Friday night, our last night of our week long stay in Madrid, was the night we decided to "do the town," if you will. I'm certain that our idea of this is vastly different from what the majority of the Madrilenos in this area consider to be a night on the town. We definitely wanted to try out the restaurant I had discovered the evening before, so we set out to San Joaquin street. We came upon El Cocinillas. It was very busy and I thought we might not be able to get a table. I went in and spoke to the host, who I later discovered was the owner, Julian Lara. I also learned that he had only opened the restaurant a month ago. I asked about a table for two. He apologized and pointed to the chock-a-block tables full of people enjoying their evening meal. He was very busy. This was around 1045 pm. I was disappointed, but thanked him. I think he saw my disappointment and said, "come back in a half hour."
We felt confident now that we would be able to try out El Cocinillas now, so we walked to a nearby plaza, ordered some drinks and a tapa, sitting outside taking in the scene presented to us this Friday night in the packed plaza: roller skaters, roller bladers, venders, cyclists, partiers, children, parents, teens, young and old all out and about at 11 pm!
Thirty minutes later we were at the small bar at El Cocinillas waiting for a table for two to finish clearing enjoying a delicious Rioja wine. We were soon seated and spoke to Julian about what we should order. He recommended the mero, a fish. Though I speak Spanish, I am unfamiliar with many fish names and sometimes they vary from one Spanish speaking country to another. So I asked him what mero was. Julian speaks English well, but did not know what the English word for mero was. He asked the large party at a table next to us if they knew what the English word for mero was (I later found out that that table included his sister, who did a high school exchange in Louisville, KY and speaks perfect English. Though she did not know how to translate mero). Thus began a buzz of activity as Iphones and Blackberries were broken out, googling "mero."
"Grouper!" Mero is grouper! We love grouper. One of the people at the other table then asked my wife what grouper was. She promptly responded, "mero!" We all had a good laugh, the ice was broken and we quickly settled in as part of the El Cocinillas familia. I ordered the lamb, or cordero. After a fresh and tasty green salad, we were served. The grouper was served in a large bowl with an elliptical edge. The fillets of grouper were skewered with a slice of pumpkin and served on a bed of cous cous. It was as artistic a presentation as I have seen and absolutely delicious. My tender, boneless lamb slices came resting atop a pressed potato cake containing some of the delicious red pimientos so famous in Spain and topped with a sauce that was indescribably piquant. I asked Julian about it. He said it was a secret, but then describing it and basically telling me how it was made. Needless to say, I won't give away his secret, but it was amazing. We lingered over our dinner, taking the time to savor each bite. My wife and I swapped plates briefly, something we always do. After coffee and more conversation with our new friends surrounding our table, we ambled out of El Cocinillas at nearly one am.
It was a perfect last evening in Madrid for us. We agreed that this was, indeed a wonderful discovery for us. I would strongly encourage anyone visiting Madrid to go to El Cocinillas.
No comments:
Post a Comment