Sorry folks-this one is out of order chronologically1
On Monday or touring schedule was a bit lighter and at 2:30 p.m. we headed for a business lunch at the beautiful and chic
Hotel Hospes Puerto de Alacala which was delicious with eggs and seafood, quail salad and another steak tartar for Sam.
I think too many steak tartars gave him an upset stomach so he did not join us at Ten con Ten for dinner that evening.
We had been told by a number of people that this restaurant was exquisite, fun, posh, overrated and just so many divergent adjectives we had no idea what to expect.
The setting is elegant and beautiful with very comfortable chairs and I was thrilled to be located next to a glass enclosed wine cellar with Opus One, Diamond Creek, Krug, Dom Perignon 1983 and Petrus 1987.
Fabulous warm Pan de Queso or cheese bread arrived and we perused the menu which to our surprise did not have very high prices although they were more expensive than what we had seen around Madrid.
We arrived at 8 p.m. and of course the place was virtually empty except for the bar but by 930 it was completely full.
The amuse was an oyster with aioli, but when I asked where it came from they did not know. Regular bread arrived with olive oil and a little container of pumpkin cream soup for each of us which turned out to be an amuse as opposed to something we should dip the bread into! Huge briny green olives also arrived.
Will and I decided to split two starters because we have fallen in love with the grilled artichokes but here they are served with spinach, and while the dish was excellent with huge whole artichoke hearts they were more sauteed then grilled and there were only about 3 small leaves of spinach.
Pedrero's Roasted Octopus was delicious as well served over potatoes and tomatoes with aioli.
We ordered a bottle of Clos Nelin 2013 from Priorat which was a divine minerally white blend of Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo, Viognier, Rousanne, PX, Marsanne, Escanyarelles and believe it or not, Pinot Noir!!!
Fish was on the menu for both of us and I had the Pez Limon or Amberjack with clams which was delicious but sadly a bit on the chewy and rare side at the center. Luckily the piece of fish was big enough that I really didn't need to finish it anyway. I think Will made a better decision with his Hake and black truffles as we could smell it as it was being brought into the room. Despite the fact that we had asked them for a 15 minute break between courses it seemed that the main course arrived right after we had our appetizers cleared.
There was no room for dessert and we wanted to get back to Samuel who was in the room having soup.
