Maybe don’t go when they’ve been open less than two weeks expecting them to nail a dish it’s hard to execute consistently?
We’ve been to Spain 3 times and never, not once did we order a paella. Because Spaniards told us from the start that they only eat it when they’re in Valencia so… lol. Just don’t. Or do it at home best you can . Restaurants are just too lazy I guess
Yes… exceptions exist… don’t want it
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Try very ripe summer time field tomato
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Boy do i miss the tomatoes from Coastal Organic. Haven’t had anything quite as good since he left farming
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Seems to be doing well. I went on a Monday and it was pretty busy, we ended up sitting outside. Nothing was outright bad but there was a lack of refinement that kept it from rising above fine.
Nice selection of Spanish wines, bottle prices seemed high but maybe it’s just me. I thought the space was nice good energy in the room. Really wanted to love it but there was nothing really craveable. Hope they do well though.
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I really enjoyed my G&T drinks, and the sangria flight was fun. Of the food, I liked the patatas bravas, the pulpo, and the jamon iberico.
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Teleferic was not very good last night
Never had so much soggy food at once. Pan con Tomate, patatas bravas, croquetas were all soggy. Paella was salty soggy mess too even if though we asked for soccarat. Pulpo was rubbery.
Cocktails were nice though.
Do not see myself coming back to this place.
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I’ve eaten here again since my my initial review, which upon re-reading was critical of some of the food prep, but ended on an optimistic note that most of the issues were kinks that could be worked out. I don’t think the kinks are going to be worked out. The kitchen is not executing at a consistently high level. Some dishes are good, some mediocre, some bad. I do still think they excel when it comes to sauces, but a good sauce can’t save soggy bread or mushy shrimp in a paella. I’m sorry if my optimism led anyone astray. I don’t think i’ll find myself here again, except maybe for a drink. The optimism is gone and now it just makes me sad. I would choose Manchego over Teleferic any day.
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I think socarrat is mythical at this point. We went to one of the best regarded paella restaurants in Valencia (Lavoe) and the paella bottom was only lightly brown in some areas. We went to another paella restaurant in Madrid where the paella had almost no browning at all.
I’ve had good paella, but never great. It’s a mythical dish I no longer chase. When Salt, Oil, Smoke was around, they promoted a Valencia version…nothing special imho. I have consistently had great food at Otono in HP. All the dishes you mention are really well executed at Otono (patatas bravas is done churro style). Great cocktails too!
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Same here regarding good but not great paella.
I’ve had soccarat mostly at events where someone was cooking a whole pan and then serving it all at once.
If a restaurant’s specialty is paella and it doesn’t have soccarat, it’s not a good restaurant.
A question for everyone… Do people from Spain (yes, I know, very broad) chase great paella the way FTC’er do? The reason I ask is b/c I was at a party last weekend, and a fellow party goer (who is from Valencia) said she heard from a friend that that paella at Teleferic was actually good. No, I know nothing about this friend (incl if they are from Spain themselves), but… I dunno, maybe good is good enough?
Nobody chases good food the way FTC’ers do!
That’s why we are here.
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Hah! Yes, of course.
Lemme re-phrase… For those of us (eg., me) who are not super familiar w/ Spanish cuisine and have never been to Spain (and thus never had paella in Spain), have we built up a platonic ideal of paella that is so beyond what you can actually get that it really has become mythical (ie., unobtainable b/c it is does not exist)?
I had paella many yrs ago at a pop up in Century City (was it at Craft?). I thought my rice was a bit dry and a bit burned (and I really like the socarrrat w/ dolsot bibimbap and I like tahdig, and what I got was way beyond that).
So I’m wondering if I should temper my expectations… Just when I’ve had Indian food in the UK (::running and ducking::)…
I love paella. It is my “Desert Island” dish, a food I could literally eat every day, and never tire of it.
Having said that, I wouldn’t exactly say that I “chase” paella. But I do make an effort to try every iteration of paella I encounter.
Paella is meant to be a casual, everyday dish in its homelands. It is also a celebratory food. It was never meant to be “fancy”. One of my top bites I’ve ever had was from a communal Farmer’s Market paella in Arles, in Provence. (Yes, France.) No need to build it up in one’s mind to be something as unattainable as, say the perfect piece of honmaguro akami nigiri lolol…
One of my current best paella experiences in L.A. is from Dos Besos (Pasadena). Just had this last night, as a matter of fact:
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I think all of that is very helpful for setting expectations and providing a context.
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Off topic but do you have suggestions for someone who wants to make paella at home about recipes and techniques? Perhaps some videos about the process? Appreciate it !
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