When nothing else will do

any or all who know me know that I love the food of spain, have lived in spain, speak spanish and generally bang on about spain all the time. and for good reason. the food is FAB. the wine is fab too. and of course there is BARCA. need i say more. so every now and then when its been a while since i've visited spain i like to check out some restaurants or tapas bars where i live. mel and i live in london now so there is a good choice. and we have checked a few of them out. my favourite to date in london city is garcia and sons and la plaza which are both in portobello road london. and there have been others like the salt yard and dehesa which are good yes but not really the kinda spain im looking for. just a bit too over the top for me and way too expensive. however, a recent saving grace has been our discovery of la bota in crouch end. mel and i have checked it out a couple of times to sample the beer from galicia and try a tapa or two. last nite i was totally craving spanish food so we decided to go for a longer visit and sample some more food and wine. they have a set menu but they also have a rotating specials board which i would recommend if you pay them a visit. seems like most things on the specials board are good, fresh and made with passion. they have an excellent wine choice too and the service is flawless. if you are in crouch end please pay them a visit. the prices are very reasonable too. they are also huge barcelona fans and regularly show la liga on tv screen.

the noble stroud green n4

I walked to finsbury park station last nite with our good friend julia (fellow crouch end inhabitant) in order to meet mel off the train. julia and mel wanted to talk shop so a drinkie was in order somewhere. there is a glut of places on crouch hill and on the way to and from finsbury park and crouch end and i had already eyed the noble. anywhere that advertises tapas will always catch my eye coz im an expert on tapas dammit and i like to give my two penith worth!!! so we went to the noble which can be found at 29 Crouch Hill Stroud Green N4 4AP tel.: 02072817444. First impressions were good. Blackboards advertising mains and wines that they sold by the glass and bottle. We seated ourselves and found the tapa/starter menu there. Prices seemed pretty hefty for a tapa but my hunch was that the portions would be bigger than yer average size spanish when in spain tapa. We ordered 5 which included white bait, duck pate, mezze meat selection, lime and chilli squid and crispy duck. Julia ordered a bottle of the house red which was decent enough and glugged quickly. We didnt have to wait too long for our food and we were suitably impressed. Mel particularly liked the whitebait and duck pate and I was well impressed with the squid and crispy duck. Our only complaint was that on two of the plates the side garnish rocket salad came without some kind of dressing. no excuse there really. Julia mentioned that she had been to this place before and liked it but she reckoned the owner/staff were a little bit too cool for school. When i went up to pay the bill I have to say I got the same impression. Still its a place i would definately check out again. I like the feel of the place; it has great art on the walls which is for sale and the tile effect wallpaper is fab!! They sell deuchars on tap and they have a good reputation for their cocktails. Further research of the place has led me to believe its a bit of a celeb hangout too. Ooooh wonder who ill see next?! (apologies for lack of food pics but i just a got a new phone and im still getting used to the camera on it!!)

Moroccan teapot and glasses

morroccan teapot and glasses
Originally uploaded by silamuta

I took this shot to primarily to test out my homemade light tent. The teapot and glasses were bought in Granada which is in the south of spain. A lot of Moroccans live in Granada and some of them open up little tea shops which are a great place to hang out. Granada is home to some of the most wonderful tapas you could ever imagine. Perhaps one of the most wonderful aspects of them are that they are free. By free I mean in the sense that you visit a tapa bar, get yourself a drink and wait for your free food to arrive. The choice varies from bar to bar. Some will specialise in a particular tapa. If you stay in the same bar evey time you order a drink the tapa will change. Great way to pass the time when youre a student and dont have a lot of money to spend on food. The cuisine of the south of Spain is one of our most favourites and we will be posting further evidence of that in the future. So stay tuned!