Also Hamburger

A pretty looking plate of burger, fries, obligatory caramelized onions, with some grilled pepper slices.



I'd lose the 2 parsley sprigs and the random sprinklings of paprika though. Decorative garnishes ought to have some vague relation to the dish being served.

Al very nice and that but take a look at that burger! You'll encounter this incredible disappointment in Spain. Sometimes the "hamburger" is a compressed patty of an unidentifiable mix of meats and can have a high percentage of actual ham in it!

Note: to boot this goes beyond open-faced; there actually is no bun at all!

I won't tell you exactly where this was; you're not likely to ever get there anyway. And the whole point of this post it more to warn you about the burger phenomena in Spain rather than any one particular spot.

Lesson learned: Ask what burger is made of -- hope that the answer is "fresh ground beef".

Kloster Bierhof: Restaurant

This is a hamburger:



Yes, that's an asparagus spear on top of it.

It was, in fact, a bit pinker in the middle than shows up in the picture; cooked just right. Bottom bun only (open faced), rucula (pocket), tomato, big chunk of ground beef, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, and the asparagus spear. Came with fried potatoes, grilled zucchini, a little dish of ketchup on the side and I requested a side of mayonnaise.

Really very good. The best burger in town actually. Next door to the Tryp Hotel.

KLOSTER BIERHOF
Martín Iriarte, 2
28290 Las Matas, Las Rozas (MADRID)
T: 91 630 92 88

B2. Restaurant

As a food blogger it's my responsibility to get out there and sit in places like
this:


on an indoor patio on a beach.

And eat steak with foie that looks like
this:

and I feel obligated to have a nice glass of wine to go with it.

Life doesn't suck.

That's the Mediterranean out there on the horizon of this little restaurant tucked away in a corner of Spain. And that's a chuck of very good steak sitting on a slab of foie and drizzled with a sherry&honey sauce. And it's strawberry season so everything arrives decorated with strawberries these days.

The restaurant is called B2 and it's in Vera (actually it's in Vera-Playa [beach]) and they're excellent. I was there for a Saturday lunch and went whole hog. I hear that their weekday lunch, fixed price menu is very good too.

Excellent, professional, service. A god place for an above average dinner atmosphere.
Avoid the cheese cake for dessert - not up to snuff.

Urbanación. Playa de Baria 2, Calle Delfin, El Playazo, Vera Playa
Tel: 950 397 733

Roasting: Asador

I quite like ovens, wood burning ovens. This one is at an "Asador" that cooks mostly suckling pig and lamb. Very crispy and delicious. Done the old fashioned way. For the vegetarians there's potatoes.



Here's the meat waiting on shelves ready to go in (or just out of) the oven.


It's a bit blurry (camera shake I think) but you can see the white ones are little piglets laying on their backs.