La Cava

For Paul’s Birthday Dinner we went to La Cava. It’s attached to a tapas bar called La Pepita. It was one of the best meals we’ve yet to have on this trip. We began the meal with some prosecco and beer.

For our first tapas we got guacamole and ceviche. I think the reason the guacamole tasted so much better than usual was due to us not having had avocados and guacamole since leaving the states. The tortillas were perfectly baked and crispy. The guacamole was creamy and spritzed with lime juice and sprinkled with purple cabbage shreds, tomatoes and spices.

The ceviche was some of the best I’ve ever had. Fish with sweet potato puree, corn nuts (yes – those), onions, parsley, baby corn, white beans and plenty of citrus juice.

The next round was:

Jamón ibérico, acorn fed cured Spanish ham. The color was a rich dark red and the fat of the ham melted like BUTTER IN MY MOUTH. You could also taste the subtle flavor of the nutty acorns.

Canned mussels and fresh sliced oranges. This dish was Spanish canned mussels and their spicy orange oil sitting in a bowl with fresh sliced juicy oranges. I’d never imagine the combinations of these ingredients would taste so good! The seafood, orange, and spicy oil flavors all in one bite was divinely unexpected.

Our last dish was beef carpaccio dressed in capers, some mustard sauce, and a blanket of grated parmesan. This meat was so tender and the flavors didn’t compete with each other either (but I thought they would).

We rolled out of the restaurant and went to cap off the night at a gin-only cocktail bar nearby.