A Friday Evening at La Tomatina

It had been raining all week in Bristol, almost continuously, and Friday evening was no exception. I left work and dodged the many puddles to go meet Elly for tapas at newly opened La Tomatina, at the bottom of Park Street. I had booked a table for 5 as I was expecting our Australian friends, who had come down for a weekend visit from London, and Rich was going to bring them down later in the evening.

Damp and with weather blues, I waited for Elly at a table near the patio doors, watching everyone trying to dodge the never ending downpour. Once Elly arrived we decided to order a couple of dishes to go with our drinks as we chatted and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

Croquettes, Calamari and Patatas Bravas

Chicken and Blue Cheese Croquettes

We ordered cod croquettes, patatas bravas, calamari and chicken and blue cheese croquettes. By far the chicken and blue cheese croquettes were the best thing about the whole evening, food wise. They were crunchy on the outside and wonderfully creamy on the inside. The cod croquettes were alright but no way near as nice as the chicken ones. It would be nice to have some traditional ham croquettes on the menu either instead of or as well as the cod ones. The patatas were pronounced tasty if not quite as spicy as we would have liked, but I have tasted so many different patatas over the years there is no hard and fast rule as to how they should come out.  I found my calamari portion very plentiful for the money but the calamari itself was a little rubbery and lacking in flavour.

Once everyone else arrived we ordered more beer, of which there is a fairly good selection of Spanish lagers  some of which I'd not seen in other Bristol bars before. We then ordered a couple more tapas each, mostly meat based and got stuck into the drinking. On the whole we agreed we liked the atmosphere of La Tomatina it was cosy, relaxed and had the reassuringly familiar sound of Gypsy Kings on in the background. Elly who has lived in a couple of Spanish cities agreed that tapas bars were more enjoyable when they threw themselves into the Spanish feel and culture as well as the food, I tend to agree.

Cured Meats Board

Chorizo with Butter Beans and Shallots 

Patatas with Tomato and Alioli

The patatas again were tasty and the potatoes nice and crispy rather than being soggy, it's nice to have the option of alioli on the menu as well. The cured meats board was good too but as long as you are buying high quality produce you can't really go wrong here. So far so good.

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Braised Pork Ribs in Tomato and Herb Sauce

Our main gripe with La Tomatina came with the seasoning, particularly with the meat dishes above and the calamari. As Kathryn remarked, the meatballs were of a good texture but they just seemed to be really bland the same goes for the ribs. It could have possibly have been an off day because it is obvious from some of the dishes the food can be very tasty. I was just very aware of a lack of salt or spice in the meat, Spanish flavours are bold and full on and with some tweaking they will have it right with the rest of the dishes. 

Bristol has a lot of tapas venues around at the moment and if it wants in on the competition fixing these little problems will be simple enough and I look forward to sampling those croquettes again as they were the jewel in their tapas crown.  La Tomatina is a good addition to the bottom of Park Street, if any sun actually comes our way this Summer it will be a nice way to while a few lazy hours in the afternoon. It is good value for money, some other tapas venues have very random portion control which can lead to unexpected hunger pangs, none of that here thank goodness. To check out their menus and upcoming events go to their website.

Chorizo Baked in Wine

After a mini discussion on Twitter with various foodies I reveal the recipe I made for my chorizo baked in wine tapas dish. This will be a relatively short post being that the recipe is, although not a long one, a very delicious one!

You can use either chorizo ring or whole mini chorizos, this time round I used both as they take on the flavour in different ways. So if you de-skin and chop the chorizo ring into chunks no smaller than 2cm, I find that smaller pieces tend to dry out in the baking process otherwise. You will also need a ceramic or Pyrex baking dish rather than a metal one.

After chopping the chorizo add between half to three quarters of a bottle of Spanish red, enough to almost cover the chorizo. I then add 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped into strips and scatter around the dish. Add a couple of shakes of paprika and thyme and you are good to go. It should look a bit like this:

Chorizo Baked in Wine

Bake it for about 40-50mins on 180-190 with fan or you can go lower for longer if you fancy, for a more intense flavour, I have baked it for up to 2 hours before. When it comes out it should have dropped about half the liquid level and the chorizo should be much darker, see the photo below the chorizo dish, right.

The Final Product (surrounded by other tapas dishes and empty plates)

Admittedly this isn't the best final photo, We all dug in quite enthusiastically before I got a chance to take a picture. Your guests will not be disappointed serve with crusty bread to mop up all the meaty wine juices and you will be in tapas heaven. Let me know how you get on with this recipe if you give it a go. Later in the week we shall have a report from Joe from the Social Smokers barbecue team giving us an update of his very meaty weekend. Plus the upcoming report of my lunch visit at Hotel du Vin with Bristol Bites.

Tapas and Cocktails at Harvey's Wine Cellars

I pass by Harvey's Wine Cellars nearly every day on my way home from work. Ever since I spied the barrels outside I have been very curious, a curiosity that was heightened when I discovered they would also be serving tapas. Readers of this blog may already be aware of our fixation with these Spanish delights.

With a cocktail fanatic friend coming back to her home town to visit we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for trying somewhere new. Harvey's specialises in sherry, cocktails and wine so if you like beer you do have a limited choice, but Rich was pleased that they had one of his favourites, Asahi, on tap.

