Estilo Spanish Tapas Bar and Charcoal Grill @ Publika, KL

Happy Chinese New Year!!! What better way to start off the lunar new year than with a post of one of my favourite restaurants! =D I'm a big fan of Spanish food and when I saw Estilo at Publika, I told myself I had to try it! It's located outside Publika, near Fat Boy's Burger Bar and I love its quirky decor especially its numerous hand painted ceramic plates.

Love their artwork

Assortment of cute plates

My favourite of the lot =)

Complimentary bread

They serve thick toasted bread slices for dipping into their signature creamy, garlicky, buttery aioli. Can't get enough of their bread =P

Spanish Tortilla (RM 9)

The thick omelette layered with potatoes and onions was all right but slightly too starchy even for a potato lover like me.

Patatas Bravas (RM 12)

Deep fried potatoes are absolutely the best! These have fluffy insides and went well with the Turkey Bacon Aioli which came with a dab of spicy sauce.

Chorizo (RM 18)

The paprika chorizos were really flavourful and confit potatoes were absolutely addictive as it's bite sized and slightly crispy on the outside yet mushy on the inside.

Calamares Fritos (RM 16)

These deep fried calamari were extremely crispy and done just right. Seems like they love aioli here, don't they?

Champinones (RM 14)

The sauteed mushrooms were awesome! The creamy sauce with a splash of wine was extremely good and went really well with bread.

Pinchos Morunos (RM 20)

These chargrilled chicken skewers were extremely juicy and tender. The orangey sauce - probably another variation of aioli - was really good too.

Paella Estilo - Large (RM 102)

Estillo's signature paella looks awesome and you can literally taste the rich stock coating the rice grains. They were very generous with the amount of chicken, chorizos and green beans which tasted nothing less than wonderful. The garlic and chilli infused olive oil also added another layer of taste on the paella, somewhat like what bird's eye chillies in soy sauce is to noodles.

Paella Mariscos (RM 58)

The Paella Mariscos has plenty of fresh mussels, fish, squid, clams and prawns. Similar to Paella Estilos, the rice is extremely flavourful. The single slice of lemon however did not seem sufficient for the entire pan.

Chorizo and Pineapple Paella Pan Pizza (RM 18)

I ordered this out of curiosity as I thought it was a Paella PanPizza. Turns out it's a PaellaPan (Normal) Pizza. Its base was the hard yet crispy type and really good. Although pineapples were not evident, its juices definitely seeped into the tomato base and lent it a nice sweet flavour.

I absolutely love the food at Estilo and can't wait to return for more as I only had nibbles of everything =( Surprisingly, it does not serve pork but everything tasted awesome! =D



PawPoints: 5 Paws
Pawket: Tomato


Estilo Spanish Tapas Bar and Charcoal Grill

No. 34, Level G2
Block C5, Publika Solaris Dutamas
Tel: 03 6203 9883
Daily: 11.30am - 11.30pm

El Cerdo @ Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL

El Cerdo has really good weekday set lunches which though not cheap, is really worth it as it comes with a salad and cold appetiser buffet. As evidenced by the abundance of piggy decor in the restaurant, you can be assured of a delicious porky affair. El Cerdo is also a good place to go if you want a romantic ambience as the lighting is so dim, even during lunchtime, that my pictures were all grainy and blur... =.=

   

     

Shooo cuteeee!!!

     

Set Lunch Menu

       

Sniff sniff grunt grunt

    

Salad and Cold Appetizer Buffet

   
If you wish to have only the salad and cold appetizer buffet, it's priced at RM 25.
   
It was really hard to get a decent picture of this due to the dim lighting but clockwise from  bottom left is toasted baguette with the most awesome garlic butter, honey ham salad, roasted pork with tuna sauce,  lomo, salsichon, pig's head jelly and jamon serrano with rock melon cubes.
   
It was my first time tasting jamon serrano and I must say it was quite salty and not at all what I expected >.< My favourites were salsichon, the super sweet rock melon cubes and yummy garlic butter bread.

     

Marinated Pork Shoulder Steak (RM 48)

 
The pork shoulder looked kind of small when it arrived but the 2 pieces given proved to be more than sufficient. Probably also because I already stuffed myself with the appetizer buffet =P
 
The pork shoulder steaks were well marinated and really flavourful. They were nicely grilled and the meat was still moist and tender. A blob of mustard sauce was given to enhance its flavour but it already tasted very good on its own.
 
There was a scattering of finely sliced yellow strips - I couldn't make out what it was but it tasted a little like onion strips... There was a bed of potato salad beneath the shoulder steaks and these tasted better with the mustard sauce.

     

Lovely presentation

      

Whatcha looking at?

   
If you celebrate a birthday at El Cerdo, they'll serve you chocolate cake with a cute mini pig painted with sakura petals. The birthday boy/girl gets to keep the pig but the chocolate cake is actually not free and was part of our order =.= The waiter didn't even tell us that the chocolate cake was actually another friend's order! >.< No brownie points there >. >
      

Mango Tiramisu

 
The mango tiramisu was so-so for me as I felt it was a bit too mushy for my liking. 

