I did not write up the trip to Andalusia last November, since due to the top-secret nature of the mission, I did not have a chance to explore the region's culinary heritage to the extent I would have liked, but I did find a number of places where you can eat on a budget. The places that impressed me most were the comfort stops just off the motorway, which were fabulous - with hand painted tiles, and counters piled high with all manner of home-made foods. Watford Gap or South Mimms will never have the same appeal.
Spanish transport caff
Spanish food can be about grande cuisine, but do not overlook the smaller meals - breakfast, snacks, aperitifs. The coffee in Spain is the best in the world, in my humble opinion (turns down sound of Italians protesting) - a Spanish breakfast of caffe con leche, freshly-squeezed zumo de naranja and a pastry comes a close second to the Full English.
On my return, I was keen to find out where you could eat good Spanish food here in Brussels. I had to go no further than the end of my road, where I found not one but two excellent little Spanish hostelries sitting together like a pair of castanets: Casa Miguel and Los Amigos de Aragon. They are tucked into place des Gueux, the point where rue Franklin meets rue des Patriotes, about 5 minutes' walk from Schuman roundabout, and the triangular cobbled area in front of the restaurants serves as a communal terrace, smoking area, outside bar and overspill when Real Madrid are playing Barça. Sometimes people will be sitting down at tables eating with cutlery, sometimes they'll be crammed in standing up eating tapas off the bar, you take it as you find it. Both restaurants serve a great selection of tapas, and can do you a paella to order for a group. We had a group session there recently and were served two tapas each, an excellent seafood paella and a huge selection of desserts for 25 euros a head, wine not included.
At Sainte Catherine a new quite upmarket Spanish restaurant has opened, Le Fourneau Ibérique, serving "gastronomic tapas" and "new Iberian cuisine". At lunchtimes you can choose 3 tapas for 19 euros. A la carte dishes cost between 6 and 11 euros in tapa size, and 12 to 20 euros in racion size. To impress your friends, you can book the whole restaurant and the chefs will dress you up in whites and put you behind the serving hatch as if you had prepared the whole meal.
Tapas Locas is not far from the Ancienne Belgique and a great place for an after-show bite to eat. It's a young crowd, inexpensive tapas and typically speedy Spanish service.
Bar a Tapas in the trendy St Géry district offers some reasonable combos at lunchtime, a wide selection in the evening and private rooms for parties.
Basque food is reputedly the best cuisine in Spain. ComoComo on trendy rue Dansaert specializes in Basque pintxos, or tapas, served in yakitori style on a moving conveyor belt. A bit expensive for tapas but tasty and unusual dishes. One for los hipsteros.
If you want something a bit more upmarket, La Cueva de Castilla sits on place Collignon close by Schaerbeek town hall. With awards from Gault & Millau 2006 and Michelin Guide 2008, and valet parking, it's not a tapas bar. There's a 3-course formula for 44 euros, not including wine. You're as likely as not to find the Bourgmestre of Schaerbeek entertaining guests there.
The area around the Gare du Midi is traditionally where Spanish and Portuguese immigrants settled, and there are dozens of small Iberian restaurants and shops which are a closely guarded secret to those in the know. The Economato Espanol is a Spanish grocery store in the shadow of the Pensions Tower which is open every day but does a particularly roaring trade on Sundays when it finds itself in the middle of the sprawling Midi market. As soon as the weather is warm enough, people will be standing at the outside tables drinking Estrella and discussing Valencia's chances in the Liga de Campiones. This is where I buy my olive oil. I am ferociously faithful to Spain when it comes to olive oil, it's smooth and buttery, without that bitter aftertaste you often get with Italian oils. (There'll be a contract out on me by now with the Italian olio mafia). My favourite brand is Carbonell Extra Virgen, at 8 euros a litre, but other brands in the same price range are just as good, such as Hojiblanca.
You can also buy your Spanish olive oil, lomo, and other Iberian goodies from Productos Espanoles Mediterranea on the Chaussée de Louvain, just up from Place Dailly, Sabores de Espana on Rue Archimède on the corner of place Ambiorix, or Espana Calidade and Casa Tella in St Gilles.
There will be more jamon jamon in the New Year after my Winter in Majorca with Gorbals Chopin. Hopefully I'll have some good addresses to recommend. Meanwhile, rattle your castanets to this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Los Amigos de Aragon / Casa Miguel, 1 & 2 place des Gueux 02 734 1447 / 02 735 4100
Le Fourneau Ibérique, place Sainte Catherine 8 02 513 10 02
Tapas Locas, rue du Marché au Charbon 74 02 502 12 68
Bar a Tapas, Borgwal 11, 02 502 66 02
ComoComo, rue Antoine Dansaert 19 02 503 03 30
La Cueva de Castilla, place Collignon 14, 1030 Schaerbeek 02 241 81 80
Economato Espanol, Esplanade de L'Europe 9, Saint-Gilles
Casa Tella, Chaussée de Waterloo 23, Saint-Gilles
Productos Espanoles Mediterranea, Chaussée de Louvain 446, Schaerbeek
Sabores de Espana, rue Archimède 66 (closed Sunday)
Espana Calidade, avenue de la Porte de Hal 63, St Gilles
Economato Espanol, Esplanade de L'Europe 9, Saint-Gilles
Casa Tella, Chaussée de Waterloo 23, Saint-Gilles
Productos Espanoles Mediterranea, Chaussée de Louvain 446, Schaerbeek
Sabores de Espana, rue Archimède 66 (closed Sunday)
Espana Calidade, avenue de la Porte de Hal 63, St Gilles
