The Feel of Espanya

The BFFs are at it once again! We are back on an eating extravaganza! And for our TGIF gimmick, we opted to be a bit more sosyal with our restaurant of choice.

We all met up at Barcino at their Rockwell branch. Thank God for reservations! Had I not reserved, we’d be noshing at another restaurant. We dined al fresco to complete the “sosyal” feel.

I asked my good friend Elaine about Barcino, and she says it one of the best Spanish restaurants in town. I was a bit iffy with this because there’s this one restaurant that proclaims to serve authentic Spanish fare, but really hasn’t hit the right target. My lola has impeccable Spanish culinary skills, and will know right away if you’re just a trying hard bitch.

Anyway, we had so much carbs for our appetizers. This was our freebie appetizer, bread with this dip that had olive oil. I don’t know what it’s called, but it was an instant hit we had to order another round and actually paid for it!

We also had another carbo-loaded appetizer, the Sobrassada de Mallorca. Nothing special. It was just like homemade pizza.

Amanda and Trency both ordered the Costilla de Adan, also known as pork ribs braised in BBQ sauce.

The meat was soooo tender, cutting it up (both with the knife and your incisors) was a breeze! Although we all complained it was too salty, not sure, maybe they bathed it in their barbecue sauce. For sure, this really went well with their garlic rice.

Although NOT a Spanish cuisine, I ordered Espagueti A La Carbonara with bacon, cream, egg, and parmesan.


I love pasta! I will almost, always order a pasta dish the moment my eyes see them on a menu. This did not disappoint. It wasn’t too heavy on the cream hence no umay factor and no heavy feeling in the tummy. It was good, except that it was lacking in bacon bits. Went totally well with our wine, too.

Mike ordered Callos A La Madrilena, or tripe stewed Barcino way.

I liked this one, the tripe was all over the place, and this is what callos is all about. So unlike the callos in Lorenzo’s Way and Dulcinea. This was yummy!

But the kicker for the night was the wine we ordered, Castillo de Maluenda Tinto.

Now, I’m no wine connoisseur but I liked this, however it was a bit acidic. I’d also like my wine to be a bit aged, 2008 is still a baby. It was a cheap wine (P650) but it had a strong kick to it. Had several glasses, and it made me a bit tipsy. Major check!

We spent a good portion of our Friday night here, just wining and dining, waiting out the time before we go to an event at the Rockwell Tent. It was drizzling, and we had to cramp ourselves in that tiny umbrella. We could also hear the other tables’ conversations, so if you want to talk about something personal, well don’t do it here.

It also feels good to eat inside the restaurant, amidst the wine bottles and kegs. There’s this room I saw at the Rockwell branch that’s perfect for a romantic dinner date!

All-in all Barcino makes one perfect place for a happy group, just like ours, to wine, dine, and have a little chitchat!

Barcino
143, R1 Level
Power Plant Mall
Makati City
Tel. No. 846-9423
Website: http://www.barcino.com.ph

Hit and Miss at Dulcinea

Before anything else, let me first enthrall you all with a short story. My grandmother is a very snooty cook. She was very particular with all the ingredients, as in EVERYTHING! But she gets snootier than ever especially when it comes to cooking Spanish delicacies. Her father and grandmother were pure Spanish so she grew up eating AUTHENTIC Spanish food. And when we (her precious grandkids) came into the picture, we were able to have authentic Spanish food at home. We'd have lengua, caldereta and callos for lunch and dinner like it was the easiest thing to whip up in a kitchen.

And so this leads me to say that when my Mother and I decided to eat Spanish food at Dulcinea, all I could say was I was really disappointed. Can't really blame them for being not so spot on with their Spanish fare. But if they promote their restaurant as a place to have a feel of Espanya, well they better do a much better job.

Mom and I ordered the usual Spanish dishes. Mom's very fond of callos (she makes great callos by the way), so she ordered one for herself.

Number one, when you say you have callos on your menu and it states it has twalya (ox tripe) MAKE SURE IT ACTUALLY HAS OX TRIPE. It had like 2 pieces of ox tripe, and that is like THE essence of a callos dish.

Number two, use real tomato sauce base. I get how we Filipinos LOVE and would actually die for sweet stuff in everything that we eat. But since this is supposedly a touch of Espanya, it's not really supposed to be that way. The callos tasted like spaghetti sauce. I was sort of looking for that slight twang in the sauce, Mom and my Lola makes them a bit maasim at home.

Number three, make sure your meat is tender. My lola was very particular with this when she used to cook stuff for us. The meat was ALWAYS, ALWAYS tender. UGH!

As for me, I ordered their lengua.

This is WAY better than what Mom had. Their lengua was pretty tender, and the sauce very tasty. It's actually cool how they give you mashed potatoes as side dish, although it's not a Spanish thing. The sauce really went well with the mashed potato and I enjoyed picking on it (since I don't eat rice). I think this can pass.

For dessert, Mom and I ordered what made Dulcinea really famous: Churros Con Chocolate.

I give this a two-thumbs up! Mom said Dulcinea has already perfected the art of making churros, and I couldn't agree more. The churros was crispy, although it has to be said that it was a bit oily for my taste (maybe they should mop it up a bit before serving). The chocolate was semi-sweet and long after we've downed the churros, I found myself getting the spoon and finishing the entire thing. Delicious! This was a definite HIT!

I'm sorry to Dulcinea if I have to bash their Spanish feel. But hey, maybe you guys need to learn a thing or two about Spanish cuisine. If I were to come back to Dulcinea, it would be for the churros ALONE and nothing else.

Ugh...now I miss my Lola! :(


Dulcinea Greenbelt 1
G/F, Greenbelt 1,
Paseo de Roxas cor. Legaspi St.,
Ayala Center, Makati City
Tel. No. 817-7074