AVFTL: Boqeuria Restaurante + Chocolateria : My Spanish Delight

SM Megamall's Mega Fashion Hall is slowly but surely opening up closed doors. And as a person who loves to explore anything new, I am totally psyched that there are tons of new stores and restaurants to look forward to and one of them is BOQUERIA.

Boqueria is another Agustin baby, Marvin Agustin to be exact. The famous actor turned businessman is surely paving a very good road for himself. He owns the famous Sumo Sam which serves great Japanese food. We would use to go to Shangri-la just to eat there. Talk about going the mile.

As much as I love Japanese food, I am totally happy that he is exploring other cuisines too.

There's already a lot of great Chinese, Japanese and Korean restaurants, but there sure aren't a lot of great Spanish restaurants. Spanish restaurants are famous for their churros, lengua, paella, chorizo, etc.. and Boqueria has it all.

Ethically if you ask me (back then) if I would eat tongue, my answer would be "WHAT KIND OF PERSON EATS TONGUE?! That is just wrong".

I would have never thought that "I" would be the answer.

I was actually tricked into thinking that it was just ordinary meat, I blame the low lights (and my mom). And I totally blame the almost invisible name card!

But looking back, I was glad that I did get to try Lengua, but too bad that I can only stand to eat lengua if it is cooked in gravy or mushroom sauce. I dare not try lengua's cooked in white sauce which is how Boqueria does. So, there..

As you walk into the restaurant, I love that you can see the ingredients that they use in their dishes because it is displayed on open shelves for the world to see. Which is great! Fresh picks to give you the best experience.

Whenever eating at restaurants, I would always ponder upon how they prepare their dishes and how clean they keep their kitchen, don't you? But here, you never have to worry about your food's quality because they have it for the world to see because they have an open kitchen (way cool)! I think I stood a couple of good minutes just staring at the chef's doing their thing.

And they were pretty friendly too!

The staffs prepared my scrumptious meal with all smiles and enthusiasm and it was surely infectious because I left the place with a big grin on my face!

As of now they are only at their SOFT OPENING, but they are totally doing a good job. Excellent service, great food and lovely ambiance, best of all friendly people.

PAELLA VALENCIANA
P378

Now that I am at a fine Spanish restaurant, I think that it is just polite that I order a paella. You know what kind of Spanish restaurant they are with paella alone.

They have 6 paella's to choose from :

Paella Queso Manchego (P398) - Spanish Chorizo and Manchego Cheese
Paella del Carne (P368) - All Meat Paella
Paella Negra (P388) - Squid and Squid Ink Paella
Paella Bogavante (P898) - Lobster Paella
Paella Marinera (P368) - Seafood Paella
Paella Valenciana (P378) - Mixed Seafood and Chicken Paella

We had their PAELLA VALENCIANA (P378). And each paella serving is actually good for just 1 to 2 persons and it takes them about 20-25 minutes of cooking time. But don't fret! They have tons of appetizer for you to choose from while waiting.

I am totally hoping that would make a bigger paella plate where a group can share like a 4-5 person maybe?

And I am totally excited to go back to Boqueria because I want to try their Paella Bogavante. I never knew that lobster could be incorporated into a paella dish. Sounds mouth watering! When will be that day, I wonder..

SALPICAO
P328

Another thing we had was the SALPICAO (P328) and it was very delightful. I loved how strong the garlic tasted without feeling like it was meant to kill a Vampire. The beef was also very tender and the smell was intoxicatingly good!

CHICHARRONES
P198

Their CHICHARRONES (P198) is crispy pork belly with red wine reduction was heart stopping (the good kind) comes with a white wine vinaigrette dip but it is totally optional as the meat itself is already good.

HOT CHOCOLATE
P98

But I can't let this moment pass by. I had to have it.

Chocolate fuels me, but great chocolate captivates me. So it was either churros with chocolate or hot chocolate.

But since I wasn't in the mood for churros, I went ahead with a cup of HOT CHOCOLATE (P98). I think it is a total steal that it's only for P98 since it is made with VALOR chocolates that is fresh from Madrid, Spain!

But hind sight, the experience could have been better with churros..