I could write many pages about Spain, talk about it for hours, tell stories and reminiscent… Spain means various memories, various flavours, various places. Spain means Erasmus, 1 euro sangria, kalimotxo (for those who have never tried it: red wine + coca cola), tortilla de patatas and churros con chocolate on a Sunday morning in the old town of San Sebastian. Spain means the best grilled octopus in a small Galician village Combarro, a delicious pulpo a la gallega in Barcelona and our little breakfasts served on a terrace in the January sun of the Canary Islands… Many images, smells, flavours, sounds. I don’t remember about them on a day to day basis, but places like La Iberica successfully restore my memory and make me wait impatiently for the next stroll on the streets of a Spanish town, looking for a local sangria and baguette with jamon serrano…
let’s start with a classic
La Iberica is located in an ordinary villa on ul. Płowiecka 35 (on the corner with ul. Nowowiśniowa). As it’s quite a journey from Ochota the best thing is to go there on a weekend. It makes you quickly forget about the long journey. Upon entering you can see a huge jamon serrano like in Madrid, Barcelona or Bilbao, and you can hear the Spanish-speaking staff…
jamon speaks for itself
Fresh orange juice, olives para picar – in a word, something to bite on, and San Miguel is a must. We are waiting for starters!
Spain on a plate!
We have pimientos de padron – small green peppers grilled with sea salt, a great taste of Spain, impossible to duplicate at home, pulpo a la gallega (octopus with potatoes, spiced with hot pepper), small sandwiches with jamon serrano and with queso manchego (this is something I also adore, a perfect accompaniment to wine during a girls night) and tortilla de patatas. We have tortilla most frequently because, differently to pimientos de padron or pulpo a la gallega you can make it yourself, it “cleans” the fridge from leftovers and it tastes delicious! The other delicacies are hard to find in Warsaw.
paella is a must have
Seafood paella tastes wonderfully. A portion for three is perfectly filling; you can feed a little one (with shrimps and rice – our little one loves it) and even take some home, in order to bring a taste of Spain to work the next day.
We chose tarta de queso and queso fresco con membrillo for desert. Despite all my love for Spain, I think that their deserts don’t measure up France or Italy.
However, in La Iberica the deserts had surprised us: they were delicious!
queso fresco con membrillo — fresh cheese with quince jelly and strawberry mousse
homemade cheesecake
Both deserts were delicious, I advise you to try queso fresco with quince jelly because it is definitely a more original flavour than a cheesecake and an apple-pie that we’ve all been familiar with since childhood 🙂
La Iberica is an especially good option for a Sunday dinner, also with kids, although they don’t offer any special facilities for children. However, the place is small, intimate and cosy so children can run around freely without disturbing anyone and they are welcomed with a smile…
And if you fall in love with the Spanish cuisine in La Iberica, the next step is… Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao… and many other interesting places in Spain…
And this is how we ate in Barcelona… almost 3 years ago, so it’s time to repeat it… in Madrid, soon! 🙂
a wonderfull pulpo a la gallega, even though served in Catalonia
my number one — calamares fritos
Enjoy! Hasta luego amigos, adios! 🙂
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