Sunday, July 22, 2007

Alegrias - Food From Spain

Last summer I spent a month travelling through southern Spain - Barcelona, Alicante, Granada, Sevilla, and Madrid. And I ate a LOT of tapas. Tapas everywhere, along with a ton of rioja and tinto verano, and delicious cold Alhambra beer. Spanish tapas aren't the fanciest foods - they are generally hearty, rustic, but very tasty small bites that people share along with a big pitcher of sangria. They are eaten in the middle of the day and late in the night. In spain they were delicious almost everywhere - from the big famous tapas bars in Madrid, where you pay a euro or two per dish, to the tiny themed bars of Granada, where they come free with you drinks - and the more you drink, the tastier and heartier the tapas get. I loved the food there - I'm crazy about small plates. But I have not had an eating experience here that matched those tapas in Spain. That is, until Saturday night.

Alegrias is one of those restaurants I've passed a dozen times. Its in the Marina district of SF - a neighborhood I generally don't go to, and if I do, its to drink -- not so much to dine. But this weekend I had guests in town - my cousin A., her husband Y., and their baby, I. A. and Y. met in Granada when she was teaching there and he was studying there. They fell in love, got married, and then he moved back home to the U.S. with her where they had their gorgeous son. They live in my hometown, which REALLY lacks in yummy or interesting food choices - especially for two people who have lived in Europe. I really wanted to take them somewhere fun and reminiscent of their time in Spain, and Alegrias REALLY fit the bill.

We all started with a drink - sangria for me, a glass of Rioja for A., an Alhambra for Y., and milk for the baby. And then we ordered the tapas. We started with the tortilla of the day, which had cheese, spanish chorizo, and caramelized onions. It was really delicious - tortillas can be very dry, like any egg dish, if not made properly. This one was moist, the chorizo was smoky, and it was served with a dollop of really delicious aioli on top - not too strong, but creamy and perfect with the tortilla.

We moved on to the croquetas, which were my favorite tapa of the night. They were perfect - the filling of potatoes, ham, and cheese, was creamy and smooth. They were lightly fried. They melted in your mouth, and were served with more of that great aioli.

We also had the patatas bravas - fried potatoes covered in a spicy tomato sauce. The potatoes were very finely diced, I probably would have liked them bigger. But the sauce was good. The gambas al ajillo - shrimp with olive oil and garlic - were just as I remember them in Spain. The prawns were cooked perfectly and the garlicky oil was great for bread dipping. The pinchos morunos (pork loin skewers in a spicy moorish sauce) were also great. The pork was moist and juicy and they were well-seasoned. Lastly we had the palpos fritos - little fried octopus - which were crispy and delicious with lemon juice squeezed on them.

All in all it was a very good Spanish tapas experience. I've been to a ton of other tapas places in the city, and while I enjoyed them all, this was the most authentic spanish experience I've had in the city. The restaurant was romantic and cozy, not pretentious at all. It was refreshing not to be somewhere where I constantly feel underdressed. The waitstaff was amazing - they immediately appeared with a highchair for the kiddo, along with a baby book which kept him entertained for most of the evening. Best of all, the bill for all of that food and drinks was 80 dollars.

I would definitely head to Alegrias again. In a month or so my brother and his girlfriend, who is Spanish, will be in town, and I will take them there!!! While I've had better food in the city, this is the only restaurant that has made me feel like when I step outside, I will be in a cobble stoned plaza full of spaniards and funny dogs, with some impressive cathedral in the background.

Food - (3.25)Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Experience - (3.5)Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Overall - (3.5)Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

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Me gusta Alegrias!

Emilia (comida es mi vida!)

1 comment:

Patch said...

That sounds awesome. I must go! Alegrias indeed.