Jamonera
105 South 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
I
left my former job in the beginning of October last year, and I really didn’t get to say
goodbye to most of the people I worked with because my former boss is a prick. One of the few people there I
enjoyed working for stayed in touch with me after I left, and we decided to go
out to dinner one night together with his wife and my fiancé. He had always
mentioned wanting to come with us sometime because he knew about the blog and
he admired our ability to be willing to try pretty much anything. We decided to
head to Jamonera, a Spanish tapas and wine bar that had taken the place of the
former Indian restaurant Bindi. Marcie Turney and Valarie Safran own most of
that block, and Jamonera is one of their jewels.
When
we were seated and started looking at the menu, we decided to order a bunch of
different things and share them all as a table. Each of us picked two dishes to
share and then one dessert as well. They had a pretty spectacular wine list as
well, so I ordered a glass of red wine to go with the meal as well.
The
first few items were the squash croquettes, the papa frita, mushroom coca and
the bacon wrapped dates. I was very interested to try the croquettes because I
had only had croquettes with meat and cheese before. Unfortunately for me they
were a little bland. I don’t know if it was just because of the nature of the squash
or if it was underseasoned, but it was a little flavorless. It was cooked
perfectly though. The patatas bravas and the mushroom coca were my two favorite
dishes of the night. The papa frita, a traditional Spanish snack of fried
potatoes, were incredible crunchy. They had an amazingly creamy aioli on top
and they were packed with bold flavor from the seasoning they were coated in.
The mushroom coca was outstanding. It was a Spanish version of a flatbread,
topped with tons of mushrooms and a rich and delicious pesto sauce made from
arugula. The dates I was a little surprised by. I wasn’t sure that I was going
to like them because they were stuffed with blue cheese, but I really enjoyed
them. The bacon wrapped around the exterior was crispy and smoky, so it really
contrasted well with the earthy tones of the blue cheese. I love dates, and
this was one of the best preparations of them I have ever had.
Our
next wave of food was the pork tenderloin with pumpkin stuffing, the camarones
al ajillo, and the seafood paella. The pork tenderloin was cooked perfectly,
but it really wasn’t a standout for me. I loved the pumpkin stuffing though. It
was absolutely outstanding. The flavor of the camarones al ajillo was very
good, but I was a little disappointed in its execution. The shrimp were much
bigger than I have experienced in the past with this dish, and I didn’t like
them as much. They were a lot tougher than I expected them to be. I prefer the
smaller shrimp because they usually tend to be so much more tender. That being
said, I loved the spicy sauce and the bread they were served with. The seafood
paella was a homerun. The combination of rich seafood flavor that comes through
the whole dish is incredible. You get mussels and clams and shrimp and
calamari, all dispersed throughout the saffron rice. My favorite bites were the
ones that included the crispy bits of burnt rice from the bottom of the pan.
They added a bit of texture to the dish that otherwise wasn’t there.
By
this point I think we were all pretty packed full of food. However, we decided
to order dessert as well. We doubled up on one dessert because I wasn’t sure
what our plan was, but we pretty much decided to split everything again. We all
tried the hazelnut crema catalana, the chocolate cake with olive oil ice cream
and the bunuelos. The hazelnut crema was delicious. It was a like a Spanish
version of a mousse, but with a bruleed top that added a layer of crunch to the
light and fluffy mousse. The hazelnut flavor was very prominent. The most
interesting dessert was definitely the chocolate cake and olive oil ice cream.
I had no idea what to expect from the olive oil ice cream, but it was
interesting and pretty tasty. I could definitely taste the olive oil flavor,
but it also had flavor reminiscent of vanilla ice cream. It went really well
with the incredibly rich chocolate cake. It had little chocolate crispies in
and around it that made each bite of the cake spectacular. The bunuelos were
really yummy as well. The little fried doughballs were doused in cinnamon sugar
and served with a dulce de leche caramel sauce. They were warm and light, the
perfect little after dinner snack, especially when they were dunked into the
rich caramel sauce.
All
in all it was an excellent meal and worthy of four pints. It’s always
great to get out to dinner with someone new, and especially when you take them
for something they haven’t experienced before or don’t know much about it. We
had a great time, and the food really was excellent. This is definitely becoming one of
my favorite restaurant spots in the city, and Marcie Turney and Valarie Safran
do it up right. Check this place out, I promise you will love it! Cheers!
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