Paella, Cassata, and a Flamenco Show

Dia Tres

Paella mixto at La Parrala Paella Bar

La Parrala Paella Bar

The mystery tasty tapa

On Saturday we again left late and went straight to lunch. We made it down to Calle Darro, which is packed with tourists and anyone trying to make money off of them. We walked toward the city center and up a side street from plaza nueva. We ended up in La Parrala Paella Bar, which I had remembered seeing on trip advisor. We got paella mixto and sangria. They have a deal for sangria and paella for around 9 euros or 10 euros for seafood. We ordered sangria and the paella mixto (which turned out to be a seafood paella - even though that was listed separately on the menu in the 9 euro section). We aren't big fans of seafood, but the paella was very good, although quite burnt on the bottom (maybe that's normal?). The sangria was delicious and as we waited for the paella we got one of the best tapas on the trip. We have no idea what it was, but it had some noodles in sauce with maybe an egg? We got a ton of food for about 25 euros. The waitress was extremely friendly there and we were the only non-Spanish speaking customers at the time. I would recommend the bar for paella, but it wasn't the best paella I've ever had.

Los Italianos Ice Cream Shop

I do not consider myself a connoisseur of food or wine, but I know my ice cream and this place was amazing! We walked by and saw a large crowd here and decided to grab some ice cream. I was looking at flavors when I saw someone order one of their specials called a "cassata." It looked like a slice of an ice cream cake put into a waffle cone. We ordered one and that description was pretty accurate (2.40 euros). There were layers - chocolate, strawberry-like with pink candies, and a creamy vanilla. It was delicious and I have never had any type of dessert like that before. As we walked down Gran Via on a warm sunny day tons of people had ice cream from there. We'll be back and maybe I'll try and figure out if they have other flavors of cassata. 

Jardines de Zoraya

That evening we went a flamenco show in the Albayzin at Jardines de Zoraya. We bought the 35 euro menu for the 10:30 show in advance through their website. We arrived around 10 and showed the hostess a digital pdf of our reservations on an old smart phone I brought. We were a little worried that we couldn't print out tickets, but it wasn't a problem. The hostess and another waiter there spoke English so ordering etc. wasn't an issue. The waiter also seemed to know many other languages, including french. We were seated by the stage which was up close, but at an odd angle. There didn't seem to be any other non-Spanish speaking tourists there. You can check out what is included with the set menu at jardinesdezoraya.com‎. Our welcome tapa was a potato puree. For the first course my boyfriend got the pumpkin soup and I got a goat cheese (a brie style goat cheese) salad. For the main course we had fish and pork, both delicious. For dessert I got a crem brulee and my boyfriend got a chocolate ganache torte. Everything was large portions and good quality. We ate during the hour long show. The show itself was fantastic, I can't say enough good things about it. If you are looking for a cultural experience this is a great option. The performers were all of a high caliber and very impressive. Even though this is a relatively expensive dinner and show, in my opinion it is worth the splurge! Also, pre-paying was easy online and at the end of the show the staff just said thanks and we were good to go.