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| - Went for a mid-week dinner and ended up on the "patio" area in the courtyard. It was nicely protected from the wind and was beautifully set up and lit. We had a lovely, funny security guard "protecting" us all evening.
The menu warns that the paella takes 35 minutes to prepare. We ordered the Royale (everything) anyway. It was worth the wait. It was moist and flavorful, steaming upon delivery with succulent meats, juicy seafood, and a good sprinkling of colorful vegetables. Between two of us, we got through a quarter of the pan. Why did we manage to feast so little? Because we had appetizers and a pitcher of sangria while we waited.
Turns out, they make sangria here exactly the same whether they're using red wine or white--including the fruit and the brandy (yes, they make it with brandy; heck yeah!). The only difference is the color of the wine. We went with red this time, but you better believe we'll be back again as it warms up more and we'll be trying the white, too. The red was delish. It accompanied our lightly toasted bread and three tapas: wilted spinach with raisins and pine nuts, sauteed asparagus and mushrooms atop what seemed like a roasted red pepper spread, and honey balsamic drizzled eggplant chips. We loved them.
Because we knew we'd be heavy on the meat and seafood for the paella, the veggie tapas were perfect (PERFECT!) precursurs. We'd thought about a couple of others, but as I saw neighboring tables order them, although they looked great, I think we made a good choice to stay strictly veggie and avoid any additional cheese or cream. In the future I'll definitely flip the switch at some point and try meat and cheese tapas with a veggie paella. So looking forward to future visits! Malabar, you might end up being my summer love.
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