Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Yes, rather than sticky goo, nice and crisp, it's like wanting the skin off a rice pudding, the best bit!;)

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

I have only been to a few, and with the exception of one of the Tasca chain (dire, not a Spanish person working there!) they have all been very good. The one I linked I thought was first class, but all the chefs from N.Spain. There's only one near my remote neck of the woods, run a nice lady from Valencia and it does a roaring trade. Some of the London one's are very highly rated.

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Barrifina in Soho has a very good reputation. The chef is Basque.

I haven't been there but I have got the book:D:D

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Yes the Spanish are all over like a rash:lol: Many are in food markets too. Even stately Winchester has a guy selling paella at the food market. Spoke to him he was from Galicia.

Hope it doesn't get like the Costas when Brits who had never fried an egg opened up selling the full English:lol:

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Brindisa (Borough market and Soho) are also supposed to be good.
Problem is that a good meal for two (like a lot of places in London) will set you back more than an air ticket to Spain! And if you like a glass of wine or two...
However there is one place that serves good decent Spanish food at a good price - La Plaza just off Portobello Road. They do a good menu deal - £10.95 for 2 courses and coffee - but unfortunately drinks are extra. They serve Albarino wine too if you're into white. We've been several times and always had good meals.

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Hmmm, crisp implies dry, which is not quite what I'm after. I'm thinking of something a bit more more toffee-like: both chewy and slightly brittle ("goo" wasn't the right word either).

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

25-40 euros per head for a paella. You are either insane or gullible.
We all know that prices are fairly similar in both countries.

I can buy a 20oz. lobster (just over a 1lb. weight) for £5-6. A good free range chicken for £5 (not the like the Spanish ones where you hold them by the feet, shake 'em and they rattle) A rabbit for £2. 2lb of tiger prawns for £6. Add in the rice, stock, pinch of whatever. Total cost £25 tops.

I could probably serve at least 10 people with amount of meat and fish.

So 10 people @ £30.00 = £300
Minus Vat @ 20% = £250
Minus food cost of £25 = £225
Gross Profit = £225
Gross profit percentage = 90%

The industry average is between 60 and 65%

You are either paying for amazing surroundings or
A well known chef to cook it or
They saw you coming.

As to £35 or whatever for a soup in the Balearics, well I am amazed. You can eat arguably the best fish soup in the world, Bouillabaise, on the seafront in Marseilles for less. And it won't be packed with half the unrecognizable marine life that ends up in a lot of 'traditional Spanish' soups/paellas.

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Oh, don't fret it. It's just another one of his made-up stories to prove to himself that he's superior to everyone (he apparently doesn't get out much).

Completely normal, expected rhetoric from that camp. I personally find it rather entertaining. In fact I miss him when he's gone!

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Sounds like you know very little about Spanish food. Or are using your experience on one bad place to make a judgement about a whole country.

We buy Spanish free range chickens from the market, and now and then we get some from the neighbour of my parents-in-law. They are amazing, and not to mention pitu calella, which is from another planet. Even the freerange chicken at Hipercor is pretty good, so there is no excuse for not finding it

You should come up North and try a mariscada in one of the ports here. It will set you back 50-70 euros per head but is well worth it.

My sister-in-law has some friends who have a fish and seafood restaurant and they sell the fish and seafood at cost, and make the money on everything else. Purely because quality fish and seafood is very expensive. Their dishes are 20-30 euros for most things. I know that down South it is difficult to find a good pescaderia, but come up North and take a look!

Wild lubina is 20 euros per kilo, wild rape is 35-40 euros per kilo. And thats at the market. But this fish is 100 times better than what you may pick up at cr*ppydonna

I am not into British celebrity chefs but I will quote Marco Pierre White who said that Spaniards "eat like kings" in their day-to-day lives because they have easy access to quality products and know how to cook. My 7 years here have completely reenforced that, Spanish food is absolutely incredible. The problem is that many British expats barely even live within Spanish culture, and if they do, they live in the areas that are not known for their food and cooking

If you live in the North, Catalunya or even inland in Andalucia you would have a completely different opinion, but then British people wouldnt move there because it isnt British enough for them. Even the standard of restaurants in Granada was excellent. What surprises me is amideislas because Balearic products, cooking and restaurants are very good. It must be that her eyes only light up at a McDs sign

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

OK, does that mean we're all racist then?

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

I'd have thought that for a paella in a nice restaurant, the ingredients might come to no more than €10 but the indirect costs may be more than that: paying the chef, paying the other staff, energy costs, rental costs for the restaurant, license costs, etc. And on top of that you've got 20% VAT. In Madrid a standard paella in a reasonable restaurant would cost about €20 per person, but then again the paellas in Madrid aren't that special (at least the ones I've tried aren't) and they might well be breaking even in order to make money elsewhere.

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Out of interest how much is a free range chicken from a local market?
Wild Sea Bass is about the same price here. Monkfish (if that's what you mean by 'rape' ) is quite a bit cheaper.

Fish prices are I think a bit more expensive than the UK. Probably due to demand and Spain's reliance on imports. It seems Spanish fisherman are well rewarded for their efforts.

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Haven't been here either, but got their book. ;)
http://www.moro.co.uk/shop.php

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

I've no idea what the names are in English. I rarely saw or ate fish when I ate in the UK.

We only eat Cantabrican fish, or if we are in the South then we try and eat the fish that is caught locally. It isnt hard to do, but sometimes you have to ask the right questions. And of course dont shop at the supermarkets, although Hipercor display the origin of their fish

A free range chicken is around 10 euros. The pitu calellas are a lot more but they are two or three times the size.

Re: The Cost Of Living In Spain
 

Yes, that's more like it, caramelised, ie burnt!