Tuesday 17 May 2016

A Postcard a day - Tuesday 17 May 2016 - T for Tuesday Photo heavy restaurant visit

Good Morning Friends!

Today I'm going to invite you all to come with me to our favorite restaurant. Normally my DH and I eat out every Tuesday, but this week, we went yesterday (Monday), so I have all the photos ready to show you around.

Here is the restaurant. It is called the Venta Vicario:
It is 25 minutes drive away from our village, but all the food is home cooked and it's a family run business: mum, two daughters and a son plus some kitchen staff. We know them all personally because we have been coming there for years.


As this is T for Tuesday, (I'm going to link up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard at Altered Booklover) here are the drinks we had. Fancy a nice glass of Spanish wine?


In our part of the world, every alcoholic drink comes with a free snack. It's pot luck as to what you get. Ours this time was bread with salmon and some olives. Very nice!

The 'special' today was the lentil soup, our favorite:

They also bring a salad that is included in the price.
Here am I enjoying my lentil soup:

Behind me is a display cabinet with gifts and also the bread department. They sell loaves of bread, baked locally.

Then we ordered our main courses. I had grilled white fish (bacalao), DH had ham, egg and chips and our friend had grilled meat (can't remember what).
I don't like chips, so I always get tomatoes with mine. Then my desert was 'flan de cafe', which is home made and coffee flavoured.
I bet your mouth is watering....
Looking around the restaurant, you can see we are seated in the bar part. (the dining room is at the back but we prefer to sit in the bar). There is always lots going on. Here is the display of hams (jamones) and wineskins. You can also see on the left some chorizo sausage and lots of sweets (candies as the Americans say and caramelos in Spanish).
Finally we have our coffees (I have mine with a dash of anis liquor). We were celebrating a friend's birthday so there were pastries that we had brought ourselves.

After we finished our deserts we get a complimentary drink, a sort of Baileys liquor. Yummy.
All this lovely food and drink (except the pastries) is included in the price. They call it 'Menu del Dia' or menu of the day. It is only valid at lunch time (from 2 pm until about 4pm, the Spaniards eat late) as that is the main meal of the day for most people. Most restaurants have a menu del Dia, except the very posh places possibly. I've been to some really classy places, and when we asked, we could have a menu del dia. Obviously the choice of dishes is limited but usually of a very good quality as they have this to attract customers. And it is good for the tourist industry too. We are happy as it means that although we are pensioners, we can afford to eat out every week. 

I hope you have enjoyed our restaurant excursion.

Happy T-Day all!

Blessings,

Lisca

18 comments:

  1. Oh my, I am drooling over the keyboard, you have made me sooooo hungry. Looks like a wonderful place to go for a lunch. Thanks for sharing all those wonderful, and very tempting photos. Have a good week and happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  2. This is an interesting post. I can see why you go to that restaurant. The food looks yummy, and it is interesting to see what a typical meal is. Spanish ham is definitely the most delicious. I have had it. Looks like a fun celebration. Happy T Day!

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  3. you bet right: my mouth IS watering!
    lisca, i edited my post clearifying about the streusel (yes, crumbles) and the curd (Quark actually in german). you must try it - it is fast and easy. and with all my recipes sugar is already reduced (i normally take one quarter less than in the recipes i come across), so it is not too sweet.
    have a great week!

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  4. I want that flan. I've made flan several times, but it takes so long and is SO expensive to make (my recipe calls for 8 eggs and two cans of sweetened condensed milk), I only make it about once every five years or so. It certainly looks like what I make, though.

    You have explained these daily specials before, but we don't get those here. It's wonderful that you have this alternative and can afford to eat out once a week. Those olives sure look good. I have a thing for olives.

    Thanks for sharing your wine, your coffee, and your after coffee liquor with us for T this Tuesday. It was quite a lovely meal, and I love lentil soup, so it made me happy and hungry, too.

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  5. I forgot to mention that I've made hummus, too. The garbanzos (some call them chickpeas) are easy to find and cook, but pine nuts and tahini are only sold in specialty shops where I live.

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    1. I make mine without tahini or pine nuts. I add garlic and lemon juice and salt and whatever flavour I want it to be, like chillies or jalapenos.

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  6. Oh what I wouldn't give for a feast like this-wow!! That coffee flan looks divine-an though I typically am not a dessert person I would devour this:):)Love the photo of you enjoying your soup! Thanks for sharing your fabulous meal with us. Happy T day!

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  7. I can see why you go to this restaurant frequently...looks amazing and yummy! charming place...that homemade bread alone is enough beautiful décor for me. Perhaps we Americans should switch to having a larger meal at lunch instead of in the evening...? thanks for sharing your beverages with us on T day!!♥

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  8. so nice to see your smiling face, too! ;)

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  9. What a wonderful feast you had.
    I would have been happy with soup and dessert and that yummy appetizer with your drink oh my! That flan looks gorgeous...it all looks good. I haven't had breakfast yet ;-)
    Happy T Day Lisca. It was nice of you to share your dinner.
    oxo
    p.s. thank you for your visit to my castle post ... we thought the man on the bike with his bread was novel for a couple of reasons ... here in suburbia just outside of Washington, D.C. so many people drive cars ... some brave and hearty souls bike to work but traffic can be crazy ... so seeing him on his bike with the fresh bread and his jacket too took us back to simpler times (my husband shops for all kinds of groceries all the time too and enjoys a good baguette)

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  10. I am so pleased we have just eaten our meal. Your food looks so delicious a veritable feast. It must be super having such a great place to eat close by.
    Happy Tuesday
    Yvonne

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  11. OH wow..such yummy looking food. lucky I had my breakfast already. :)

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  12. Wow!that's so much yummy food you are sharing with us today. I would love to taste that coffee flavored dessert. We love coffee cakes and icecream here.
    Happy T day
    Susan

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  13. YUMMOS! Was drooling far before the dessert was served. Lovely to share in part of your weekly routine, too:) THank you for sharing:):)

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  14. Oh my Lisca! Your meal looks delicious and I would be willing to send my sugar levels above the limit for that coffee dessert! We always go for the menu du jour when we visit France and have never been disappointed! It's good to know that it the same in Spain as I still have Barcelona and Madrid on my list of places to visit! Hugs, Chrisx

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  15. You are right, Lisca, you had my mouth watering all right! What a great meal, and a lovely place too. I am not surprised you are regular customers there. It all looks delicious. Thank you for your lovely comment - you are so right about the level of anguish cause by our kitties - Phoebe is my baby and I feel particularly protective of her since she developed epilepsy, and I just wanted to hug her to bits when she turned up this morning! I had such a bad night thinking the worst. Thank you for your kind words about my health, too - it's really great to be so much better, and that the hospital is so pleased with my progress.

    Happy WOYWW,
    Shoshi #49

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  16. First of all, thanks so much for your lovely words.They mean a lot to me.I am enjoying teaching children. They are so special.It's been an adorable experience. We have menu del dia here too. Your post is mouth-watering indeed!Love it!Everything look so delicious!

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  17. First of all, thanks so much for your lovely words.They mean a lot to me.I am enjoying teaching children. They are so special.It's been an adorable experience. We have menu del dia here too. Your post is mouth-watering indeed!Love it!Everything look so delicious!

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