Cherry Blossoms and a trip to the Ironbound

Saturday I met up with Brian and Ron at Newark's Penn Station. From there it was a short trip on the light rail and we were transported to the middle of Branch Brook Park's Cherry Blossom Festival. The trees were in full bloom and the park was filled with parents putting their kids up in trees and snapping away on their digital cameras. We didn't have any children to toss up on a branch so we just walked around the park a bit and enjoyed the beauty.

All that nature can sure work up an appetite, so to top off the day, we headed back into Newark's Ironbound section where we met up with Brian's family for some Portuguese food at Casa Vasca. After starting the meal off right with quite a few pitchers of sangria, we were seated and the feast began!

We started with a few appetizers: clams in green sauce, mushrooms in garlic, grilled chorizo and the mother of all apps, shrimp in garlic sauce. This was my first time having the mushrooms and they were garlicky and delicious with just enough parsley to elevate the dish.

And I have extolled the virtues of shrimp and garlic in previous posts and this (double) order certainly did not disappoint. After I scooped up as much shrimp as I possibly could without being rude and gluttonous to my dining companions, I sopped up most of the remaining red garlicky oil with a few crusty Portuguese rolls!

For my main course, I couldn't resist my all-time favorite, Paella Marinera. Of course there were many stand out dishes on the menu (including roast suckling pig and octopus) but I knew that if I didn't go for the paella I'd feel I was missing out. The paella was delicious and it was like seeing an old friend...lots of nostalgia for the good times we've shared over previous meals.

The lobster was chewy and the clams, mussels and shrimp were fresh. Fresh tomatoes and peas rounded out the dish and there was plenty to share. Spanish and Portuguese restaurants in the city just cannot come close to what you can find in Newark... and having been to both Spain and Portugal, I can tell you it's pretty authentic too!

For dessert, I tried the orange cake which was two thin slices of pound cake soaked in an orange and sugar sauce. Moist and quite tasty, especially with my 10 year old ruby port!

As the three of us ran to make our train back, I almost forgot my tin of leftovers and ran back into the restaurant in a frenzy to retrieve my package. I think you can guess what's for dinner tonight!

Spain Day 5 - Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla!

RRR and I headed out for a jog along the river. It was quite pleasant (although the eating and drinking is already taking its toll) and on the way back we ran through a beautiful park and shockingly saw a few packs of runners which has been a rarity for us on past European vacations.

We headed out to the Real Alcazar, a palace where you could get lost for hours, and we actually did! We lost Mitch and Sharpie for awhile while they wandered off to the gardens and we meandered through the Alcazar's many rooms. Eventually we met up outside and watched as a parade of brides and grooms went into the Alcazar for wedding photos.

And no stop is complete without a church visit for Ms. Foodie, so we went to the Catedral de Sevilla, a beautiful old church very reminiscent of Notre Dame. There is a sepulchre that is believed to hold the remains of Christopher Columbus. We also walked up over thirty ramps to reach the top of the Giralda Bell Tower and took some great scenic pictures of the beautiful city.

After our descent, we wandered for some time in our usual hunt for the best possible option for lunch and wound up at Restaurante La Cueva in the Barrio Santa Cruz.

Mitch and Sharpie had a nice gazpacho with a little more kick and cucumbers than the previous gazpacho's and we ordered our first mixed paella.

The rice was swollen with the broth and saffron of the dish and there were bits of calamari, baby clams, large butter beans, large juicy mussels (w/barnacles intact), pork, beef and prawns with the heads on.

The prawns proved to be a bit more work than anything and the shell to shrimp meat ratio wasn't nearly what you would think it would be after all that peeling! And let's not talk about my saffron-stained fingers! I was surprised how juicy the mussels were - normally mussels that large would be more chewy and flavorless than anything. Overall, it was quite good and I kept digging into the large pan for more paella treasures well after I was satisfied.

I followed up this lovely lunch with some menta helado (that's my fancy way of saying mint ice cream) from a place down the street from the restaurant and after a futile attempt to see the inside of Sevilla's famed bullring, RRR and I went back to the hotel for a siesta.

We ventured out for dinner and after our usual aimless walking and debate we wound up back at the Barrio Santa Cruz and sat down for dinner at El 3 de Oro. Our waiter was quite friendly and we started our meal with some aged manchego, green olives and caper berries, and bacalo frito (cod fritters). I particularly enjoyed the cod; it was light, crispy and clean and came with a salsa of sorts (tomato, onion, pepper and octopus in a bit of oil) which was a nice compliment to the meaty fish.

Sharpie, Mike and I split a rice dish with Iberian pork. It was more of a stew and was heavy on the saffron and (I believe) cumin. The pork was quite tender and we didn't stop until we reached the bottom of the bowl!

NOTE: I believe this dish (pictured on right) was from this meal but for the life of me I can't remember for the life of me who ordered this and what it was! Maybe of one my travel companions can comment below.

We finished off with some churros dipped in a cup of hot chocolate. The chocolate wasn't rich enough and the churros didn't have much to offer in the way of flavor but of course that didn't stop me from dipping away.

We attempted to see some flamenco post-dinner but we were a bit too tired and a bit too late to get our money's worth so we headed off to bed since it is up early tomorrow to hit the road to Ronda!