The cocktail list is enormous there is even a dedicated section to sherry cocktails, particularly using Harvey's Bristol Cream, imported and then bottled in Bristol since 1796. The cocktails were right up my street particularly the Kipling, the base of which was Disaronno which is probably my favourite liqueur of all time. The list is extensive so  there will be something for all cocktail palettes here.

We ordered some tapas to soak up some of the alcohol, I was pleased to see a good selection of classics on the menu such as patatas bravas, chorizo baked in wine and my favourite, ham croquettes. The latter are my absolute favourite tapas dish, I lived off of them when we went to Madrid and each one was sheer perfection. I have attempted making them myself a few times with a block of Serrano ham from Arch House Deli, taste wise the results have been spot on, but with out a deep fat fryer it is hard to get them to stay in their shape. So if anyone close by fancies some ham croquettes in return for a go in their fryer let me know!

Calamari with Aioli and Ham Croquettes

Chorizo Baked in Wine, Patatas Bravas and Chorizo with Morcilla 

The tapas themselves were really good, my personal favourites were the chorizo with morcilla and the ham croquettes. The chorizo with morcilla was wonderfully earthy, rich and indulgent it practically melted in the mouth. The ham croquettes were creamy with the meaty saltiness you get from hams like Serrano. The patatas were light with a slight kick. The only let down food wise was the hummus. We were brought some lovely bread and olives to enjoy and some hummus to dip. The hummus was very bland indeed and added nothing to the meal.

 However my main complaint about the tapas was the portion size. Everything was a bit on the small side compared to our trip to The Old Bookshop, where everything was amazing tasting but with generous portions and the 3 for £10 deal price. At Harvey's you definitely would need at least 5 or more dishes per person to keep the hunger wolves at bay, which would definitely rack up the price.

Hummus and Bread

The live music in the back area was a very nice touch, we had some lilting jazz and bossa nova singing floating out across the bar area, this definitely adds something extra to the venue and is worth visiting for. I did find the decor a bit soulless and formal the almost bare magnolia walls, black rectangle tables with big black leather chairs made it seem a bit too restauranty. Tapas to me is more about the informality of getting together for drinks and some snacks, it is what Spain is all about, making a big deal about socialising.

I think Harvey's could be very good if it tweaks a few things like the use of space and make it feel more welcoming and relaxing, because the drinks and food are very good. The service was excellent, friendly table service that did feel like we were on a cocktail bar stool with the attention to detail and smiles all round.  Harvey's will make a great addition to this area of Bristol and I look forward to seeing how it grows and improves on it's already good base.

For a peak at the upcoming events, cocktail, wine and tapas lists visit their website here

A Visit to The Old Bookshop

Rich and I are big fans of tapas.  Experiencing eating only tapas on a mini break to Madrid in the famous tapas quarter, La Latina, only fueled the fire further.  We have hosted a few tapas nights, and so far my chorizo baked in wine and herbs is my signature tapas dish.

Last night Rich and I and our friend Phil went to try out The Old Bookshop on North Street in Bedminster. The Cathy Jones Trio were playing and being partial to a spot of Bossa Nova as well, this seemed like the perfect night out...and so it was.

A small, yet perfectly formed venue complete with wall to wall bunting, typewriters on the walls and instruments as lamps. As a fan of the 50s both the decor and atmosphere were slightly twee and totally up my street! As a former DJ I would love to host a Rock n Roll night there and really make the most of this fantastic venue.

The three of us each decided to go for 3 tapas for £10 deal so chose 9 off the 16 long tapas list and nursed a bottle of rioja whilst we eagerly awaited the tasty mini delights. Mini was not the word to describe what was delivered to our table. Nine generous sized dishes, and their sauce accompaniments, rocked up and I suddenly realised just how hungry I was.

Each one of these dishes was a taste sensation, all served on beautiful mismatched vintage china, I had a lovely peacock on mine. Most of the ingredients used were common to tapas menus but each one had a slight twist on the traditional dishes. Although I could not fault any of the dishes, some I favoured slightly more than others. The root vegetable bravas with turmeric aioli was gorgeous the vegetables were soft and roasted just enough to make them wonderful with the earthy turmeric dip. The huge bowl of fried salt and pepper cuttle fish with sweet chilli dip was cooked perfectly and totally addictive.

My final favourite, I think, was the hot and spicy jerk chicken drumsticks, they were sweet but with a slight kick. The chicken just fell off the bone and the flavour had infused through out and melted in the mouth. I was slightly disappointed not to have room left to try the deep fried Mars bar in vanilla batter, but hoping this curiosity will stay on the menu for a bit til the next time I can make it down for another visit.

They also do Pieminister and mash for £5 and such scrumptious looking cakes. I cannot urge people strongly enough to check this place out. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy, helped along but the lilting Brazilian melodies from Cathy Jones. You can tell that it will be a great success with such fantastic food I cannot wait to go again it was everything I could have hoped for and more. With El Rincon, Bristol's only other truly fantastic tapas bar, at the other end of North Street I am now planning on doing a mini tapas crawl from one end to the other and very soon! Visit their website for more info.

Also for a bonus here is my pretty peacock plate, that I would pay good money to have a copy of, if anyone has any tip offs let me know.