natural lighting by the window, but as the evening wore on, the natural light faded and the restaurant was pretty dimly lit, so it got more difficult to take good shots without flash on the point-and-shoot.)

Complimentary Bruschetta with tomato bread and olives; and Saute Prawns with Garlic & Chili:

A special dish of the day, off the menu: Hand-sliced Iberico Ham, acorn-fed and aged 36 months - nice with crusty bread; and Beef Cheek with Banana & Passionfruit Crispy Roll - tender meat that went surprisingly well with the fruity pastry base. L and Rob liked the fruity beef cheeks so much that they ordered a second plate of it:

Fried Croquettes of Iberian Ham aged 36 months - a favourite with my fellow diners; and Chicken with Lobster Traditional Catalan-style - delicious juicy chicken with generous amount of lobster flesh in a mushroom sauce:

Dessert time! Churros with Warm Chocolate & Vanilla Ice-cream - delicious, but so unhealthy; and the Assorted Dessert Plate, which included Layered Mascarpone Mousse, Berries & Banana Cake, Chocolate Cake, Catalan Cream, Mango Sorbet and Dark Chocolate Gelato - all pretty good, and I particularly enjoyed the smooth rich dark chocolate gelato:

I don't encounter much Spanish cuisine in Tokyo or Australia, so I don't get much chance to eat Spanish food. This was a lovely meal to farewell us on our way back home to Japan after only a short few days in Hong Kong. It was a productive trip, and we covered a lot of ground so we now have a better idea of how it'd be living in HK.

We're off to Oz tomorrow, so my blog will be sadly silent for a couple of weeks. However, I promise that after we return, there will be a sudden influx of journal entries about what we ate and did, so stay tuned!

Italian-Spanish @ Rigoletto Bar & Grill, Tokyo

Isn't it great when things look like they're heading downwards, and then something that you know nothing about turns up in your path, and it all works out unexpectedly well in the end? That's sort of like how it was on Sunday when we went for lunch after church. We'd arranged to meet Kim in Roppongi Hills because Honey and I needed to be in the area for our cooking lesson later in the afternoon, and also because it was an easy rendezvous point for a meal with plenty of restaurants to choose from. We didn't really have anywhere in mind, so we wandered around a little on the 5th floor of the West Walk, hungry for lunch, but most of the places that looked interesting had long waiting time (it was, after all, peak lunch period on a Sunday). We also had a limited time for lunch due to the said cooking lesson, and some of us were getting a little impatient from walking around seemingly getting nowhere. When we came across Rigoletto Bar and Grill, the menu looked good, but the restaurant looked crowded. When Rob enquired about getting a table for four, he was told there was a short waiting period, but wasn't given an estimated time. We stood in front of Rigoletto for a couple of minutes discussing whether or not to wait, and we were about to walk away when we were ushered into the restaurant. Am I glad we didn't walk away!

The staff were very friendly and accommodated our 18 month old dining companion well. We were given a table with spacious and comfortable sofa setting, so we didn't need a high chair at all as Zak enjoyed roaming on the cushiony sofa (we didn't ask for one so I don't know if high chairs are available or not). A part of the restaurant featured a nice 13m-long bar area, and I imagine Rigoletto also has an impressive wine list. The food menu offered a good variety of dishes of a mixed Italian-Spanish style ranging from carpaccio and pasta to tapas and paella. The burgers gave the menu a sort of American-feel. During lunch time, there's an attractively priced 4-course menu, and you could choose from a range of pasta, pizza or burger for your mains. With such a nice variety of food, there's bound to be something in the menu for everyone. Usually I prefer not to go to restaurants that offer from a number of cuisines as it can sometimes mean compromised quality due to not specialising in a particular style, but I wasn't too fussy that day, and honestly, I was only glad that we could get a table and some food in our hungry bellies.

Refreshing ceviche and one of the tapas plate:

Honey and Kim ordered the lunch sets, whereas Rob and I chose to go with the a-la-carte option (more expensive, but more choices). The appetiser dish included with the lunch course option was a plate of four bite-sized tapas - tempura brocolli, cured meat, Spanish omelette and smoked salmon. They all tasted pretty good. Rob ordered some Avocado Prawn Ceviche, Fried Chicken Wings, and Calamari to share, and everyone was pretty happy with the quality of all the appetisers. The Caesar Salad that came with the lunch set was fresh and delicious with the not-very-healthy-but-oh-so-yummy creamy dressing.

The appetisers (chicken wings, calamari and ceviche) and the plates of spaghetti:

For mains, Honey got the Mentaiko (cod roe) Spaghetti and Kim ordered the Bolognese. Both were yummy and comforting in a homey way, but also very filling due to the generous serving size. Rob had the Grilled Pork Steak which was very juicy and tender. I ordered the Paella Shrimp which was really tasty. The rice had absorbed all the gorgeous seafood flavour from the prawns and had a nice brown crust on the bottom.

For dessert, Rob couldn't go past the Choco Cassata, which was a rich, moist layered chocolate ice cream cake served with a scoop of pistachio ice cream. Everyone at the table really liked this plate of dessert. The dessert of the day for the lunch set course was Cheesecake, which was light and fluffy, with a consistency and texture almost like a mousse. It wasn't too sweet or overly rich which is perfect after a big meal.

Divine chocolate cassata and the lovely cheesecake:

I really enjoyed this experience - the food was good, the staff looked after us, and Zak was a happy chappy during our meal. I think we'll definitely will be back here again.

By the way, happy Good Friday and Easter! I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend if you are more fortunate than us in Japan to get one. This will be our fourth Easter away from home, and I am missing all the hot cross buns, chocolate treats and time with church friends and family (in increasing order, of course!).