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| - I'm from Spain, Asturias, so I am biased. I first remember this place 23 years ago at the corner of 32nd & Camelback - and ate there about 3 times a week back then. I was heartbroken when they closed. Then, a version opened at Civic Center, and was ok. So when I saw this, same name, logo, I assumed somehow same owners or some tie to the place I loved oh so long ago. Oh how wrong I was.. My first observation was immediately drawn to the one dish representing Asturias, Cabrales and Membrillo. Please note, it's M-E-M-B-R-I-L-L-O, not m-e-n-b-r-i-l-o (quince paste), so the typo instinctively told me, lack of detail to printing a menu with a typo. Then the menu my husband had and mine, were not in the same order, so when he was pointing out croquetas, I couldn't find inside, by this time the waitress came by and stated oh, we like to confuse our guest and not organize the menu the same, she had a great sense of humor about it, but again, attention to detail. I know it sounds super picky, who cares about a typo and order pages are, but again, those first details are a sign of what's to come. I knew this wasn't an Asturian place, NEVER expected it to be, but FYI, Asturias does have some pretty decent typical (simple) dishes. World Famous Chef Jose Andres is from Asturias, and he's done incredibly offering alot of cuisine from our province.. So the offering of Cabrales only, well, like I typed, totally biased. (FYI, I didn't order it, because after you've had Cabrales from the caves of Cabrales, I'm sorry, I'm just not willing to try it anywhere else.) We ordered the croquetas, cerdo de jamon and boquerones. We got the croquetas within 5 minutes, so that was a bit disappointing, knowing that even if they were pre rolled/made and all it needed to do was frying, that it would take more than 5 minutes - so I assume that they were pre-cooked at some point. I didn't know what kind they were, as I didn't find them on the menu, but they were supposed to be ham and cheese. They had no flavor. Just fried doughish, with alioli sauce, very bland, very disappointing. There were 3 on the plate, and I only ate the 1. Then came the cerdo and boquerones, another 2 mins after we were done with the croquetas. I immediately touched the sauce with my finger, cause it didn't look hot, and it was lukewarm. The boquerones were exactly what I expected, canned, oiled boquerones, which, if you've ever been to Galicia, you know some of the best seafood in the world is immediately canned, and a can of seafood can retail for $90. (oh, I KNOW this wasn't it, but a $5 can of boquerones is also good). The pork had been cooked at least a day before - there is no way it was done that morning/day. It wasn't cooked in the sauce either. It was dry, almost like a dry pork chop you smother in sauce, but it never absorbed the sauce other than covering it when it was plated. Besides dry, it was also warm to go with the warm sauce. Not sure if warm was what they were going for (vs hot), but again, disappointing. As I stated, boquerones were fine, decent can, so that was the only ok thing. We were starving, but didn't order anything else but the check to go have lunch else where. Service was friendly, It was lunch time, about 1 pm on Saturday, 11/12/11. Sad to say we will never be back. It wasn't worth complaining to the waitress, I wasn't looking for a freebie or comp, it was just bad food, taken with of shortcuts.
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