Don Quijhote
|
Sangria shangri-la at Don Quijhote
I tried pronouncing the name of this restaurant in many ways and finally got it right when the restaurant
manager, Sanjay Joseph taught me. Don Quijote (pronounced Don ‘keyhotay’), a cosy and intimate
Spanish restaurant sits smack in a nice row of shop houses in the Upper Bukit Timah neighborhoods.
They have a branch in Macao as well.
What or who is Don Quijote? According to Don Quijote’s website,
“Don Quijote is the chivalric main character in a fictional Spanish
novel titled El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, translated
as "The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha". In episodic
fashion, the novel narrates the exploits of Don Quijote who, obsessed
with tales of chivalry, roves the lands in search of adventure.
Accompanied by his skinny horse Rocinante and his sidekick
Sancho Panza, he asks to be bestowed knighthood by an innkeeper
that he thinks is the lord of a castle and battles wind mills that he
believes to be ferocious giants. Not surprisingly, Don Quijote becomes the subject of many cruel jokes.
The novel eventually ended with him regaining his full sanity and renouncing all chivalry. Recognized as
one of the world's best works of fiction, the novel went on to inspire many artists in the musical, literary
and filmmaking fields. “
Don Quijote offers an extensive range of Spanish menu including over 30 tapas, soups, fresh seafood
and salads, pastas and many succulent meats. There are many stories with regards to how the tapas originated. One interesting story is that the first Tapas were simply a hunk of bread which was placed
over the glass to keep the flies out. You see, ‘Tapa” means a cover or a lid. In the beginning it seems
Tapas were just olives, or anchovies in olive oil, roasted almonds etc…. and then slowly as time went
on, very elaborate food with each region in Spain developing their specialties came about. Tapas are
still the ‘small’ food, in other words the dim sum of Spain……..a style of eating rather than a form of
cooking and it means prolonged meals with friends and family, talking and drinking biting and nibbling
foods with intense flavor.
 We were served the famous Spanish Sangrἱa Tinto (red wine) and Sangrἱa Bianca (white wine). The restaurant also serves Sangrἱa de Cava that is made of sparkling white wine. What is Sangrἱa then? Sangria is a classic, easy to make and very refreshing party drink for the hot summer in Spain. Typically, white sangria uses fruits that are characteristic flavors in fruity white wine example peaches, nectarines, green apples and other tropical fruits are all steep in white wine and allowed to chill for several hours or overnight in a refrigerator, as the wine absorbs the fruit flavors. When serving, it is top off with soda or sparkling wine for a hint of carbonation. The sangrἱa in this restaurant was pretty decent and if I would have had one more glass :-) I found the Sangrἱa Bianca better as I have a sweet tooth. The restaurant
carries a large range of patriotic Spanish wines too.
The Tapas portions allowed us to try several different items on the menu. Amongst all those I tasted,
I like a few best - Rolli tos de Berenjena y Gambas – small, delicately garlic flavored prawns rolled in wafer thin slices of eggplant were succulent and juicy with a strong hint of olive oil. The Almejas a la
Marinera – clams in garlic and white wine sauce was very outstanding. The large bodied succulent
clams were imported from the Philippines. It was not overcooked and the sauce, a Quijote special
was drinkable. Next we tried the Rabo de Toro, a Spanish oxtail stew. In ancient Spain, Rabo de
Toro was usually made with from the oxtail but these days it is from the tails of both the female and
male beef cattle. Lots of root vegetables were used and the meat was so tender. The sauce was
rich and the portion was just right. In some parts of Spain, chocolate is added to an oxtail stew!
The Tortilla Espanola is a Spanish style thick omelette with potatoes and about 2 cm thick and served
in wedges, more like a piece of cake or pie. It is a simple dish, yet memorable because of its simplicity
and subtle flavor. After having a few more tapas, we decided to go to the mains. We started off with
Fideua Negra – Spanish style seafood pasta paella with squid ink. Fideua is a very popular main
course similar to paella. Cooked and served in a in a paella pan, the Fideua Negra is made with
squid ink pasta and seafood. I will not call this paella colorful but it is certainly very tasty with a good
seafood stock taste and the base like traditional paella was very crispy.
 Next I tried he Paella Don Quijote Special. The paella pan came very colourful with an array of yellows,
greens and reds and huge prawns and other seafood and meat on it. The perfect paella must have a
crust at the bottom of the pan. This crust is called the “Soccorat” in Spanish and as I am from the upper
crust :-) I was a tad disappointed that there was absolutely no crust on my paella on that day. Otherwise,
the paella was wonderful. You need to place an order for the paella at least 30 minutes ahead of dining
time as they cook it only upon order.
Phew….by this time we were almost full, but will I ever skip dessert? I should call myself DDD –
Devagi, Dessert Devil!
 Don Quijote has some wonderful desserts and I tried two of it. As soon as I saw the words “ Leche Frita, fried milk in cinnamon syrup”, I was choked with a million questions running in mind. Fried milk? Sounded like Indian gulab jamuns, the Chinese ginger curdled fried milk or the Italian latte dolce fritto. The Leche Frita had a crispy crust and when you crack the crisp shell, thick warm custard oozes out. The cinnamon syrup and stewed apple was very complementary. The Pastel de Chocolate Caliente, a warm decadent chocolate cake made with Spanish chocolate and served with vanilla ice cream was a great way to finish my tasting at Don Quijhote. It was really good! Not too sweet like
most desserts are, and just the right amount of chocolatey-ness, not just any chocolate, but warm
and oozing runny chocolate goodness……… If you have not tried this yet then you have missed out
on one of life’s gastronomic pleasures for me it was heaven on a small plate!
All in all the food was wonderful and the service was excellent. The efficient staff greets newcomers
like regulars and treats regulars as part of the family.
Don Quijhote Spanish Restaurant
17 Lorong Kilat
#01-09
Singapore 598139
Tel: 64651811
|
