Valencia

We tried to keep it traditional when went out to eat in Valencia and managed to find a decent paella on our last day (its harder than you would think to find a decent one in the home of paella!).

Situated near the main market, Tasca el Botijo is a great place to have tapas. We tried two unusual dishes, the brown coloured dish is called Morteruelo and the other is Ajoarriero.

Mercado Central

B is for Burger

Typical Valencian spongy sweet- The Farton!

Some sweet ass lollipops (I see a theme here).

Valencian Orange Liqueur

We decided to try Bodego de la Sarieta for paella. It had some good reviews and also the option to have a paella for one.

So Carrie tried the less traditional Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

I tried Paella Valenciana.

This contained rabbit, chicken and green beans and was very good.

Porto

As a bit of a birthday treat we spent a night in Porto which is only a 2 hour train journey from Vigo. We had some amazing food and lots of port in the two days we spent here.

This bad boy/girl is a Francesinha, a speciality sandwich in Porto.

It varies from place to place but should contain wet cured ham, smoked sausage, fresh sausage and steak. Its then covered in melted cheese and a thick beer and tomato sauce. It tastes as good as it looks and this one was had at Cafe Majestic.

The main aim of this trip was to try as many different ports as possible. All the main port houses are within walking distance of each other although there is a pretty steep hill to climb for some of them. We visited Taylors first and started off with a refreshing white port. We had to neck it because the tour pretty much started as we got our drink!

Taylors largest barrel is absolutely massive!

The tour finishes off in their gardens with a glass of their LBV (late bottled vintage, tastes like vintage port but has less aging in the bottle) and their 10 year old tawny.

Impressive recycling of bottles and barrels.

Next stop was just down the road at Croft

We tried their Pink Port and Tawny.

We had my Birthday dinner at ODE Porthouse. This restaurant was really special, the main emphasis is on home style food, comfort and good service which is purposely slow and the whole experience lasted nearly 4 hours. Every dish is made to order from scratch and is heavily influenced on the owners Grandmothers recipes. We really recommend this place. All the Appetisers are placed in front of you as is the tradition in Portugal. So what we have here is Bread from Bragança & Avintes, Butter from Açores, Olives from Trás-os-Montes with Oregano from Algarve and Olive oils from Trás-os-Montes & Alentejo. This is what we decided to pick at, the other dishes were Soft Unpasteurized Sheep's Milk Cheese from Alentejo and 'Salpicáo de Bisaro' or Smoked Pork Loin from Minho. The waitress got a huge map of Portugal out and explained all of these dishes and where they are sourced in great detail. We could have easily tucked into all of these but showed some restraint as we knew we were going to be eating loads. 

Salad of Lettuce, D.O.P Cheese, Dry Fruits, Dry Seeds and Chestnut Tree Honey

Soup of Fresh Puréed Vegetables

Grilled Free Range Black Pork with Apple, Orange, Carrot and Cabbage

Grilled Free Range Fillet Steak, ODE Porto Reduction, Potato Purée and Fresh Broccoli.

Ignore the glugger, this was an amazing chocolate dessert- 'Sleeping Volcano nearby a Tangerine Glacier' with a birthday candle! Thanks Christopher!

Carrie had a Pudding which was the owners Grandmothers recipe.

The evening was finished off with two glasses of ODE Reserve Tawny Port brought over by the owner and on the house. Everything was fresh, homemade and delicious, really can't recommend this place enough.

I decided I needed to compare Francesinhas, so for lunch on our second day we went to Cafe Pimms and this was actually better. The sauce was a lot richer and the meats inside were tastier.

We made a quick stop at Offley and tried four of their ports- LBV, Ruby Forrester Reserva, Tawny and Tawny 10 Yr.

Sandeman gives the most expensive tour but the least port, the white port was pretty good though.

Up the hill again, this time to Cockburns.

We missed the tour but decided to have something a bit more special for our last glass.

Their 20 yr old Tawny was really good.

Vigo

We spent two weeks in Vigo and were surprised how many good restaurants there were. Its a great city to visit.

We started off with a burger, we are both going to have to check into rehab for burger addiction when this trip is over.

These look better than they tasted unfortunately. They were just missing something. This was Pepita Summum. Burger with Blue Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and Caramelised Onions.

Pepita Reily, Burger, Bacon Cheese, Pickles and Salad. Should have been amazing.

We tried some crepes for lunch at Cre-Cotte. This was called The Mexicana- Beef, Gruyére, Pisto and Hot(ish) Sauce.

This was probably a better choice, The Quesada is Roquefort, Mushrooms, Bechamel, Mozzarella and Gruyére.

A' Curuxa was one of our favourite places for a glass of Albariño and tapas. The Chicory leaves were filled with Creamy Blue Cheese and Walnuts. Free with the drinks.

Another freebie was this cold Tuna Rice Salad dish.

Pollo con Salsa Curri

Another example of a Menu del Dia at La Taberna de Tony which was 3 courses for only 8 euros each including drinks. Tropical Salad with Pineapple and Melon.

Ensaladilla Rusa.

Bacalao Fresco a la Plancha con Patatas al Vapor or Fresh Grilled Cod with Steamed Potatoes.

Chuletitas de Pavo al Ajillo y Plancha con Patatas Fritas or Small Grilled Turkey Chops with Garlic and Chips.

Nothing like an Egg Sandwich with the centre cut out to show off some yolk at Cafeteria Maracaibo

Anniversary dinner was had at La Trastienda del Cuatro and it was amazing! These are Foie Truffles.

Carpaccio de Solomillo de Añojo con Emulsion de Foie y Arzúa Curado or Veal Carpaccio with Foie Emulsion and Arzúa Curado Cheese

The chef kindly split our main courses into two so we could both try. Both dishes were Oxtail based. This was Milhoja Crujiente de Rabo y Piña con Arroz Cremoso de Hongos or Filo Parcel filled with Oxtail and Pineapple with Creamy Wild Mushroom Risotto.

Fusilli Lungo con Rabo de Buey y Boletus al San Simón or Fusilli with Oxtail from San Simón and Wild Mushrooms.

Brownie Casero, Crema de Ruibarbo y Piña con Helado de Mandarina or Chocolate Brownie with Pineapple and Rhubarb Cream and Mandarin Ice Cream. 

We managed to find our favourite Rioja on the list too! San Vicente is really amazing and costs about 45 euros. It should cost more.

A little Chupito to finish off an amazing meal.

The next day our lunch started the same as our dinner the night before ended. We replaced the alcohol with Gazpacho of Red Fruits though.

Variados de Tostas- Tosta de Solomillo y Foie con Piña Caramelizada, Tosta de Queso de Cabra con Mermelada de Tomate y Nueces and Tosta de Arenque Ahumado con Sobre Tomate Concasse y Huevas de Algas. I'll let you guys work out the translations.

Some big mutha Oysters on Oyster Street at Meson O Porton.

We decided to have a Seafood Platter for two and it was as good as it looks. Galicia is famous for its fresh seafood and we can't argue, it was really tasty.

Tarta de Santiago an almond cake from Galicia

The famous Oyster Street.

Another glass of Albariño and a Mixed Meat Platter.

We loved the decor of the bar.

My new best friends found at American Food House. The Dill Pickle flavour is incredible!