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2014-02-21
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I went to Boqueria for my friend’s 30th birthday last week and we had a fantastic time. They had pre-arranged a “Paella party” for our group (8 people), which included this amazing giant paella, a bunch of tapas and sangria. The started us off with pitchers of delicious red sangria – each glass was filled to the brim with fresh fruit — and an assortment of different hams, or as they call it in Spain, jamon. Next came a refreshing kale salad with pomegranate (my favourite), along with a few othe
The started us off with pitchers of delicious red sangria – each glass was filled to the brim with fresh fruit — and an assortment of different hams, or as they call it in Spain, jamon. Next came a refreshing kale salad with pomegranate (my favourite), along with a few other tapas, including croquettes filled with truffles!! They were pretty decedent, but in a good way.
We were blown away when Chef David (who is from Valencia) came out with enormous paella for the group. I mean, it must be in the Guinness book of world records for the largest paella in the world. We were seated in the middle of the dining room and it was quite a show, which was fun. I thought that a paella that big might be lacking in some flavour, but it did not disappoint. Chicken, artichokes, rosemary and were mixed into the perfectly cooked paella rice. I even had seconds. The chef explained that because of the unique cooking process, the rice has a little bit of a bite (like al dente pasta). He also showed us that the best bits of rice were the crispy parts at the bottom of the pan. It’s called socarrat, & I would order a whole plate of that if I could. YUM!
I couldn’t believe that we finished the entire paella, but somehow we managed to and were handsomely rewarded by the manager with bottles of cava before dessert. They open the bottle with a sword! I mean, it doesn’t get any cooler than that. We also got a porron, which is a drinking vessel that you share by pouring into your mouth. Also, really fun!
When it was time for dessert, we were a bit stuffed, but they insisted that we try their signature churros dipped in chocolate and also brought out a special cake for the birthday girl!
I would definitely recommend coming to Boqueria for any birthday or group event. It’s fun, social and reasonably priced considering all the food we got.
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