Ah, yes, familiar Fridays with menú del día. This one was from last week. I went a place called Aió (pronounced kinda like Ah-ee-OH, but really fast and smushed together). Its a stone's throw, if that, from Amargo. I had walked past it a couple of times and had always wanted to try it. Peep my journey below:
The space. Loved the decor. It was a fresh-feeling quaint cafe. I felt instantly at home.
I took a pseudo panorama without even realizing it at the time! Ha! This was from sitting in one of the corner tables.
The menu! I love that it changes daily (makes me believe more that a place cares about the food and the ingredients they are using). Most places have at least one meat option, one seafood or fish option, or one vegetarian option (though to be honest, Spain is a country where it's somewhat difficult to be a vegetarian and not eat the same thing over and over and over again. Props to my veggie friends!!) Also, one of the great things about menú del día is that if you aren't feeling super hungry, most places will let you get just one course, a drink, bread, and dessert or coffee for a slightly reduced cost. Let's carry on my wayward son, shall we?
Pan (bread) + bebida (drink) = YUMMMMM. Also, + my Kindle because homegirl loves to read.
Close up of my drink. This was a clara: a mix of Fanta Limón (lemon Fanta) and cerveza (beer). It's like a shandy. It's light and refreshing and has the perfect amount of sweet citrus.
For my primero (first) course, I got "Pasta con crema de espinacas". It was penne pasta with a cream sauce and spinach and a healthy dose of cheese. Though I found this dish erring slightly on the side of too salty (slightly too much salt in the space plus the saltiness of parmesan cheese), I was really pleasantly surprised by the toasted pine nuts in the sauce.
For my segundo (second) course, I got "Pollo a la cerveza con veduras". This was beer-braised chicken with veggies. The chicken was good and for the most part tender and juicy, but I found it somewhat lacking in flavor. I think it could've used a touch more salt (maybe from the previous dish) to help bring out some more of the flavors that were developing.
My café (coffee)! I forgot to take a picture as soon as I got it because I was so excited for it. After eating all of that food and being out late the night before, I was quickly falling into a food coma and needed something to perk back up. I got café con leche AAAAAAAAND I asked the waitress to give me nata (cream, in this case whipped, as in whipped cream...) on top. I'm sure this is not a normal thing that Spaniards do, but I like my whipped cream, so I shot for the stars and was rightfully rewarded.
After all of that, I was super stuffed and quite sleepy. I continued reading for a bit more before leaving to go home and nap. Also, apologies that these photos are slightly below my normal subpar photo taking abilities. I took these using an iPhone3, which sadly does not have the greatest camera. But, da igual, you get the picture. Also, I'm really unsure as to why I can't resize these pictures, so you're welcome for really large pics!
Al final Total cost: €9.50. Thoughts: Would definitely return again. Loved the ambience and the service. The food was good, though I found the first dish a little too salty and the second dish lacking in salt. I loved that the waitress managed to get me cafe with whipped cream on top even though the bartender gave her such a confused look as to why anyone would order that.
It's Friday, so you know what that means: MENU DEL DIA!!! Today's menu, courtesy of my fave: Cafe Amargo. Buen provecho (good eating/enjoy)!
It's the weekend, so here's my requisite glass of wine. This is a Ribera.
Delicious accompanying bread. Not quite sure of the flavors, but I kinda wolfed it down before really taking notice... Soooo oops? I was hungry.
First course: Pesto penne pasta. Delicious! Aaaand in a shocking twist of events, had perfect proportions of sauce to noodles to salt to cheese. Bonus: the noodles were cooked (duh), but then sautéed in a pan, which gave some of them a nice slight crispiness.
Second Course: hamburger with goat cheese and fried berenjena (eggplant) slices and fries. The goat cheese was not overpowering as it tends to be. It was balanced with the eggplant and the meat as well. The fries definitely tasted homemade. I loved the varying sizes of the potato and they had a slight hint of garlic added to them as well. I ate most of the burger, but not all of it because I was saving room for...........
DESSERT!!! My favorite meal of the day! This is arroz con leche (rice pudding) and it's one of my favorites when made well. Margo makes it well. Soft and creamy with a slight hint of vanilla. It's drizzled with sweet honey-esque sauce that hardens and turns into a thin candy. The white/pale yellow jelly near the front of the plate was a lemon jelly that perfectly complimented the sweetness of the dish. It was almost like a refreshing sorbet in the fact that it was more tart than sweet.
If you haven't seen it already on snapchat, this is the view from my favorite table. Look how cute!! Go to Cafe Amargo and you won't be disappointed.
Tried to discreetly take a picture. I really just wanted to show off that ceiling piece. Super cool light fixtures with mixed metal rods. Also, in the background you can check one of the waitresses wearing the Amargo uniform. Sneakers, denim jeans, and a denim shirt. Everyone that know me knows I love jeans and denim, so of course I looove this Canadian tuxedo look.
Thank goodness I got some pictures up. This blog was starting to get reeeeeealllll dry. The meal was delicious. normally I like to go home to power nap and prepare for the evening (especially tonight as it's my friend's birthday), but I have decided to stay and try to write at least one more post and maybe play around with the layout/theme of this thing. Now to order another glass of wine!