Like Tapas? Try Julian Serrano at the Aria in Las Vegas!

Back in July, I wrote about a local Tapas restaurant near where my husband and I live that we really enjoyed.

But last week, when my husband and I took a quick jaunt to Las Vegas, we ate at an AMAZING Tapas restaurant in the Aria hotel called Julian Serrano. It was seriously delicious and it is a good thing we live across the country from there or else we'd be gaining a ton of weight monthly eating there.

Of course we looked at the menu before heading to Las Vegas, and we already knew we would be ordering my husbands favorite, which is Brava Potatoes, served with a spicy tomato and alioli sauce. It was a tad TOO spicy for me but overall, delicious. My husband loved it.


We also knew we'd be getting one of my favorites, traditional Spanish chicken croquetas. There was a béchamel in the croquettes which made them very creamy. They were delicious, but the ones I had while in Barcelona weren't AS creamy and I liked them a little better that way. I am such a croquette fan.


The last thing we KNEW we would order when at the restaurant was another favorite we discovered in Spain - Churros!! MMM...Churros served with chocolate. The difference between the thick chocolate that came with these churros and the chocolate served in Spain, is that this restaurant makes it spicy by adding paprika into the chocolate. It's not super spicy, or else I wouldn't be able to eat it, but it is enough to warm your throat. It was pretty good! Also, the churros here came lightly dusted with powdered sugar while the churros in Spain are coated with regular thick sugar granules. But we ate every last bite of these churros.


We needed some other plates to share, so we also ordered a Spanish tortilla, which was potatoes, eggs and onions. It was more potato to me than any egg, so I asked my husband to try it since he hates eggs and of course he swore it was too eggy (it wasn't). And once again, this plate did not disappoint.


We also ordered the Grilled Angus Flat Iron Steak which came with Japanese eggplant and a mushroom demi. This was one of our favorites for the night - seriously tasty and probably one of our top recommendations for anyone going to eat here.


Lastly, in addition to our churros with dessert, we ordered something called buñuelos, which are Spanish doughnuts served with a butterscotch caramel sauce. OMG, these were SO FRIGGIN GOOD. We were so full, but managed to also eat every single little doughnut. We couldn't leave anything behind!


The website suggests reservations, which we made, but we were seeing a 7:00 p.m. show at the Aria so we were eating relatively early. We made reservations for 5:30 p.m., but showed up around 5:00 p.m. on a Tuesday night and they had plenty of room to accommodate us early. More people came the longer we sat there and we left a little after 6:00 p.m. The service was fantastic - our waitress was so nice and answered every question we had and even just talked to us about our experiences in Spain a little.

The prices are definitely reasonable, unless you are like the table of 4 business colleagues next to us who ordered at least 20 or more plates. I kid you not...my husband and I were cracking up because they just kept bringing out more and more. And at one point, one man asked "is this it?" and another man answered, "let's get through this and then we'll see!" HAHAH! I wish I was dining on their tab!

It's also casual since the restaurant is open to the lobby of the hotel. We had a fantastic time and hope that whenever we get back to Las Vegas, it is still there. In the meantime, anyone in the Vegas area or visiting the city of sin should definitely check it out.

Enjoy!

Time for Tapas at Salumi Wine and Tapas Bar!

My husband and I are a huge tapas fan. HUGE. And for those of you like my dad and father-in-law, who have no idea what tapas are, here is your answer: Tapas are snacks, canapés or finger food that originated in Spain.

From About.com, here is some more information: Tapas can be practically anything from a chunk of tuna, cocktail onion and an olive skewered on a long toothpick, to piping hot meat with sauce served in a miniature clay dish - or anything in between. Tapas are served day in and day out in every bar and café in Spain. So much a part of the culture and social scene that the Spanish people invented the verb tapear which means to go and eat tapas!

The idea is to order a bunch of small plates and either share or eat them yourself.

My first taste of tapas was in 2001 when I was spending the summer abroad in London for school and my friend Michelle and I took a weekend jaunt to Barcelona. We went to a tapas bar to eat and I remember having chicken croquettes and they were delicious!! Then when I lived in Washington DC after graduating from college, my friends and I would occasionally eat at Jaleo. SOOOOO good!!

