Comida española

Ahh the grilled ibérico pork that really melts in your mouth! Grilled to a glistening golden brown, I thought it looked really oily at first, but I know I would eat this again when I tasted it. A good fat-to-meat ratio and lightly marinated with spices, just imagine the warm fatty portions slowing melting, so tender. Paired with fried patatas and aioli.

A classic Spanish tapas, Garlic Prawns, was lip-smacking. Generous portion of fresh juicy prawns in a mix of garlic, chili, olive oil, parsley, sherry. It’s one of those dishes that you should not hesitate to mop up every single drop of umami-packed gravy with the toasted bread sticks.

Enter @tapasclubsg and you would feel as if you are in a tapas bar in Spain. Rustic interior, especially the iron balconies with rose bushes, reminded me immediately of those in Seville. Researching on Tapas Club led me to its owner, Chef Jose Alonso, executive chef of Binomio, the only place that I would go to for an authentic paella.

Adorably looking like mini egg benedicts were the chorizo and quail egg on toast, prepared using dry-cured sausage from Ibérico pork on crispy Chapata bread. The bite-sized morsels were just right on the tastebuds, savoury without overwhelmingly salty.

An intriguing tapas that I have never came across and never thought that it would appear in a Spanish restaurant. Based on appearance, it looked like an eggplant tempura in a Japanese dish instead.

For someone who doesn’t like eggplant at all, this eggplant chips with honey was an impresser. Thinly sliced and a crispy batter deep fried, the eggplant itself practically didn’t have much taste nor overly-soft texture. Dipping it in the thick honey made a delicious snack, and you could actually tell the quality of honey given as it has a natural sweetness without being diluted.

We gave this a different take by dipping it in the sauce of the other tapas, garlic prawns, resulting in a savory tapas which was quite delicious too!

Considered a national dish or particularly a Valencian dish, a paella requires tremendous effort and time to be cooked, much less a tasty one. Although good paellas are hard to come by in Singapore, this one from Tapas Club makes a decent and value-for-money paella.

Defined grains cooked in chicken stock, apart from being flavorful, a subtle floral earthiness was delivered by the underlying saffron mixed in the rice. Enjoyed the combination of having chicken and chorizo, that has its fermented smokiness contributing to the overall savoriness. The herbaceous parsley sauce gave the dish a good balance in flavour.