Posts Tagged tapas
El Pará, Turre
Posted by admin in Restaurants on November 16th, 2009
Still delicious. Still the best place in Turre for tapas, raciones or a full meal.
So many years ago Turre was the town of restaurants. It was well known that if you wanted to eat out you went to Turre.
We had the Adelina or the Meco for the “foriegners”, then defined as anyone from further away than Murcia or Albacete. Whereas the locals ate in Orsoca.
Well, you know the story. It ends up with Meson del Pobre having to publish an apoloy in the English-language press and Stoneys sports bar opening up.
But, one brave couple went against the tide and opened their own restaurant with typical food. Marcos and Cati. In La Pará. As I explained before, but will explain again for the benefit of my monolingual Catalan and Galician readers, La Pará mean “the stop” in Andaluz.
Bloody delicious stew. Are you cold? Hungry? Can’t be bothered with a three course meal each and just fancy some home cooked food shared between the table? Go to La Pará where they can serve you anything, as long as you like Spanish, home made and tasty.
La Pará restaurant
Top of Turre on the left. Come on, Turre ain’t that big.
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
La Pará, Turre
Posted by admin in Restaurants, Tapas on August 28th, 2009
La Pará is a new bar and restaurant that has opened up at the top of the main street in Turre, as you leave going out towards the cementery.
It´s very, very nicely done out inside, with no expense spared on the décor. This was done by someone who plans to stay a while, and these people are Ana, her husband Marcos and Ana’s sister whose name escapes me (but I´ll find out next time I go down there). Ana will be remembered as the lady who has graced a number of bars in Cabrera and has now branched out on her own.
The large patio outside has a number of tables and chairs, and is a pleasent, sheltered spot from whence to sit and ponder upon Life. The main bar is tastefully done out, and the restaurant, while small, is also a comfortable place.
The food is Turre in style. Gurullos, Pelotas, Migas, Morcillas and more all adorn the menu. All homemade, all delicious, and almost all of them sampled by me.
The philosophy behind the menu is a wonderful one – they will cook what they want, what is in season, and if they run out they tell you so, instead of having a lot of frozen stuff lying around. So it´s fresh, it´s off the plancha, and it can be eaten as a full meal, as dishes to pick at between the group, or simply as a tapa with a beer.
If Marcos is on duty in the afternoon the toros might be on the TV – if Ana, possibly it might be off or tuned to something tasteful. Marcos looks glum, but is a happy man at heart.
Recommendation? Delicious. Try it, you´ll be back, unless your palate doesn´t pass ketchup on chips.
PS – La Pará, in case you´re wondering, is slang meaning “the Stop”. La Parada – or ¡aki la pará! as they shout to conductors around here.
Cafe Bar Aguila, Albox
Posted by admin in Restaurants, Tapas on June 11th, 2009
Aguila is a workers bar in Albox. But by gum, it’s a good one.
Inside, in a main room, darkened by the windows which are tightly shuttered against the danger of the summer sun, wizened men and worker foremen sit hunched over the bar, drinking their carajillos. A low background murmur from conversation is constantly audible – the minute you look to see where it’s coming from the conversation stalls and you find that the talkers are looking back at you, as if you had intercepted a drug deal (they’re probably talking about last nights game).
Tapas are enormous, and decent. A tercio and what was basically a half racion of magra, together with several large hunks of bread, was mine for only €1,40.
The coffee is strong. Very strong. Good though. €0,90.
Tapas are limited, but when the plancha is on (middays) the wife will serve you up some damned good meatstuff off the plancha. No menu – it depends on what she’s brought that morning.
It’s not the sort of place women venture into – not because it’s seedy, or because it’s dirty, but because it’s a mans’ bar when men get together for a morning coffee and their wives are wise enough to allow them to pretend they are still their own man. Evidence of this was that the damas was being used to store a couple of bicycles. The lightswitch for the mens was by the door, next to an exposed wire where the (broken) handdryer was situated, great fun in the dark.
