Spanish Archives - Foodology

In British Columbia

Empanada Papa: Fresh Empanadas Delivered in Vancouver

December 17, 2018

Empanada Papa serves up hand made empanadas with unique flavours using fresh, high-quality ingredients. Ian, the man behind Empanada Papa delivered a bunch of savoury empanadas to the office with their sauces to give us a taste of these Spanish treats.

You can find them crafting up empanadas at Commissary Connect, which is a shared commercial kitchen between some of Vancouver’s most talented and delicious small businesses.

Empanadas

The size of the empanadas are good and it’s not too small. I found for myself, eating 2 was enough for lunch. If you’re a large eater, then maybe 3. They also sell salads too if you want to balance out your meal.

As all the empanadas look the same from the outside, they stamp one of it with a number and it corresponds to the flavour inside.

They offer a few different savoury varieties:

1. Papa’s Empanada: Maple pulled pork, onions and roasted red bell peppers.

2. Smith Empanada: Shredded beef, carrots, corn and celery with aromatic seasoning.

3. Tarone Empanada: Shredded beef, orange, onions, peas and rice are seasoned with tropical herbs and a spicy kick.

4. Celine Empanada: Sweet honey-maple-cinnamon ham and Jarlsberg cheese.

5. Abuelos Empanada: Authentic Mexican with shredded chicken, mole sauce and grilled corn and zucchini.

7. Chula Empanada: Shredded chicken, with a full bodied flavour of coconut, curry and peanuts with roasted onions.

8. Hank Empanada: Vegan friendly. Peas, beans, and broccoli with sensational seasoning.

All of them were actually really tasty. The exterior was crisp, the dough was thin, so there was a good amount of filling inside.

Of the flavours, our top favourites were Papas, Smith, Chula and Hank. This was mostly because of the combination of flavours and spices.

Sauces

They have two sauces that go with the empanadas – Spicy Tomato and Sweet Mango. The sauces compliment the empanadas very well with it’s depth of flavours. Smoky Tomato was our favourite as it reminded me of a very flavourful marinara that isn’t too sweet. The mango was also good as it add a complimentary tang to the empanadas.

Where to get Empanada Papa

There are a few ways to get a hold of Empanada Papa.

You can get them catered if you have a large order and you can directly contact them with more information about your event or party.

You can get it delivered to you as they work with delivery companies like Foodee, Uber Eats, and Door Dash.

You can order for pick up for their freshly baked or frozen empanadas.

The last option is visiting select supermarkets for them like Spud.ca and Meinhardt.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we really enjoyed the empanadas and it’s not like everyday we have them either. It’s pretty hard to find really good ones around town. It’s great there is another option in Vancouver to get empanadas. If you are craving some empanadas, definitely give them a try.

Website:
https://www.empanadapapa.ca/

In Late Night

Bodega on Main: Spanish Tapas and Drinks

January 24, 2016

Bodega on Main opened in 2015 and is a fresh new take on Vancouver’s Spanish restaurants. La Bodega closed down a few years ago and the son of one of the original partners has opened this restaurant up to bring back a Spanish flair to the restaurant scene.

Bodega on Main is located on Main Street a few blocks from the Skytrain station. I came here after work with my coworkers to celebrate a great 2015.

The Interior

We came right at 5pm, so it wasn’t too busy yet. The restaurant is quite dim, so it really creates a lovely intimate mood inside.

The bar near the back has an old rustic charm, which I thought was pretty awesome.

The menu is nicely folded up, but when you open it, the huge menu will be revealed. If it’s your first time here, it can be quite overwhelming trying to figure out what to order.

Drinks

Sangria Pitcher was on special, so we got 2 pitchers for the table for the 7 of us. It’s essential to grab a few drink when you’re here. Since we came on a Sunday, it was their Sangria special for $20 a pitcher.

There are tons of fruits in the sangria, and it really helped make the sangria refreshing.

The Food

Filetes de Sardinas Ahumadas has soked sea salt cured sardine filets with fig jam on toast. It was a small size tapas but had delicious salty flavours.

Jambon Serrano is cured Spanish ham with olives. You can’t go wrong with cured meats.

Pisto Andaluz has stewed peppers, tomatoes, squash and onions. It was ok, but not that exciting.

Patatas Bravas are dad’s twice fried potatoes with a zesty dressing. Nice sauce on top but I wished it was more crisp and less soft.

Membrillo Y Queso is aged machego cheese and quince jelly.

Champinones are sauteed mixed mushrooms, garlic, sherry, and finely grated aged manchego. You need to order this.

These croquettes that I can’t remember their official name was really good. Delicious aioli to accompany it too.

Grilled Octopus was very delicious and tender. So good! I could have kept eating this.

Tortilla Espanola is a traditional potato omelette that you should order! It’s actually really good.

Pimientos De Padron has blisted peppers and topped with maldon salt. Eating this dish is like playing Russian roulette, you never know which pepper is spicy. Very fun to pay with the whole table and it tastes good too.

Chorizo a la parrilla is grilled spicy pork sausage with some mustard on the side.

Dessert

Churros are served with hot dipping chocolate and a vanilla mascarpone. SO addictive too.

