Turning the corner

No whole fish tonight, so we had a large filet of a local pompano style fish (pez límon) they prepared it tempura battered and it was mighty tasty but light- thank God. . We also had the tuna variado which was again a MUST order dish. Shown as presented and on my plate. We also tried the fried egg with fresh truffles. The egg was excellent, the truffles could have been more flavorful. Overall still a winner and we discussed returning with our cousins and a friend who are visiting in early April.

That was Tuesday night but on Monday we had dinner at the new Red Steak location with Lope and Helena. Food was goo and the new location is easy for us and nicer than the older one- we think the guy who had the old one must have sold out to another steak place in town near the Cathedral and they found a better location to attract more tourists. In any even the service was friendly and the food good so we had a nice dinner. 

I always order the steak au poivre (black pepper sauce is excellent still!) And we had the salad but it was basically twice this size so we could all share it!

(These were photos from the old Red Steak since my phone didn't record the photos I thought I took!)

Proud of our adopted country and its understanding of the realities of remaining an economic and socially viable country. This NYTimes op-ed from our Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez lays out the reasoning behind adopting a more welcoming immigration policy for the good of the entire country.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/opinion/spain-migrants-europe.html?unlocked_article_code=1.LVA.xWLt.Ddtgp-VpsYKn&smid=url-share

Wednesday night a new to us place called Morante. It has potential. I loved my caprese salad (not traditional but really good). Phil really liked his seafood pappardelle - had a nice selection of seafood. My arroz cola de toro was hearty with barely cooked tiny diced carrot adding a crunchy note. To me the dish that will be immediately stricken from future ordering would be the tuna cracklings dish which just tasted like bad over cooked fishy fish. So a lot of other offerings on the menu might bring us back again but the service was bordering on dreadful. Service had already been spotty when we finally got a chance to ask for the check at the usual leisure pace. But we had to ask twice. Then we asked to pay and waited and waited and waited. I finally said to Phil, let's go to the bar and pay. Where we were told in a very abrupt manner to go back to the table. Where we had already been waiting for nearly a half hour after the bill was delivered. So not sure we will be rushing back but the salad WAS excellent.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Sun 🌞🌞. Out to the bench in front of the church of Santa Maria Magdelena on San Pablo just to bask in the sun for a few minutes. Then, on to the Chinese store for a number of small items, then met Phil for coffee and then ran into the guy (jefe) from Manolo Mayo on the way to see Helena. Stopped with her for a few minutes and we were headed back home when we ran into our friend, Lauren Tucker out for some afternoon sun.  Sat down with her for about an hour or so. Wandered home around 6PM. Now relaxing before going out later to Tradevo. Photos of the sun on the church dome! and the Capilla Monserrat across the street from the church. #expatlife #retired.

Then on the same night (Thursday) we headed across town to dine at Tradevo Centro missing is the photo of my very tasty Cazuela of verduras (veggies) - it had mushrooms and green beans and zucchini and thinly slices potatoes and broccoli and cauliflower - and was so yummy I gave thought to ordering a second one- it was small (a side). Otherwise had some of the usual stuff - shrimp tacos and Phil had the roast pork on brioche as an appetizer. then he had pork cheeks for his main. 

Our sushi restaurant from school days is still in the rotation. Not as much variety as Hiyoki but it's a family operation with a casual warm vibe. So three years later we still walk across town to go there. Unexpectedly cold on Friday night (not in the forecast as of yesterday) so we had miso soup and their excellent gyoza and some shrimp tempura to start and then sashimi, a couple of rolls and a few nigiri choices. Will still return. Despite turnover in staff, the folks who work there are friendly and at least one speaks English (which no one did when we first went here.) We later learned from a classmate, who had learned Spanish as a teenager when living in  Chile, that they were immigrants from Peru. The restaurant is not in an area that gets tourists, so they had a solid customer base with neighborhood people.  I think we were the only ones in the place (24 seats and a brisk carry-out business) who weren't native Spanish speakers. Galentines Day found only one unoccupied four top. Might have mentioned that the lady who used to run this place with her husband told Phil that the husband was still running this. She now runs her own restaurant - the 10 second rice noodles place - that I enjoyed very much. It's really only five minutes walk from home. And isn't this a great immigrant story? Now they run two restaurants and when their kids get older they probably will open more businesses. 

Saturday night - Valentine's Day we decided to stay home and eat left overs which have been piling up all week LOL- Here are the dishes we are having - 

along with leftover steak from Red steak (no photo) and some zucchini and salad - so we won't be starving. Tomorrow is bagel day and then we will meet Becky and Sue for dinner as usual on Sunday night. Stay tuned.