irony for dinner

My foodie friends and I were recently hoping for another gustatory night like this. We tried out this new Spanish restaurant at the Fort.

It's SOP for us to take photos of our food. Each of us is always armed with a camera and we (almost always) don't dig in until we've all (yes, until all 5 of us have) taken a photo of the dish. Problem is, the food wasn't very pretty to look at. The plating was okay, but the colors just weren't vibrant enough. Here's how the Seafood Paella and Catalan Sausages really looked.

But here's how my friend K's Instagram beautifully captured those dishes (plus the Croquetas with Spanish chorizo).

Love how Instragram turned unattractive food attractive!

The drinks really looked lovely though - Instagram or otherwise.

Don't you just love how pretty (and unique) the presentation is for each drink? In the jar is Beer Jared Margarita. The copper mug contains their Calamansi and Cherry Blossom Moscow Mule (homemade ginger vodka, calamansi, cherry blossom flowers, ginger beer). This one tasted really good! The one in the glass (with the chorizo on the side) was their Sangria Blanca (this was okay; I still prefer Cova's Summery Peach White Wine Sangria though). The wine (am more of a white or dessert wine kind of person, but that red wine in the top photo) was quite good though. I would go back for the drinks but not necessarily for the food...

Don't get me wrong. The food wasn't bad. It was just unremarkable. It didn't help that the Spanish owners were chatty. You see, when someone with that accent suggests a dish, your expectations tend to go up. To be honest, I could barely make out what he was saying, but it sounded really Spanish and thus, very delish. I mean, the way he said "chorizo" was so different, so authentic, that I was expecting extraordinary chorizo. But the chorizo and the rest of the food were quite ordinary.

I'd go back though. More for the drinks than the food (but I'd give their food another chance since they were still on soft opening when we were there). I'd go back... as long as my foodie buddies are with me. Because even on that night, as K so aptly put it, those four fun friends of mine made a forgettable dinner memorable.

Photos are my own and my friend K's instagram photos.