Juicy Pan of Paella at La Tapa Del Mundo in Madrid
It is amazing how the internet has made independent travel so much easier. Back then I would have probably bought a travel guide to plan my trip but it is so much easier now with online tools and travel websites to consult. Take for example my journey to the hostel where I will be staying at. From the Madrid Barajas Airport, I found out I needed to make my way from line 8 and transfer to line 10 at the Nuevos Ministerios station, which is the terminal station of line 8. I took line 10 all the way to Tribunal station where I transferred to line 1 which seems to be the oldest line judging by the look of the stations and the trains. All of these information I already had a look at even before I came here so I would not be confused by looking at such a complicated map of the metro as Madrid has. This help ease me in to travel mode as I would have less stuff to worry about.
I Need to Get Used to Eating These
I got off at the Tirso de Molina station which was closest to the hostel where I was staying at. Prior to this, I already had a street view look of the metro area and where the hostel would be. Despite this, I still went in the wrong direction until I realized it and turned back, it was easy to find the hostel from there. After a quick check in I head out for a very late dinner. It was already past 10 in the evening and I was starving. I was hoping there would still be some restaurants open, there was one and it was near the hostel called La Tapa del Mundo Cafe. By then the restaurant was already empty it seems that the would have already closed for the day if I didn’t walk in. I probably would have gone in if I wasn’t starving so I would give them the benefit of the doubt.
I scanned the menu and immediately the paella caught my eye. It was obviously a menu for tourists as paella is probably one of the most well known Spanish dishes in the world. I am no stranger to paella having had it numerous times growing up. It would be interesting to see how it is actually made here where it was invented. Okay, it was not invented here but somewhere else in Spain, specifically Valencia. Hopefully, this would give me a good idea of how original it actually is. The staff of the restaurant spoke little English. I had to dig very, very deep in to my small bag of Spanish words to communicate what I wanted. Looking at the signs in the shop and in the menu, I could understand a significant amount of stuff to know what it was all about. Somehow I managed to communicate what I wanted and got my paella. Fine, how hard could it have been to point to the paella? However, it is not just about pointing and grunting. Some words were exchanged and I was surprised to be able to get my point across.
Empty Restaurant Just Before Closing Time in Madrid
Paella is a rice dish, it is usually yellow in color because of saffron with stuff added to it sometimes seafood, and other times chicken and the like. It is cooked in a large flat pan, called, surprise, a paella pan. This was the first paella I had in a long, long while and I was looking forward to having an original paella in Spain. The paella I got was soupier than I expected it to be. Another surprise was that the rice was not thoroughly cooked giving the rice some crunch. Additionally, it was more bland than I wanted my paella to be. I still finished the plate and later I was introduced to the cook who happened to be Filipino and he told me that the rice was indeed meant to be not thoroughly cooked, unlike in Asia. The paella I know was a bit drier but tastier because of the more liberal use of tomatoes. Needless to say, I preferred that one better. However, my Filipino cook told me that this was the way it was meant to be. Food in Europe tends to be more bland than in Asia. However, if I prefer a more flavorful and less crunchy version, I should be able to tell the cook to prepare it the way I want.
I found out that he has been in Madrid for only three years. He already has a good command of Spanish since it was easy enough to pick up because the Filipino language has a lot of Spanish words mixed in. It also helped that his workplace, meaning the restaurant, was 100% Spanish speaking, so it seems immersion was the best strategy to learn a new language. I also learned that there were a lot of Filipinos living in Madrid and Spain for that matter, a lot were working in the food and beverage industry though. I think it also helps because the Filipinos would generally have a better command of English than the Spanish speaking staff. I think I would have an enjoyable time here in Spain, I am looking forward to the next few days. Although my paella was not as nice as I wanted it to be, the staff more than made up for this by their friendliness, not just the Filipino cook but also the Spanish guys. I’m sure this place would be more fun if it weren’t so late in the night.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/LaTapaDelMundoCafe.kmz} zoom=19]