Olive oil poached head-on gulf prawns with black garlic and chili. $14
Coqueta, San Francisco CA
Ok, these prawns were pretty darn delicious, so it almost helped me forget the horrible service (but not really). The prawns were cooked perfectly and the heads were SO tasty. Then I got annoyed that you only got 3 pieces for fourteen bucks. Such a tease!
With marcona almonds, grapes, syrah reduction, and syrah-grapeseed oil. $7
Coqueta, San Francisco CA
This chilled soup was beautiful and I enjoyed the thickish silky texture, but the serving size was ridiculously small. It was almost thimble sized! This along with the horrible service really makes me dislike this restaurant.
Imported. $29
Coqueta, San Francisco CA
Omg, this is the best quality of cured Spanish ham around! I loved the super thin slices and they had such a wonderful flavor. I didn’t like the tiny, dry breadsticks though, and the twenty nine dollar price tag was pushing it for me especially for the modest serving size. But that didn’t fully detract from the amazing quality.
Chorizo, roasted artichokes, and piquillo pepper. White anchovies, olives, pearl onions, and guindilla pepper. $10
Coqueta, San Francisco CA
This place did NOT make a good first impression. The service was excruciatingly slow, and the food was overpriced. Each of these tiny skewers were $2.50, really?! And I ordered a glass of sangria when I first sat down, but it didn’t arrive until half way through our meal even after asking about it several times! That is simply unacceptable especially when the sangria is pre-made! They kept saying, “The bar is really busy.” Puhlease, it shouldn’t take 40 minutes to pour a single glass of bland sangria! Shame on you, Coqueta! #FAIL
Sangria: red wine, manzanilla sherry, orange, lemon, ginger, berries, chamomile, and local apples. $9
Shrimp in a spicy chile sauce with grilled bread. $10
Firefly, Las Vegas NV
Omg, this tasted just like sweet and sour shrimp! Ok, I’ll admit that I actually liked this dish because, well, I love sweet and sour anything but it wasn’t very Spanish. This could have been served at a Chinese restaurant and I wouldn’t be able to differentiate the flavor profiles. And where was the heat?!
Topped with cheese and chopped parsley. $5.50
Firefly, Las Vegas NV
Ew, these sucked! They were very dense, dry, flavorless and swimming in a pool of oil. A gross misstep!
Spanish white anchovies on toasts with roast red pepper, yellow pepper vin, avocado, basil chiffonade, olive oil. $5.50
Firefly, Las Vegas NV
Mmm, I love white anchovies! They are SO flavorful and Firefly does a great job topping them with even more delicious ingredients. I just wish the bread was a little more toasted – these were limp and soggy.
Project 365: Day 114
Happy birthday, Kryan! This morning we were all pretty hung over, lol! We had met a group of friendly lesbians at The George so we ended up drinking with them for most of the time. I had to take Hubbs home last night because he had a little too much fun. I guess Kryan got lucky and didn’t get back to the guesthouse until super late in the morning, slut! It was difficult getting to breakfast downstairs before 10:30 but you can’t pass up a free meal! I was still feeling horrible after breakfast so Hubbs and I walked to Starbucks in the shopping center on Henry Street.
The weather was actually really nice today, yay! We decided to take the green Dublin Bus Tour: Hop On Hop Off around the city since it was our last full day and we wanted a fast convenient mode of transport. It took us to most of the major tourist sites around the city, and guess whom we found stalking us again? Good ol’ Susie Boyle, lol! I think my favorite place we got off at was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. That church is really beautiful!
Omg, the worst place we visited was the Old Jameson Distillery. The tour was a frickin’ joke and an utter rip off! You’re required to take the tour in large groups and listen to a guide who is obviously reciting a script complete with sad, tired jokes. I swear our tour guide was retarded! At first you’re forced to watch a movie (read: a long, blatant Jameson whiskey commercial) then they cram you into these tiny rooms with cheesy miniaturized displays and listen to a bunch of Jameson whiskey propaganda. They even managed to make the whiskey tasting at the end of the tour seem like a chore. DO NOT ever go on this tour! If you want a fun alcohol tour, save yourself some time and go to the Guinness Storehouse instead.
Tonight, I think we’re gonna grab some food then head back to Pantibar and The George. It’s our last night and we need to celebrate Kry’s bday!
Mussels with green pico de gallo. $8
Toro Salao, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
The mussels were tender and tasted great with the pico de gallo salsa on top. Very flavorful!
Looking north towards the water and the Castillo de San Cristobal (San Cristobal Fort). I love the colorful basketball court in the foreground with the random truck parked in front of it.
Con queso manchego, chorizo y aioli de ajos rostizados. Spanish style omelet with yuca, Spanish chorizo, manchego cheese and roasted garlic aioli, served with toast. $8.50
Toro Salao, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
I think the combination of the yuca and manchego cheese gave this tortilla a dense and gummy texture that wasn’t the most pleasant. The flavor was great, but they could improve on the texture.
I also want to note that the service here was HORRENDOUS! Our waiter was on his own time and while we weren’t in a any kind of rush, there were periods when there was no service at all.
Plaza del Quinto Centenario with Jaime Suarez’s 40-foot tall Totem Telúrico in the background.
Project 365: Day 113
Omg, the bathroom in our room is SO small. I’m not a big guy, but even I feel claustrophobic in it! I wonder how Kryan and David do it!? The complimentary breakfast at the Abbott Lodge Guesthouse is pretty decent. You get coffee, juice, toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and cereal. The service is kinda slow but there were only 2 older ladies serving all the guests so I don’t want to complain too much.
Today we took a bus to the Guinness Storehouse which is an awesome museum with a great bar (Gravity Bar) at the top of the building. It’s self-guided so you can go at your own pace. I liked the displays and everything was super clean and interesting. We also took the Guinness “Perfect Pour” class and it was actually really cool. I learned a lot about the beer and our instructor was nice and friendly. He was from Michigan though – I would have preferred an local Irishman with a cool accent, hehe. Later in Gravity Bar, we saw none other than Susan Boyle! Omg, that was SO random. I was just about to go politely ask for a photo with her when a group of 15 school kids mobbed her. I was able to snap a blurry photo of her anyway.
Later, we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Bachelor Inn with a decent looking server with straight teeth (lol), then headed back to the guesthouse to relax. I think tonight we’ll hit up Front Lounge for drinks, then The George for a drag show!
Crispy garlic shrimp taco rolls with a citrus aioli. $10
Toro Salao, Old San Juan, PUERTO RICO
These were SO good! They were nice and warm, and perfect with the citrus aioli. Noms!
The Plaza of the Heritage of the Americas with sculptures by Jose Buscaglia. Statues from left to right: Heritage of Faith, bronze, 9’ high, 1975; Heritage of Blood, bronze, 9’ high, 1976; Intellectual Heritage, bronze, 9’ high, 1975; Hispanic Heritage, bronze, 9’ high, 1995.
Lamb stew on seasoned quinoa cakes. Tapa $11
Canela, San Francisco
This was an interesting dish. I guess we didn’t know what to expect when we ordered it, but a pulled lamb stew wasn’t it. It tasted good and the quinoa cakes were really cool. They were underneath and they had a great texture. The dish was on the small side and dull looking. It needed some additional color.
Layers of creamy potato, egg and onion, side salad. Tapa $7
Canela, San Francisco
I love Spanish tortillas, and this was pretty good but the portion was a little on the small side even considering that it was a “tapa” size. They could have done away with the salad “garnish” and had larger slices of the tortilla instead.
Vittle Monster 