    

Spanish Flourless Chocolate Cake

   
The Spanish Flourless Chocolate Cake was really good - moist and chocolatey. The rectangular blob of whipped cream had a hint of lemon but I did not try the grainy stuff on the side - probably molasses or something similar - as the cake was good enough on its own.

     

Ain't I cute?

   
One grouse is that water is not free here...only hot water is. What sort of logic is that? And it was really hard to get the waiters' attention despite the restaurant not being even half full. Looks like they've got to un-dim their lighting...
    

    

PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese
        
El Cerdo

43-45 Changkat Bukit Bintang
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2145 0511

La Gomera Spanish Buffet & Dining @ NEO Damansara, PJ

This Spanish restaurant is a newbie on the scene, located at quite a secluded location in NEO Damansara. They have a buffet line on weekends and weekday dinner buffet but if that's not your glass of sangria, you can also order ala-carte dishes which are quite affordable compared to the likes of La Bodega and El Meson.

Good job!

Artistic terrace

Cordero Chilidro

This Spanish lamb stew was very comforting with a tomato-based gravy. The meat was tender and flavourful. If only we had a basket of bread to mop up the juices...

Gambas Al Ajillo

The grilled prawns with garlic and dried chilli were my favourite as the aromatic marinade was fully absorbed in the grilling process. The prawns were fresh and juicy and the shells did not stick to the flesh <thumbs-up> I'll definitely order this again.

Rabo de Toro

The Spanish oxtail stew was quite similar to the lamb stew but I prefer the latter. However that is not to say the oxtail stew was not nice; the oxtail was tender and flavourful and came with quite a bit of gravy. As with the lamb stew, it was a pity we did not order any bread to soak up the gravy.

Mejillones Vinagreta

Steamed mussels dressed with flavourful vinaigrette - light and refreshing yum! Will order this again too.

Calamares Rellenos

Hmmm the Spanish stuffed squid tasted a bit odd to me but Miss Pariahcetamol liked it a lot. The fresh squid was packed with a potato stuffing which after being stewed for so long, you can expect it to be something like mashed potatoes.

L: Pincho de Temera, R: Alas de Pollo Adeje

The one on the left is skewered beef with sweet tomatoes and onions whereas the one on the right is baked chicken in homemade sauce. The beef skewers were really good - very well marinated beef which were not tough at all. The softened sweet tomatoes and onions complemented the beef well.

I did not manage to try the baked chicken though but they looked good and seeing as they were snatched up in seconds, they couldn't have been dry.

Berenjenas Con Romero

Hmmm the baked eggplant with olive and dried chilli tasted...raw. Not raw as in hard (it was well grilled actually) but raw as in strong vegetable taste. That is probably due to the olive oil I suppose? Anyway not my favourite and it didn't seem too popular with the rest of the party too.

Paella Mariscos

The Signature Seafood Paella was a portion for 2 and boy were they generous with the ingredients! This is totally worth it with fresh seafood and extremely aromatic and fluffy paella rice. Will also order this again when I return.

Chicken Paella

This is a portion for 1 and you can see how big the portion really is. I couldn't taste any difference between this and the Seafood Paella but a few of my friends preferred this so perhaps this is a must-order.

Seafood Paella in Squid Ink

This is a portion for 1 as well. My friends and JS absolutely loved this. They said the squid ink gave the paella an added dimension to the taste. Word of caution though: do not ever, ever order this on a first date. Or one of you will freak out at the thought of kissing black-stained lips (and teeth) =P

Pizza Margarita (RM 12.90)

I had actually ordered Pizza Marinara but the waited mistakenly took the order as Margarita =.= So here's our bland tomato and mozzarella cheese pizza (Miss Pru was the mouse =P). I did not look forward to eating it but surprisingly after a few bites, it was quite yummy. The dough was firm and not crusty nor crispy but it was kind of addictive. Anyway what I meant to say is that it's not a bad option if you're sick of the usual toppings =D

Spaghetti Bebe (RM 17.90)

The Salmon Spaghetti in Creamy White Sauce was nice. Again they were generous with the amount of fresh, cooked salmon as you can see from the picture. The white sauce was creamy but did not feel too rich which is good as I tend to feel jelak after having cream pastas. Overall, it was a good and well balanced white sauce pasta.

In conclusion, this is a place I would definitely return to to try the other dishes. I really do hope they maintain the current standard as it is quite tough to find yummy affordable Spanish eateries. Also as you can see from the first few pictures, there is a Citibank credit card promo for a buy 1, free 1 buffet. The weekend buffet line-up looked good too. Best take advantage of it!

PawPoints: 4 Paws

Pawket: Tomato

http://www.lagomera.com.my/index.html

La Gomera Spanish Buffet & Dining
Block E-LG-1 & 2, NEO Damansara
Jalan PJU 8/1, Damansara Perdana
Tel: 03 7710 0262
Daily

El Meson Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar @ Bangsar, KL

I had never thought of stepping foot into El Meson as it looked quite posh and therefore must be expensive since it is located in Bangsar so I was really happy to find that there was a non-halal breakfast offer on Groupon that I snapped it up before you can say "Err...".