My husband fell in love with tapas when we were on our honeymoon and spent a few days in Barcelona before heading out on a European cruise. So, we have been searching for a place that does tapas with little luck in our area. But then when food shopping one day, we happened to see Salumi across the street! We were very excited to try it.

We went last Friday, and the place is very quaint - small. Only about 10 tables and a bar with some seating. The menu is not very big at all...in fact, there wasn't much I would eat on the menu, so I do wish they expand it at some point. I miss the chicken croquettes! The menu isn't really all Spanish either, there is a great deal of Italian influence, as well as French and Californian influence. But it will do!

Despite being small and having a limited menu, the food was excellent. We loved everything we tasted. Well, we got the braised short ribs and my husband really liked them, to me, they were okay. I think I just don't like braised short ribs. But they were cooked extremely well and were very tender!

We didn't try any of the wine, so I can't comment on that. But we started off with a simple bread basket, which was delicious. The bread was so soft and flavorful.


Then we had "patatas bravas," sliced roasted potatoes with spicy red sauce and cumin aioli. Yum! Along with the potatoes, we had the mini panini, which had sweet sopressata, Italian cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes. Also delicious!!


After that we sampled the short ribs (well-marbled beef stewed in smoked paprika and saffron with chorizo and white beans) and polenta with truffled mushrooms in creamy Madeira sauce. (My phone ate the picture of these things, grrr). These two dishes were good, and well prepared, but the least favorites between my husband and myself. I liked the polenta more than he did and vice versa on the short ribs. The first two dishes we both loved immensely.

We left well-fed and stuffed with plans to return at some point. I wouldn't say it is really expensive, but it is not super cheap. Definitely in the middle, and of course, the more you order, the more your bill goes up. The portions were sizable, and definitely able to share with someone else. We probably ordered one too many things, but it was good.

My neighbor told me about another tapas place about 20 minutes from us so that will be the next to be checked out!

If you have a tapas place where you live, definitely check it out!

Eating With A Travels...to Barcelona!

Since this blog is called EATING With A, not just cooking, I am going to touch on yummy places I've gone or things I have eaten from time to time. One place I really want to mention is in Barcelona. I'm talking about Mercat de Sant Joseph/ La Boqueria, a big open air market situated right off La Rambla, the main drag in Barcelona.

My husband and I stumbled upon this gem by mistake. Sure, it was a huge tourist spot but we didn't do much research before leaving for Europe. On our first day there, after leaving our luggage at the hotel, we started wandering. Soon we made it to La Rambla and as we stepped on the busy street some woman immediately came up to us and asked us where the market was. We shrugged, not even knowing what she was talking about and decided to walk south. A short time later we pass a huge, bustling area with the sign above it "Mercat." We decided to go have a look.

The market has anything (food wise) people living in Barcelona would want. Fresh meats, fresh fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses, desserts, the list goes on. A lot of the market wouldn't be applicable to a tourist unless they were staying somewhere they could cook. But...then there are the little food stands where you can sit at the counters and enjoy some tasty Tapas such as chicken croquettes, meatballs, empanadas, etc. Or the fruit stands with rows and rows of brightly colored fresh fruit juice. And don't forget all the candy and chocolate stands!! The juice intrigued me and for 2 Euro, my husband and I each got one. WOW! There is a lot to say about fresh fruit juice. The juice is all natural with just a little water added in as they blend the fruit up. I had a strawberry pineapple juice while my husband got Mango-something. We were addicted immediately. Later on that day we ate some tapas at one of the stands, purchased some gummy products that we'd never seen in the US, got a fresh fruit salad and of course, another round of juice. Raspberry pineapple for me the next time and I think my husband got something with Strawberry. But they had all kinds involving orange, coconut, kiwi, melon, blackberry, etc.

We visited the market once per day all 3 days we were in Barcelona (and on the first day, twice). The food is incredibly delicious and the juice is amazing. This place is definitely worth a visit if you head over to Barcelona. Adios!