Overall, Bodega on Main is a great place to drink and have small bites with friends. The main focus I felt was that its more of a drinking place and then secondary its the food. Since the menu is so large, its really hard to figure out what to order.

We rate Bodega on Main:

Address:
1014 Main Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.bodegaonmain.ca/

In Calgary

Ox and Angela: Spanish Cuisine in Calgary

November 4, 2015

One restaurant I could not miss was Ox and Angela on our Calgary trip. It was a few block away from our hotel and we love Spanish food. I really wish we had more Spanish restaurants in Vancouver. M and I came on a weekday dinner around 6:30 pm to give their Spanish dishes a try.

The interior is nice and there are 2 dining areas. They serve a Spanish Table set menu with 10 dishes that are shared family style for $45 per person. M and I were tempted to get it but we heard so much about the Paella that we went to go without the set menu.

Mediterranean salad ($13) has local tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted onion and goat feta, crispy chorizo, and mojo verde. A good balance of the crispy chorizo and salad. It wasn’t too over powering at all.

ZFC! ($15) stands for za’atar fried chicken. It is served with harrisa dip and a local herb salad. It was crispy and super delicious.

Paella ($36) served here is a ‘valencian style’ Paella of chicken, spanish chorizo, manilla clams, summer peas, saffron & butter beans made to order using traditional bomba rice & served in an 11” pan. It takes about 35 minutes to cook, so you will need to be patient. So good!

Overall, enjoyable dinner and it was a great place to go to dinner in Calgary. The neighbourhood is pretty hip, so there’s a lot of other places to go have dessert or late night drinks afterwards.

We Rate Ox and Angela:

Address:
528 17th Ave SW, Calgary, AB

Website:
http://oxandangela.com/

In Gastown

The Sardine Can: Spanish Tapas in Gastown

August 18, 2015

The Sardine Can in Gastown serves up Spanish Tapas. It’s a small restaurant, so they really can’t hold that many people here. We came here after work around 5:30 and it didn’t get busy till around 7pm on a weekday.

Their sister restaurants are La Buca, Pied-à-Terre, and The Abbey.

Kalimotxo (calimocho) is a drink mixed with red wine and cola. When the waitress suggested this, we had to give it a try. Apparently its a common drink in Spain. It was pretty good as there is a slight fizz to the drink.

Steamed Clams in White Wine with Chorizo ($7) were good. You should order some bread to go with it to soak up the delicious sauce.

Albondigas ($11) are Meatballs cooked in tomato and Rioja. There are about 5 meatballs and the dish is pretty hot when it arrives on the table.

Champiñones ($8.25) are mushrooms in sherry cream sauce. Very delicious! Make sure you order some bread to eat with this dish.

Pimientos de Padrón ($8.25) are Padron peppers with smoked salt and spiced oil. This is a fun dish to order since one of the peppers are spicy while the other ones are mild. Imagine like a Russian roulette. It’s slightly spicy, but not too much.

Crispy Pork Belly with sherry reduction ($11) the skin of the pork belly was crispy but the layers of meat were tough. If it was a bit more tender, that would be better.

Tostas de sardinas ($8.5) are smoked sardines on toast. These are the only items on the menu with sardines in it. It’s probably the most popular items since why would you come to The Sardine Can and not have sardines?

Overall, it was great to try a Spanish Tapas place in Vancouver. There aren’t too many places like these around. I enjoyed the food and it was a great place to hang out after work.

We Rate Sardine Can:

Address:
26 Powell Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.thesardinecan.ca/

In Four Beakers

Bar Isabel: Canada’s Best New Restaurant

May 4, 2014

My most recent trip to Toronto to visit a few friends over the long weekend was a blast. I got to catch up with old friends and chill. Flo recommended we hit up Bar Isabel as it is one of the hottest restaurants in town. I am not familiar with any restaurants in Toronto, so she made reservations a few weeks in advanced and we got a spot. This experience in Toronto was created in partnership with momondo.

It is highly recommended you have reservations before you come dine here or else you might be out of luck. The open everyday from 6pm – 2am.

They serve up spanish tapas and are best known for their grilled octopus. They have been named Canada’s Best New Restaurant 2013 by Air Canada’s enRoute magazine. Also, they have been named one of Toronto’s top restaurants in 2014 by Huffington Post.

The interior is pretty cool. It’s a bit dark inside and really red. It was really hard to take photos in here. To have a good time, groups of 2 or 4 are best.

Hopeless Mermaid ($16) has Elyx vodka, St.Germain elderflower liquor, fresh lime and grapefruit juice, rich ginger syrup, Angostura bitters, and grapefruit zest.

We Choose Yer Own Adventure ($15 – $20) is great for indecisive people. The server will have a chat with you to see if you like refreshing/light or bold/sturdy drinks. Then, they will choose something for you.

Roundhouse ($16) has Auchentoshan 12yr scotch, Jameson Irish whiskey, Los Arcos amontillado sherry, bad azz orgeat, fresh lime juice, Angostura bitters, and lemon oils.

All the drinks were pretty good! Pricey…but the quality was really good.