     

El Meson

       

Shop Front

     

Cool artwork

       
Love this artwork displayed on the wall, really brought out the bull in the picture. The wall was also adorned with a grid of block prints which I found really nice.

       

Love the ceramic-tiled table!

       
Some of the tables were made of smooth dark wood whereas others had an inlay of beautiful ceramic tiles with a Spanish feel.

Another sign outside the shop

Yet another array of beautiful ceramic tiles proclaiming the shop's name by the pavement.

     

Drinks Menu

     

Breakfast Menu

      
Aside from the Breakfast like a King meal which we had, the other breakfast options included Huevos Revueltos, Eggs Benedict, Eggs on Toast and Toast with Butter and Preserves.

     

Breakfast like a King with Streaky Bacon and Sunny Side Up (RM 25)

       
This was my Breakfast like a Queen =D It came with two sunny side up eggs, homemade pork sausage, two strips of streaky bacon, a rather flat rectangular hash brown, baked beans, sauteed mushrooms and wonderfully toasted bread with butter on top.
    

• The eggs were fried just nice with still-oozy yolks.
• Streaky bacon strips were really good with crispy fatty bits.
• Homemade pork sausage was quite compact and flavourful and the insides were moist and juicy...reminded me of the awesome pork sausages in UK =D
• The hash brown was good and over here at El Meson, it is not fried to a crisp so it was still a bit wobbly even though it's flat and has been fried. On our 2nd visit, it was exactly like McDonald's crispy version and I was one happy kid =D
• Baked beans were...well, baked beans.
• The sauteed mushrooms were excellent but the portion was absolutely minuscule =.=
• Ooo the toasted bread was absolutely wonderful! The bread was quite compact and was toasted to perfection with crispy, crusty browned edges. It was an awesome accompaniment to the eggs and beans and sausage. If they had given me more slices, I would have gladly polished them off. Even now, I'm still reminiscing about the amazing toasts <drools>

Final verdict...absolutely satisfying! Would definitely return again and again for the affordable yet very yummy breakfast set.
       

Breakfast like a King with Back Bacon and Scrambled Egg (RM 25)

       
JS also had the Breakfast like a King but he ordered scrambled eggs and back bacon instead. As you can see the scrambled eggs were extremely good as they were moist and eggy and yolky. The scrambled eggs are definitely worth ordering.

      

Complimentary bread basket with garlic butter

     
When we returned to El Meson for a separate lunch session, we were served a complimentary bread basket. This time the slices of bread were just warmed through and not as good as the breakfast toasts in my opinion. The melted (liquidy but still solid) butter had a strong garlicky flavour.

     

Mushroom Soup

     
The Mushroom Soup was part of the Executive Set Lunch and was served in a black ceramic bowl which contrasted nicely with its milky colour and the sprinkled grounded black pepper. The soup which was also drizzled with a round of olive oil was extremely creamy, well-blended, thick and smooth. The bread went extremely well with the hot soup.

     

Executive Set Lunch - The Ultimate Pork Burger (RM 35)

       
The Ultimate Pork Burger is definitely the ultimate pork burger. Served with a rather pathetic piece of lettuce and crispy roast potatoes, the juicy pork burger is topped with mushrooms, caramelised onions and bacon. The sesame seed bun was fantastic with butter slathered on one side and toasted - this marks the first time I've finished the whole bun of a gourmet burger.
     
The compact and juicy pork patty topped with melted cheese was definitely the best both JS and I had ever tasted and currently edged out all other gourmet pork burgers we've tried by a huge margin. The bacon pieces on top were good although I prefer mine to be grilled to a crisp.
   
The homemade roast potato cubes were excellent, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Very addictive, I might add.

   

Paella Valenciana (RM 27)

     
As the paella orders in the main menu are usually for 2 people or more, we were surprised to see a paella option in the lunch menu for 1 person hence we ordered it in an instant. The Paella Valenciana consists of short grain Spanish rice slow-cooked with chicken, chorizo, pork and green beans in a hearty and rich chicken stock for approximately half an hour.
    
The paella is really moist and flavourful. My favourite bits were the rice and green beans =P Perhaps I was full from the Ultimate Pork Burger so I didn't find the chicken and chorizo particularly appealing. JS thinks they are good (as he does every dish <whistle>) but I'm sure they are as the chicken is not dry and the chorizo is juicy.
    
I noticed service isn't very good though. The waiters and waitresses somehow can never spot me waving for them and a request for refill of a glass of water takes ages to materialise =.= But all in all, El Meson is really worth a visit. Try to come during lunch as the meals are slightly cheaper or if you're an English breakfast person like me, you definitely have to make a trip here before 11am =)
    
P/S: Wow I just found out the last 4 digits of their telephone number is the same as my car's license plate! Mr El Meson, if you're reading this, can I get a discount please? <big puppydog eyes>
  

PawPoints: 4 Paws

Pawket: Tomato

    
El Meson Spanish Restaurant & Tapas Bar

61-63, Jalan Telawi 3
Bangsar
Tel: 03 2282 8290
Mon - Fri: 11am - 11pm
Sat - Sun: 8am - 11pm