Tia Pol w/ the roomies!...

Good friday brunch @ tia pol :) i def don't eat around in my 'hood enough. Still haven't gone to Co. for pizza or John Dory for...welsh rarebit!! :P and other things of course hehe...

Got TONS of food--this is the fried artichoke hearts salad, the spanish version of bruschetta but with 3 diff spreads with saffron on it! ^_^, ham and bacalao croquetas, rice and squid ink--I'll show how you just how inky!!...later...hehe...but first...a preview of some tasty strangeness--Emily got the chorizo and chocolate crostini (essentially)...

The sangria @ Tia Pol is the best I've had in the city--nay in ...EVER. not boston, no CA, not...wherever else I've been granted I've still not been to spain :P or any major latin-american country. :P Really enjoyed the tortilla española! essenetially a fritatta with potatoes, onions, red peppers and some sauce that's just like the one in the patatas bravas....

I hafta say...the patatas bravas with paprika and whatever the heck that sauce was was friggin' TASTAAAAAAY. yes. tastay. not y. ay. Sop it up after everything is gone and ask for more bread tasty. The squid ink sauce was even super duper extra tasty compared to that!

Back to the...CHORIZO & CHOCOLATE!!!... :)

MY MY MY. super rich salty but then rich smooth bittersweet--and then...bread! I thought it was gonna be like a thin smear on the toast but NOoooOoo...whole slather! glorious! I like I like...(I couldn't decide to tempt you with that decadent shot in the beginning or the middle of the entry but...obviously one of them won out :P Pretty salty tho!! luv me some chorizo...

...but still not as much as the squid ink.. YUM. See?!?! inky inky goodness!! :D

MMMMmmm...so I still haven't posted my Rome foods or the rest of Sicily or Cinque Terre..or...Florence foods actually but we ate all the regional foods and I did get a chance to try the squid ink pasta in Palermo and it was so fresh and AWESOME b/c it was so gritty and inky and savory. However...this...squid ink, much smoother in texture and flavor (waaaay less fishy) and just...strangely enough, exponentially better (but maybe by like..squared instead of cubed :P). hehehehe

...One more of the patatas bravas "leftover" sauce :P. Cuz honestly--what's a tran post without half eaten, smeared, gloppy food that makes you wanna wipe it off with some napkins--or lick it off the screen?! Aioli...it's aioli..with...whatever in it they won't list on the website. BOO!! :)

Kión ceviche + tapas...

Kim visited, and dragged James out too with us for a lovely little meal @ Kión on E. 6th st and Ave A: Japanese peruvian food...the pictures speak for themselves....:) Had sushi too last time but that was "meh" in comparison to everything else...^_^

Sweet plaintains on the side (w/ what I think was condensed milk drippings!)

Spicy mussels (wok roasted mussels with rocoto peppers, ginger, cilantro and miso broth)

Pulpito (Chilled baby octopus and sautéed octopus tentacles with panca miso garlic ginger sauce)

Toro con palta (tuna belly tartar with avocado mousse, capers and ceviche lime juice)

James got pan seared filet mignon with a fried quail egg topping and blue potato gnocchi side...

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

Lychee martini...

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Ceviche mixto (shrimp, squid, snapper and fluke marinated in a spicy ceviche sauce)

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Anticuchos and Papa a la Huancaina (grilled miso-panca marinated beef, shrimp and chicken skewers served with blue potatoes with feta cheese sauce and kalamata aioli)

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Also had the Pepino Rollo (cucumber rolls stuffed with salmon, avocado and seared tuna in a sesame Yuzu sauce) but last time I had the Salmon Yuzu and that was much better--same concept ish with the cucumber hollowed and filled with salmon and yuzu sauce.

here's another shot of the lychee martini but just artsy fartsy sepia :)

From ...food/ACTUALLY...