Tempting Tapas at Cafe Andaluz [Guest]

Spanish food is some of my favourite so when Cafe Andaluz invited me to come along for some tapas and cocktails, I jumped at the chance.

Cafe Andaluz occupies a few venues around Scotland – in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh – and serve beautiful, authentic cuisine in their Spanish-inspired, interior designed restaurants.

But we are swiftly going to move onto the food because that’s what you are here for!

The Starter at Cafe Andaluz

Now, I wouldn’t really class Cafe Andaluz as being somewhere where you would go for a starter because, well, there isn’t really any and you can instead have a mixture of tapas main dishes. However, there is a selection of sides available which is what we opted to choose to start.

Whenever we see a bread basket, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, it’s a must for us, so Pan Fresco is the ‘starter’ we went for. A mixture of white and brown bread with the oils was delicious and a great way to start Spanish dining.

The Tapas at Cafe Andaluz

Now onto the main event – the tapas!

The first tapas dish we decided to enjoy was Patatas Bravas. Being one of my favourites, this was a sure-fire choice for us to indulge in. This vegetarian option is a generous plate of halved potatoes with crisp skin in a rich, spicy tomato sauce, topped with aioli.

Our next pick was Pescado Adobado from the fish section of the menu. This lemon, paprika and garlic marinated cod fillet pieces are crisp-fried in a light breadcrumb and served with garlic aioli dip. Was it my favourite dish? Honestly, no, but we did enjoy it but for us, it wasn’t the most ‘tapasy’ dish so it’s not one we’d opt for again but I’m glad we tried it!

The remainder of our tapas was from the meat section of the menu. Firstly, Albondigas! Albondigas is hands down my top pick from a tapas menu. I love meatballs and the ones from Cafe Andaluz do not disappoint. The spiced pork and beef meatballs are served in a rich tomato sauce and just melt in your mouth – they are beautiful.

We also enjoyed a plate of Solomillo Con Setas, which is a bowl of tender strips of beef fillet, sauteed with mushrooms in a garlic, smoked paprika and cream sauce. It’s a dish we had never tried before and one that we are definitely going to order again. It was flavoursome, moreish and one I’d highly recommend giving a go.

Another dish we always go for is Chorizo Y Butifarra Negra. This is one of Blair’s favourite and had quickly become one of mine too. It’s a dish of sauteed chorizo sausage and black pudding in a spicy tomato sauce. Can you tell we like spicy tomato sauces? This particular dish is cooked perfectly, with non-chewy chorizo which can ruin a dish for me and black pudding which I now can’t say I don’t like, because in this dish it’s delicious.

The Desserts at Cafe Andaluz

By this point of the meal, we were filled to the brim but we persevered and had some dessert.

I opted for the Pastel de Queso which is Cafe Andaluz’s homemade, praline cheesecake, drizzled with salted caramel sauce and honeycomb propped firmly on top. This dessert is extremely decadent and for those with a sweet tooth. It was a little too much for me, so I couldn’t finish it, but I did enjoy it. I do wish it came with some ice cream though!

Blair chose Tarta de Chocolate, which is a thick chocolate tart with a chocolate orange piece and vanilla ice cream. He thoroughly enjoyed his dessert. It was sweet and irresistible but, again, it’s definitely for those with a sweet tooth!

Final Thoughts

Cafe Andaluz is a firm winner in our eyes. It’s a restaurant we love to head to when we want tapas meal for a special date night. It has an authentic atmosphere and the food is gorgeous. If you haven’t been before, it’s definitely worth a visit!