A fabulous Steak Tartare in Berlin...

It was kind of a storm outside and three days of "crazy tourism", we were looking for a place for dinner near the hotel. It was when using the 11870.com tripadvisor.com we found Entrecote ...

A fairly wide space, with nice decoration and a familiar touch where we ended up dining by candlelight ...

For dinner we shared two of the specialities  As it might be expected, the dish that gives name to the restaurant, an Entrecote, which was simply delicious and a delicious Steak tartare that almost dethroned the Restaurant Jota 5 in Madrid at the top of our preferences.

To finish an aspect which gathers both the best and worst of the restaurant: the service. The attention could not be better, in fact the process of preparing the Steak Tartare was all a fabulous and fun experience that made us feel at home from a friend as we prepared this wonderful treasure... on the other hand if you are looking for a quick meal, it's better to look for another place, because you will have to be patient...

Although it was a bit expensive for a restaurant in Berlin, it worths every euro you pay for the meal...

Where?
www.entrecote.de
Schützenstrasse 5
10117 Berlin - Mitte
Tel: +49 030/20 16 54 96 030
e-mail: info@entrecote.de

How much?
Approx. 40 € (with wine and dessert)

Alcaravea Lounge Bar

Opened in 2011, the restaurant Alcaravea Gaztambide was the last to open of three restaurants with the same name. With a modern but at the same casual environment this restaurant was thought to earn its space and become one of today's gastronomic references Madrid.

Personally I define Alcaravea as a space designed to share ... Following the precious advices of the staff we decided to share several dishes, which proved to be a very wise decision as it were very well served

The other keyword that would utilize diversity of flavours and dishes, the extensive list in and out of the menu... We started with a symphony of mushrooms and a variety of croquettes and as "second", as they say here in Spain fresh squid grilled and duck magret with onion confit and cranberry sauce.

Don't leave without trying the grilled octopus, I tried it last weekend and it is just fabulous...

As the starter of mushrooms, this experience ran as if it was a perfect symphony ... good food, good atmosphere and good service, the three essential elements of a meal!

Have you tried? Give us your opinion ...

Where?

C/ Gaztambide 56

Madrid, Spain

+34 91 283 80 05

How much?

Aprox. 30€/pax.

Lamb leg with rosemary

This is one of my favourite dishes for a winter Sunday lunch at home... 

The main secret of this dish is that I always cook it with milk-fed lamb, that is called lechazo here in Spain. As it is very small, I usually buy half of a lamb, ( which weights about 2,5 kg), and by this way I can get it cheaper that if I bought only the shoulder or the chops separately. You may find the chops recipe also here in the blog.

If you manage to get it, the main tip for this dish is not to exaggerate in seasoning, otherwise you will loose all the meat flavour...

Marinade the shoulder or the leg, with a mix of rosemary, 1 clove of garlic, 1 spoon of extra virgin olive oil and half lemon for about one hour. Meanwhile cut the potatoes in slices and marinade it with meat stock and sweet pepper and preheat the oven to 220ºC

Put it all together, add white wine and take it to the oven till it is cooked. 

(this one took a bit more than one hour).

Hope you enjoy it!

A calendar to remember...

One of the main dilemmas and perhaps the biggest disadvantage of digital photography is that most of the photos that we shoot, often end up "forgotten" in memory of a hard disk or any CD or DVD ...

The more we advance in the digital era, the greater is the trend to replace the photo albums for digital photo frames, (which we frequently forget to watch)  or simply by folders often lost and disorganized in our computer.

A picture is worth a thousand words, the magic of photography allows us to travel back in time, remembering experiences, emotions, friends ... And let us imagine, flying, dreaming of places we've never been or may never be ...

Today I share with you an idea that started 8 years ago and just as Steve Jobs would say it's about "connecting the dots". The idea began with a calendar with family photos. Then, connecting the dots picture, past and experiences the question arose Why not to remember my previous trips and share it? And by this way was born the calendar that I invite you to visit, done with photos I shot in my trips...

For Anchovies Lovers...

Anchovies are usually one of those "victims" of love or hate relations, honestly  I do not know anyone who likes more or less ... simply loves or hates the taste...

For lovers, I leave you three very quick and easy starters that I love:

 As I always say, the success of your meal will always depend on the quality of raw material used, this time I used a magnificent Extra Virgin Olive oil Arbequino, La Almazara Canjáyar of the region of Almería, Spain, and the excellent Cantabrian anchovies ...

To serve, cover the un anchovies with olive oil and serve it with crushed tomatoes with bit of extra virgin olive oil and toasted bread.

The other two starters are two variants of the attached photo:

- Pour a bit of honey on the bread, put the anchovies and a little cheese on top, take a few seconds to grill and serve immediately.

Finally I think that the most surprising:

- Pour a strand of condensed milk over the bread, put the anchovies and a little olive oil on top, take a few seconds to grill and serve immediately ...

A temple for cheese lovers

Poncelet Cheese Bar is a project of the owners of the best cheese shop in Madrid.

The restaurant has a very pleasant layout of two different areas. Near the entrance an area to taste an appetizer or to have a glass of wine while you wait for a table to dinner.

We went to have an after-work glass of wine , to celebrate the birthday of a friend. From the extensive list of cheeses, we asked a selection of cheeses of the day (15.66 €), which was delicious ...

Despite the fact that the star in every dish on the menu is of course the cheese, don't worry if you are with someone that does not like or doesn't tolerate cheese, because many of the dishes have anti-cheese version, a kind of cocktail without alcohol.

Just a small note to the fact that is not possible to buy cheese at the restaurant, an opportunity to give an additional service...

Where?

Calle José Abascal, 61

Metro - Gregorio Marañon

28003 Madrid

Espanha

Tel: +34 913 992 550

Happy New year!

After a small vacations I must begin thanking to you all who supported and followed the beginning of this blog!
Soon I hope to publish "Thematic weeks", where the idea is to dedicate a week to a region, country or culture with the aspects that are the scope of this blog: recipes, restaurants and tourism ...

The other key objective is the interactivity, to ask you to send your recipes, restaurants suggestions or travel plans, essential help for the development and implementation of thematic weeks!

A 2013 full of Food, Drink & The Good Life!
fdgoodlife@gmail.com