13/04/09
Cortado- basically a Zola I had not too long ago. Espresso with a small amount of milk- average 'C'.
Spanish Paella- potentially very tasty but let down by being microwaved and expensive at £7.25
Saving grace and requisite order of churros06/04/09
Gas leak in Notting Hill Gate, there's no better excuse than a detour to London's friendliest (?) Spanish run café.
Listen up! There are two types of drinking chocolates served here. First there's the normal drinking one that's heavily concocted with milk and then there’s the one above. This is the Spanish Chocolate, it’s thick, dense and rich. If you want to cheer yourself up, this drink is the one to order.Magnificent!
Freshly made ribbons of Churro. At 30p each, these churros can be sprinkled generously with sugar and cinnamon.Dipped in the chocolate above, you're sure to go to hell for it!
Howlingly delicious!
The secret is out, the main ingredient for the best Chocolate Español in London-Valor Cao
--------Stupendous churros and hot chocolate, plus paella and the full English.
Out of this world!
Churreria Espanola is 1/3 greasy spoon café dishing out the usual suspects and 2/3 Spanish restaurant specialising in tapas and home cooked specials. And before we all jump to conclusions, CE is hardly Catalan, it’s very Castilian and its roots hail from Madrid.
Although the full English appears on the menu, I strongly recommend the Andalucian improvisation of chorizo, marinated pork fillets, eggs and toast instead. This is a great twist to the usual; the spiciness of chorizo will eventually gear you up for the rest of the day and the lovely pork fillets are evidently a lot less salty and fatty than the typical rashers of bacon.
If you decide to come here for lunch instead, go for the daily specials on the blackboard.
These specials include Estofado (pork stew), Pollo a la Riojana (Rioja-Style Chicken), full monty Paella and so on. This place is also home to one of the cheapest plates of Pimientos de Padrón in London; these small green peppers with their mild but explosive flavours are bingeingly addictive. The service is extremely friendly and helpful. The ambience is well, a near workman café like.
There’s nothing better to end the meal here than a sinful cup of thick Spanish hot chocolate and some churros. Dunking the churros in the chocolate is a perfect contribution to joie de vivre.
177-179 Queensway
London, W2 5HL
2 comments:
I've spent a few summers in London, and Churrería Española is one of the few restaurants I habitually return to. Unfortunately, I haven't had any of their traditional Spanish dishes because I'm too enamored with the breakfast. To my taste and experience, it's the best in the country, only behind The Eagle and Child Pub (in Oxford) breakfast.
I was also wondering if you would be able to help me locate a certain Vietnamese restaurant. It is a very small place (no more than six or eight tables) that is decorated mostly in red, tucked down an alley somewhere in the vicinity of Soho and Chinatown, and was close to a theater, perhaps the Gielgud on Shaftesbury. I only accidentally found the place while trying to take a shortcut between some buildings and haven't been able to relocate it since.
Nonetheless, I've enjoyed revisiting some of my favorite restaurants in your blog.
Hi Woody, thank you for your comments. To be honest I don't think you've missed much on the Spanish food at CE, as they're all pre-cooked and microwaved to order, all very sad. Agree with you on the breakfasts though, they are exceptional. The only Vietnamese place I could think of by the way you described it is either Nam on Dean Street (cheap but forgettable) or the Vietnamese Restaurant (yes that's the name and originally a tiny shack at Lisle Street) but expanded on to Wardour Street (again don't bother, it's basically a Chinese resto in disguise). You'll need to embrace Hackney if you want real Vietnamese.
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