Cured Meat Plate ($16) has some pickled vegetables and you can choose 3 types of cured meats from the menu. We chose chorizo, beef carpaccio and coppa.

Bread ($4) was soft in the centre and has the crunchy crust.

Spicy Fried Squid ($8) has crispy tongue and kale on top. The squid is very soft and tender. I found that the tongue and the kale didn’t add anything special to the squid to accentuate the flavours.

Smoked Sweetbreads ($18), has raw tuna, spicy pickled green tomato, and brown butter. If you don’t know what sweetbreads are, it’s not what you think. It’s really glands from an animal. This dish tasted pretty good and the sweetbreads had a chewy spongy texture to them.

Albacore Tuna Tiradito ($14) has asian pear, celery, jalapeño and fried rosemary. It had a good assortment of ingredients that pairs nicely with the tuna.

Whole Sea Bream Ceviche ($26) was pretty awesome! It even comes with the deep-fried fish carcass and on top of that is the ceviche. Very delicious!

1/2 Grilled Octopus ($34) was my favourite part of the meal. The half-size was plenty enough for the 4 of us. Wow, this octopus was tender. When you bite into the tentacles, the suction cups just fall apart in your mouth. Hands down best octopus I’ve ever eaten. It has great flavours! I still think about this dish a few times a week. MmmMmmmm so good!

Leche Frita & Salted Dulce de Leche ($6) this was my favourite dessert. It was really delicious and the sweetness and flavours were nicely put together. It was like a churro.

Salted Dark Chocolate Ensaimada ($7) was ok, not as good as their other 2 desserts. The star here is the salted chocolate ice cream. The ensaimada didn’t add much to the dish.

Basque Cake ($8.50) has Sherry Cream all over it. The cake was moist and the sherry cream was perfect with it. So simple but so good. My other friends thought this was the best dessert.

Overall, the four of us had a good time at Bar Isabel. The food was good and I would definitely come back.

We Rate Bar Isabel:

Address:
797 College St
Toronto ON

Website:
http://barisabel.com/

In Buffet

Mija’s Spanish Restaurant: Buffet At Stanley in Hong Kong

July 25, 2012

Stanley is a beautiful little town on Hong Kong Island. It’s a very popular place amongst locals and tourists. A beautiful historic landmark is Murray House, a Victorian-era building originally built in Central during 1846 as the officers’ quarters of the Murray Barracks. Since then, the building was relocated to Stanley sometime in 2000’s.

Inside Murray House is Mija’s Spanish Restaurant. They have buffet for $288 HK Dollars during lunch. There were other restaurants offering buffets, but this menu looked the best. Mija’s Spanish Restaurant is owned by the King Parrot Group, they own various types of restaurants all over Hong Kong.

You can sit indoors or outdoors. We decided to sit at the patio since it was a lovely day outside. Plus, it over looks the water.

You get a good look at the pier and surrounding areas. Not a bad lunch if you get a great view like this.

The buffet items are inside and you get a good amount of different dishes.

Besides just the buffet item, you can order additional items as well that is included in the buffet price. Plus, each person can choose between oysters or Goose liver.

Oysters were the popular choice at the table. Some others got the Goose Liver and it was pretty good.

Various starters.

Various salads and starters.

Tortilla Espanola with Chorizo and Paella.

Smoked Salmon

There are fresh pineapples, watermelon, honey dew, and strawberries.

There are 3 tiers of desserts in miniature cups. Ranging from Mango mousse to layer mousse with graham crackers.

Various cakes, tarts and profiteroles.

For my first plate, I had to get everything with meat! I was surprised by the variety of seafood and meat.

Round two was a bit of traditional spanish dishes, plus lots of fruit!

For my third plate, it was dessert time! I didn’t indulge in too many desserts since not a lot of them interested me. I got the ones with the mousse textures. Then I got more fruit and prosciutto.

Satay Chicken Skewers can be ordered to your table instead of going up to the tables. This ensures the food is fresh and not lying around of the tables. It tasted pretty good, but a tad dry.

Homemade Meatballs in Tomato Sauce is another item that can be ordered to your table. It tasted ok.

Crispy Fried Calamari was ordered too. The batter was light and delicate. It went well with the lemon and sauce.

Earl Grey Tea with Milk was my drink at the end of the meal. You have your choice of coffee or tea.

During your meal, you can be serenaded by lovely singers and guitar players. I’ve never had this treatment before and it definitely makes your dining experience so much more grand. They knew a lot of old classic songs, plus some newer hits. Randomly we asked if they knew Lady Gaga. They sang ‘Bad Romance’ and it was surprisingly good!

A few hours later, the pier got pretty busy as ships came in to load and unload passengers. It’s a great little area to stroll around after lunch.

You can watch people go fishing and see what they catch. It’s quite fun to watch! Close by, there is also the Stanley Market. You can do a bit of shopping. Don’t forget to visit Jenny Bakery as well because it’s very famous for their cookies. Locals and tourist go crazy after their cookies.

Overall, Mija’s Spanish Restaurant was alight. I love it more for the atmosphere and view rather than the food. The food was decent, but it wasn’t the most amazing buffet I’ve had.

Words of Wisdom: