Dehesa

I've just had a lovely evening in London with my gorgeous friend Fi. We studied Spanish together so more often than not, we spend our evenings together over tapas and a decent bottle of red wine. Tonight was no exception, and it was a good excuse to try one of the many fantastic places recommended by Bellaphon, one of my favourite food blogs. It was a tough choice between Iberica and Dehesa, but as we found ourselves close to Oxford Circus, the latter won and we were not disappointed. For more detailed reviews and some delicious looking photos please read here and here (another favourite blog and I share Ms Marmite Lover's love of Spanish sherry).

We enjoyed pimientos de padron (Fi got all the hot ones), hand carved Teruel ham, the trio of manchego with membrillo, croquetas de jamon and boquerones. All these were washed down with the house red which at 15 quid a bottle, was remarkable value. For dessert, we shared the most delicious rice pudding made using calasparra rice, with submerged roast figs, topped with vanilla ice cream (and a cheeky glass of moscatel each). We had to move tables after eating as our table had a reservation but the staff were so lovely about it, this wasn't a problem. Thinking they would have to move us again, they gave us a glass of wine on the house, only to then not move us!

I have been really looking forward to coming here and can't wait to visit again. Thank you Bellaphon, you give good restaurant review.

p.s. photos are taken from Dehesa's website, I'm not brave enough to take my camera to restaurants yet!

Granada

One of the reasons for my recent absence was a holiday to Spain. Many moons ago, I studied Spanish and had the joy of living in Granada in Andalucia for a year. During this time, I became fluent in Spanish, learnt to dance Sevillanas, visited the Alhambra on a weekly basis, became obsessed with Spanish food (tapas in particular), developed more than a liking for vino tinto and hence managed to put on at least a stone before coming home to finish my degree...

I hadn't been back to Granada for over 20 years and unfortunately had no imminent plans to, until getting back in touch with a very good friend last year. Suzanne and I went to the same school and college, and spent our year in Granada together. After nearly 20 years of no contact, last year we discovered we were living in the same town and a revisit to Granada was one of the first things we talked about. The holiday became a bit of a road trip, with six like-minded girls driving from Alicante to Granada for Las Cruces festival. Suzanne had booked fantastic apartments in the Albaicin, which had views of the Alhambra and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. We revisited old haunts, enjoyed delicious tapas, danced Sevillanas and decided that we would definitely be back next year.

Whilst much of the juerga* has moved on, one of the mainstays of the traditional tapas scene is the Trastienda. This gorgeous place looks like typical shop from the front, with legs of ham hanging in front of the counter, but behind the scenes is the cutest little tapas bar with tiled walls and low tables. Nice to see it mentioned here. We enjoyed a plate of aged pata negra ham and some tapas, before heading here for lunch, where we had traditional Moroccan food and the most beautiful views of the Alhambra.

Photos to follow...

* juerga = the good time (ir de juerga = to go out on the town)