I went to Patria for the first time last April right before leaving for Europe, and let me tell you, the Paella was so good that I could only find one restaurant in Spain that would compare. I mean, they set the bar high. So when it came time to visit Patria again last night, I couldn’t have been more excited. It was rainy, windy, and just generally awful, so Spanish food seemed like the cure to it all.
I already knew I wanted to do a repeat of two of the tapas we had ordered during our last visit: the Patatas Bravas and the Pulpo a la Gallega. But alas, we’d arrived 20 minutes before our 5:30pm reservation, and the kitchen was not yet open. Sitting around with a menu does something to a girl, and before I knew it, I was eyeing yet another dish to order.
After what seemed like the longest 20 minutes of my life, our server finally came over and took our order. Shortly afterwards, we were presented with our first dish, the Croquetas De Manchego.
If you ask me, there are a few things better than cheese. So when the server whispered sweet nothings about fried, cheese-filled croquets topped off with garlic aioli, I was practically swooning. Serving three of these to a party of two is the kind of thing that tears relationships apart. Thankfully, Nish and I were strong enough to survive the blow.
Next came the Patatas Bravas. When the server brought it over and stated that he was going to mix it, I practically tackled him to the ground… the things one does to get a good picture. Patria put their own twist on the Spanish classic by adding a fried egg to the mix. It’s one of my favourite dishes, so it was gone before you could say Patatas Bravas.
The Pulpo A La Gallagas is octopus with olive oil, paprika, and potatoes. We had ordered it on our last visit, but Nish wasn’t a fan of octopus back then. I was surprised he was bold enough to order it again, although to be fair, his palate has grown over the past year. It was light and fresh.
Everything was gone in no time. There was nothing to do but wait until our Paella arrived.
And finally, it was presented to us in all its glory. The Paella Patria. Chok full of seafood with aromatic saffron rice.
As you can imagine, Patria has changed their menu over the year, so the lamb and seafood paella that we had last time was no longer available, which is why we decided to get this one instead. It was delicious, but if I’m to be completely honest, it didn’t compare to the perfectly cooked lamb and seafood paella that we had last time. That one just set the bar too high! After having had 3 tapas before the paella, we could only get through about half of it.
Before moving on to dessert.
The first time we tried Basque Cake was at Bar Isabel, and to be completely honest, we were skeptical that something could even compete with what our tastebuds experienced that night. But the Basque Cake at Patria blew us away. Their version of it included cherries which added a pop of unexpected flavour, and was topped off with cinnamon ice cream. Oh my god guys, oh my god.
Patria undoubtedly has some of the best Spanish food I’ve ever had and I highly suggest you pay them a visit. I would recommend you book in advance because they fill up really fast. Happy dining!