Columbia Restaurant on St. Armand's Circle in Sarasota (http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/Menus-By-Location/Locations/St-Armands-Circle) is a Spanish restaurant that I always enjoy. Over the years, I've had a number of meals there with family and friends, and have never been disappointed.
I recently had a delightful lunch there with a special friend of Spanish heritage. She knows authentic Spanish food. She loved her meal, and I loved mine.
We each started with a cup of Gazpacho Andalucia - a purée of tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cucumber, and garlic. It was topped tableside by finely chopped vegetables and croutons. It was reeeeeeeeeeeeally delicious. Each cup was $4.45.
The main dish she chose was actually a Tapa - two Empanadas de Picadillo - pastry turnovers filled with spiced ground beef, garlic, tomatoes, onions, raisins, and olives for $8. They were excellent.
My main dish was Cakes de Congrejo - two crabcakes of grilled blue crabmeat drizzled with passion fruit aioli. They were tasty and solid, unlike the mushy version I'd had at a Punta Gorda restaurant a few days earlier. They cost $15.
(Normally, I have a larger main dish like Columbia's wonderful Ropa Vieja, but this time, I went lighter to save room for a nice dinner.)
My drink was a 2015 Rioja tempranillo wine called Rusty for $11. Like all the wines I've had at Columbia, it was very nice.
Our waiter, Norbert, who was Hungarian, was exceptional. Not only was he a superb server, but he was a hilarious comedian.
The parent restaurant of the Columbia group is located in Tampa. It was established in 1905, is Florida's oldest continuously operated restaurant, and is the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. It offers Flamenco dance shows, for which there is a cover charge.
No comments:
Post a Comment