Telephone: (02) 9264 1010
Trading hours: Open 7 days for lunch & dinner
Website: http://www.casaasturiana.com.au/index1.htm
I was craving something tomato-based and paella after being inspired on a cooking show. Spanish food at the Spanish Quarter is never a cheap meal, but you have to balance quality with price.
We literally stumbled in here after looking in at all the other restaurants on Liverpool St, and this seemed the busiest. We sat down at about 5:30pm so it was still quiet, but 6:30pm going on 7pm it was getting quite packed out. Gave us some faith in our decision.
For those who have never had Spanish food, typically most people will go and have “tapas” which are like entree-sized portions of food. You order several of them to fill yourself up. And at the same time try a variety of things. Great for a night out – instead of having a big meal which will put you to sleep, tapas is a great way to start the evening of drinking.
Below: PATATAS BRAVAS - Fried cubed potatoes topped with spicy tomato salsa. Served hot. This was possibly my favourite. The tomato salsa and potato just melted in your mouth with an exciting tang.
Below: CHORIZO A LA PLANCHA - Barbecued Spanish pork & paprika sausage. This was one of the better chorizo’s I’ve had, but I am generally not a fan due to them being overly salty. I think the paprika and just-right cooking time made it much more acceptable this time around. My fellow foodie loved it.
Below: Chicken and Seafood Paella – Cooking any sort of stewed rice requires time and patience, hence most people will leave it up to the experts. Paella is basically a risotto, but uses different rice and possibly more herbs. Being indecisive and greedy meant we chose the chicken mixed with seafood paella – not a good idea. The rice was very inconsistent – too soft on the outer edges (like, actually sloppy) and too hard in the middle of the dish. I also felt like I could taste the bottom of Sydney harbour so that was a bit offputting.
Stick to the tapas at Casa Asturiana because they were spot on and had us licking our lips...
