La Bodega

We often take La Bodega for granted, but it's nonetheless a lively, comfortable hangout.

Green & black olives marinated in paprika & almonds. There seemed to be enough sodium in this to keep a Chinese restaurant kitchen humming all night long. But such is the nature of olives, so we can't really complain.

Piquillo peppers stuffed with minced beef in creamy carrot sauce. Gunky & salty, but its saving grace was its melt-in-the-mouth, comfort foodish texture.

Tortilla Espanola. Soft, chunky slices of Spanish omelet, stuffed with potatoes & onions. Tasted freshly made, despite being served cold (as it should be).

Salpicon de mariscos (seafood salad). An OK mix of prawns, squid & mussels.

Gazpacho rojo de Sevilla (Andalusian soup with tomatoes, red peppers, onion, croutons, garlic, cayenne pepper & sherry vinegar). Alas, we still can't fathom the charms of cold soup (maybe we would on a sweltering afternoon).

The paella was a savory pleasure, brimming with crab meat and peas.

Black olive pate. Also very salty, but perfectly fine for dipping with bread.

Fideau, a recipe from Gandia in eastern Spain. Angel hair pasta cooked as a paella with baby octopus, chicken & green peas. Extremely tomatoey.

Fish Hoek Pinotage Rose (South Africa).

My Skin (42Below feijoa, melon liquor, cucumber, lime, monin lavender syrup) & 42 Soto (42Below passion fruit, ponche soto, passion fruit puree, soda).