In short, my sort of place. Don’t bother going if you don’t speak Spanish, or are adverse to Ducados second hand smoke.
Cafe Bar Aguila, Albox
In Calle del Rulador, on the “incoming” road down from the cementery.
Meson Geres (Vera)
Posted by admin in Restaurants on October 28th, 2008
Meson Geres is in Vera, and a place I first discovered while having a quick coffee with the subdirector of Banco Andalucia. It’s hidden in between the banks and the notaries, and as such, is clean, quick and tasty.
They do a “quick” menu del dia, in which you sit down, the waiter comes out, rattles off a long list of food, and you order the only item on the menu you heard.
The food is mainly aimed at office workers, which means it’s a decent menu del dia that you can eat and enjoy, but won’t break the budget. You don’t get anything fancy, but you leave full and happy. Probably not worth driving 20km for, but if you’re in the area it’s not a bad option.
On this occasion I was waiting for the Notario to return, so I had a few quick beers and tapas. Very nice. Tapas were fresh, beers were quick, service was pleasent and the price? €1.20 for a cana and a (decent sized) tapa.
Where is it?
In the street with the banks, turn right after the Banco Andalucia.
Resid. Alcana – Edif. del Mar, Local 3, Vera, Almeria
Tlf 950 392 243
Asuntxu autopull cerveceria Mojacar Playa (self serve beer!)
Posted by admin in Restaurants on October 26th, 2008
Asuntxu is a fun little place on Mojacar Playa with tapas and a twist – you serve your own beer from the taps installed in the centre of the tables.
It’s actually good fun, just choose a table, get it switched on and off you go, pulling your own beers. Drink as little or as much as you want to, and get charged by the centilitre. €5 for a litre, which isn’t much more than you would pay buying it by the glass over the counter (assuming, say, €1,50 for a 33cl.). The beer’s “Cruzcampo”, but Heinekein is available behind the bar. Plus lots of wines, spirits, etc.
The amount pulled per table is shown on the screens dotted around, so you can keep an eye on the amount consumed and the price incurred. And if your neighbour goes to the toilet, well, if you’re quick you can have a crafty glass off his pump.
They also, and I’m not sure how legal this is, have a leaderboard. So you can see who’s drinking the most, in the least amount of time. And if you get into the top 5, you can assign your name to the leaderboard and see if you get knocked off. Great fun!
Tapas are plentiful, but despite the fact it says “restaurant” outside it’s really tapas and raciones. They looked good, and the kitchen seemed busy the night we were there.
It’s run by a couple from Garrucha; she’s petite, busy and charming and he’s a large chap with a scowl. He’s not allowed out from behind the bar, probably because he’s a walking advert for the dangers of beer drinking.
More info on the AutoPull system
Meson Verfran
Posted by admin in Restaurants on April 2nd, 2008
Casting around for something to add to my new look blog, I was stuck until called up by a Spanish friend for a beer at midday. Time being pressing, we popped along for a few tapas at Meson Verfran in Los Gallardos, a place I find I haven’t reviewed since 2006, despite frequently popping in for a snack.
I find it strange how these Spanish mesóns can carry along without a glitch for year after year, while the English places, qualitywise, tend to sway around like an elderly transit van in a high wind. It must be the difference between the expat setting up a holiday business in a foreign clime, and a local setting up a business for life.
I find Verfran (and del Pobre, and Millindurrio, and all the rest of them) to be the same now as it was when it started – good, decent, home cooking in a clean and friendly environment. No fuss, no fancy settings, just a place where you can either have food or a drink with some friends, knowing that while no Michelin inspector will be cluttering the place up, at least you won’t leave hungry. And, I may add, I’ve often had my fill of beer and tapas in there for less money than starters on the Playa.
Meson VerFran
Los Gallardos
Enter Los Gallardos from the main road by the EcoMueble entrance, going down to the main square.
Bar Plaza, Vera
Posted by admin in Restaurants on October 29th, 2007
Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /home/content/s/a/n/sanenet/html/wp-content/plugins/find-us/find-us.php on line 214