Category Archives: trips

streetxo revisited

19 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, madrid, spain, travel, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

streetxo-2017-1
Every since I first experienced David Muñoz’s Street XO in Madrid in the summer of 2014 I’ve been wanting to go back. In fact, I did try going back with Jo when I was in Madrid this past summer, but we got there too late and they had already closed off the queue. We ended up next door at the fabulous Cascabel instead, which wasn’t a bad “consolation prize” at all, but it still wasn’t StreetXO. So during this Madrid Getaway Peter and I made sure that we got there early, just before they opened for lunch service, and before long we were happily ensconced at the bar, ready for the show to begin.

streetxo-2017-2
Since my 2014 visit, StreetXO has moved to bigger digs, upstairs at the Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience in calle Serrano, a space it shares with two other Michelin-star chef ventures: Cascabel by Roberto Ruiz and Rocambolesc by Jordi Roca. The set up is more or less the same as at the original Callo location, but the horseshoe bar is about three times as large, and there are also a few tables along the side. The menu is similar with a few of the old favourites still available (pig ear dumplings, steamed “club sandwich”, pork belly and smoked mussel in lettuce leaves). The dumplings were a must, and after that we tried two new dishes: presa Ibérca a la robata and Korean wonton lasagna.
streetxo-2017-3
Service was impeccable, but I did miss the presence of chef Jhonny, who is now manning the flames at the new StreetXO location in London. Can’t wait to go back again.

madrid getaway 2017

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in getaways, holidays, hotels, madrid, travel, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

atocha

My second favourite train station in Spain (after the prettily tiled Jerez station) is Atocha in Madrid, with its fabulous tropical gardens under a soaring arched ceiling. We arrived in town at 12.30, with just enough time for a quick beer before getting to our apartment in Plaza Angel.

calamar

So of course we also had to have a famous calamar butty at Bar El Brilliante, across the street from Atocha. It was Peter’s first time there and he loved it. Then we headed off to the apartment.

madrid-apt

It was in a great location, very clean and quiet. Only one bedroom, but the sofa bed was comfy enough for the two nights Peter was there. So we were off to a good start on this year’s first Madrid Getaway.

gastronomía cordobés

13 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, travel, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

cordoba-foodThis Córdoba Getaway was a delicious mix of revisiting well-known and well-loved places and discovering a few “new” spots too (well, new for me). By what turned out to be a lucky chance, two of the places I had planned on revisiting were closed, so we ended up changing our Thursday lunch booking at La Regadera to Wednesday and I set about looking for somewhere else to go. Then it hit me – who better to ask about good places to eat than one of my favourite Cordobés chefs?

So although it felt a bit cheeky, I sent chef Adrian from La Regadera a Twitter DM asking if he could recommend somewhere nice, and that’s how we ended up the next day in a barrio of Córdoba I’d never been in before (San Lorenzo) having a spectacular lunch at a bar I’d never heard of – La Cuchara de San Lorenzo. Luckily we were averaging about 20,000 steps a day (according to FitBit) to compensate somewhat.

Looking forward to a quick trip back with Janet Mendel when Noor reopens in the spring.

seeing the sites

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in andalucia, getaways, travel, trips

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

cordoba-sites-1No matter how many times you see the Mezquita in Córdoba it will always – ALWAYS – take your breath away. Obviously this little square pic doesn’t do it justice, but really no photo will ever do so. It’s been a few years since I’ve been inside (last time I think was with Craig & Susan?) and I loved it all over again.

cordoba-sites-2A new experience for me was a morning visit to the Mahidat al-Zahra, which has only been open to the public since 2009. It is the site of a city built outside Córdoba around 950 BC for the Moorish king (Caliph), which only lasted about 80 years. The only down side to the visit was that we weren’t told until we arrived at the site by bus that the Salón of Abd-ar-Rahman III (ie The Main Attraction) was closed for repairs. Still, it was a nice walk around on a beautiful blue morning.