The Adventure of the Yellow Place
Bill
€
Per Person
One course, drink and coffee €7.90 Gratis: a chickpea thing,
Location
Access
One very small step from the street.
La Encomienda's Website
In Short
Hopes? Will HK's reputation for recommendation remain?
Reality? She shoots, she scores.
First Impressions? It's a nicely designed space. There's a big pebble on the table.
A USP? Colossal quantities of filling food.
The food in three words? Tasty, hearty, well-made.
Can they get the staff? A couple on call, terrifically alert.
Service with a smile? Really helpful, suggesting options.
Would you take your friends? It's a definite.
Rating for dating? Not the comfiest seating, but the tone probably suits,
Tip? Small one, yes.
Change one thing? Time and space for dessert.
Going back? Quite probably.
Compare & Contrast
V Malasaña at Pizzi and Dixie.
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
To La Encomienda, which I'd spotted in one of the Lavapies streets I can never remember the name of. I recommended it to HK on the menu alone. Result? Tick. It passed with flying colours. So how would I get on?
There are metal swivelly chairs and lots of wood. There are filament bulbs (Drink!) on ropes. There are beautiful, abraided pebbles on tables. If the peerless Andy Goldsworthy did restaurants they'd look a bit like this. It's warm and welcoming, HK pointed out there's a happy hubbub but you can't overhear conversations. And you can forget photoshop. The lighting gives everything a mustard filter. Pictures look like you took them in 1889:
Top trending ingredient of the day? The rice had a garnish. Not just black garlic. Oh, no. Not just veganaise. Ooh no. We're talking black garlic veganaise. Rarely do we skirt so close to the foaming edge of food fashion. Surfing a wave of post-hipster creativity. We felt like bottlenose dolphins breasting the breakers off the skeleton coast.
Look, the point is veganaise tastes great, but has an utterly ridiculous name, sitting up and begging for dodgy double-entendres.
Double entendres? We're not going to give you one. It's not big and it's not clever. Let's carry on.
With the mains done, we had to pass on. And, groaning a tad having done the mains, promptly had to pass on any dessert. so were very glad when our friendly server suggested coffee as plan B. And no, no Plan B jokes as we've not a clue who that is. So, a very pretty double-cup on a plate arrangement soon appeared - the other plates having vanished almost unnoticed, but not before I'd done my last bit of lentil mopping.
The bill came within seconds of our asking and at way under €20, we had no complaints. We were full. A return visit to see if the a la carte matches the daily menu is required.
Bill
€
Per Person
One course, drink and coffee €7.90 Gratis: a chickpea thing,
Location
Access
One very small step from the street.
La Encomienda's Website
In Short
Hopes? Will HK's reputation for recommendation remain?
Reality? She shoots, she scores.
First Impressions? It's a nicely designed space. There's a big pebble on the table.
A USP? Colossal quantities of filling food.
The food in three words? Tasty, hearty, well-made.
Can they get the staff? A couple on call, terrifically alert.
Service with a smile? Really helpful, suggesting options.
Would you take your friends? It's a definite.
Rating for dating? Not the comfiest seating, but the tone probably suits,
Tip? Small one, yes.
Change one thing? Time and space for dessert.
Going back? Quite probably.
Compare & Contrast
V Malasaña at Pizzi and Dixie.
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
To La Encomienda, which I'd spotted in one of the Lavapies streets I can never remember the name of. I recommended it to HK on the menu alone. Result? Tick. It passed with flying colours. So how would I get on?
There are metal swivelly chairs and lots of wood. There are filament bulbs (Drink!) on ropes. There are beautiful, abraided pebbles on tables. If the peerless Andy Goldsworthy did restaurants they'd look a bit like this. It's warm and welcoming, HK pointed out there's a happy hubbub but you can't overhear conversations. And you can forget photoshop. The lighting gives everything a mustard filter. Pictures look like you took them in 1889:
Never before had I been in a restaurant visually mimicking Coldplay's tribute to custard. Anyway, good news about that pebble. Our one-course lunch menu didn't turn out rocky. Before I could say "Stone me!", a chickpea puree aperitif arrived. I should have asked, but I think there were black mustard seeds in there, That and a couple of cañas got us going, as a large basket of multi-coloured bread slices appeared.
Shall we talk mains? Of course! A Lentil stew and Baked rice/Arroz al horno were the whole(food) story, today. Arriving in double quick time, the significance of the flint stone table decorations was clear. These were dishes big enough to delight a disconsolate diplodocus. They were colossal. Our theory? Taking the cost of meat per kilo from the menu meant portions to make a sauropod smile.
The lentil stew was not far off a chilli sin carne, only needing some extra paprika to really make it zing. It went down a treat, with the bread doing moppage duty. Even sharing a megadollop left me with so much I was worrying for my dinner. The rice, while not quite as intensely tasty, was just as generously sized. A passing hadrosaur would surely have had the lot.What do you call a Tyrannasaurus Rex with toothache?Anthing you like. She got squalched by a metorite 65 million years ago. On a Tuesday.
Top trending ingredient of the day? The rice had a garnish. Not just black garlic. Oh, no. Not just veganaise. Ooh no. We're talking black garlic veganaise. Rarely do we skirt so close to the foaming edge of food fashion. Surfing a wave of post-hipster creativity. We felt like bottlenose dolphins breasting the breakers off the skeleton coast.
Look, the point is veganaise tastes great, but has an utterly ridiculous name, sitting up and begging for dodgy double-entendres.
Oh, Mr Ottolenghi, only your fresh veganaise will satisfy me! More! More!No, no, no, no, no. Mamma mia, mamma mia.
Double entendres? We're not going to give you one. It's not big and it's not clever. Let's carry on.
With the mains done, we had to pass on. And, groaning a tad having done the mains, promptly had to pass on any dessert. so were very glad when our friendly server suggested coffee as plan B. And no, no Plan B jokes as we've not a clue who that is. So, a very pretty double-cup on a plate arrangement soon appeared - the other plates having vanished almost unnoticed, but not before I'd done my last bit of lentil mopping.
The bill came within seconds of our asking and at way under €20, we had no complaints. We were full. A return visit to see if the a la carte matches the daily menu is required.