Paella. That one single word has caught my ears ever since I first heard of it when my friends mentioned Spanish food. Rice and a crunchy bottom? Yes, please! This is why I love the Chinese rice bowls so much ;) My friends and I decided to meet up so we could see K again before she jets off to Thailand for a volunteer program (I hope you have lots of fun!!). Don't let the small storefront fool you - there is plenty of space with big tables at the back! The air-conditioning was a definite blessing on such a hot day yesterday.
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| Sangria, $19.00/jug |
SANGRIA!! Love the fruitiness of sangria. Though I accidentally ate a piece of orange rind which wasn't so nice... But that would be my own fault :P
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| Patatas bravas, $9.50 |
Normally the sauces are served on top of the deep-fried potatoes, but we asked them to serve it separately to cater for a friend and the waitress was incredibly lovely and said it was no problem at all! What really made this dish awesome was the tomato salsa and garlic mayo. Garlicky goodness...
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| Pumpkin and cheese croquettes |
This was on the specials menu, so I'm not too sure if they have it all the time. So creamy from the melted cheese inside! And incredibly good dipped in the tomato salsa and garlic mayo from the patatas bravas.
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| Chorizo a la sidras, $11.00 |
We were tossing up between the chorizo poached in cider and the grilled chorizo and the waitress recommended the cider as it was popular. Glad we made that choice because the cider made the chorizo sweeter compared to its usual saltiness.
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| Champinones al ajillo, $9.50 |
Mushroomy goodness! And more garlic! Spanish food wouldn't be great for you lovebirds who want to go on dates ;) Unless you both consume lots of garlic! The mushrooms were awesome with the incredibly salty garlic pieces scattered throughout for intense flavour.
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| Tortilla de espinacas, $8.50 |
This particular omelette had spinach and pinenuts. They definitely weren't stingy with the pinenuts which were plentiful and whole inside the omelette :D
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| Tortilla espanola, $8.50 |
What can go wrong with potato and onion? Loved it.
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| Albondigas, $12.00 |
Whoa these beef meatballs were huuuge. No worries, we'll just split them in half. And smother them with lots of almond sauce.
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| Paella valenciana for 2, $50.00 |
This serving of paella for two was massive! Definitely would've been more than enough for one person's main and even then, probably would've been very full from it! The seafood was plentiful and cooked really well, wished there was more chicken to accompany the saffron rice though! I think I'm more of a meat person than seafood.
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| Close-up of paella |
There were some awesome crispy rice parts at the bottom in some areas which I think we were all on the hunt for :P Because who doesn't like crispy rice?
We all left Encasa happy campers. Incredibly delicious food and such friendly service (:
Eat Spanish food with jugs of sangria? Tick!
Encasa
423 Pitt St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
9211 4257
Opening Hours
Lunch
Monday-Friday: 12:00 - 2:30pm
Dinner
Monday-Friday: 5:30-10:00pm
Saturday: 5:30-10:00pm
Hehe I love the crispy bits at the bottom too! When my mother used to make fried rice, I'd get the crispy bottom bits :D
ReplyDeleteI always think it's the best part! It just tasted so good hehe :D
DeleteTake me there next time!
ReplyDeleteYay another paella trip when you're back in Sydney! :D
DeleteI love Spanish Food - all of it, but especially Paella (and Sangria too).
ReplyDeleteHow good are they both? :D To jugs of sangria!
DeleteLove Encasa, the servings are deceptively small, but the food is sooo hearty and filling! Those meatballs are one of my favourite dishes there ;)
ReplyDeleteThe tapas look so small don't they? Definitely filling! Spanish food is amazing :D
DeleteI had my birthday dinner here with a friend. We did one of the banquet menus with most of the tappas and paella. My goodness all the food came out at once and by the 4th or 5th tappas, I was ridiculously full. Despite servings being small, I found them to be sooooo filling. Prices are very decent!
ReplyDeleteOh my I can imagine how full I would have been from a banquet! I was extremely full at the end of our meal here (but a couple of huge jugs of sangria may have contributed in filling up my stomach space :P).
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