Last night, having got back from London late the day before, I didn’t really have the energy to cook as I had been catching up on a week’s chores and sorting all the rooms out now that the season has quietened down! Mick said he would take me a local place between Vera and Antas that he had discovered whilst I was in London. Anything cooked on a brasa usually means wood burning grill and is likely to be very meaty although usually a menu del dia will have something fishy on too.
These kind of places are very Spanish, no frills and frequented by local people. You can have tapas from the bar or you can order a la carte, in which case they will put a tablecloth on one of the tables for you! I was really hungry and so ordered from the menu del dia – 3 courses for 14 euros, including a couple of glasses of decent wine and coffee which didn’t seem to appear on the bill and so I guess were included. I had a massive salad and an entremeses, a plate of salami, chorizo, cheese and ham, followed by the most delicious lamb chops with fried potatoes – not very healthy but just fantastic. Mick just shared the salad, which came at the beginning for both us, and then had a really decent, well-cooked sirloin steak for about 15 quid! They are continually putting meat on the embers of the fire in a wire rack so that they just cook through slowly (no burnt meat here!). The result is just the most delicious, smoky, well-seasoned fare – if you are a carnivore, you could not do better in any top restaurant. Then I ordered something for pudding which I didn’t understand – Mick said it translated something like “Bacon in heaven” but he may have been teasing me – anyway, it was a kind of bread puddingy thing with whipped cream which we managed to plough through with no problem. The diet starts today!
The total bill for the two of us was 32 Euros. Years ago I would have walked out of a place like this because they look like workman’s cafes (in fact usually, hidden in the back is also a much more formal dining room where christening receptions take place!) – now I know better! Local people don’t put up with bad food or being ripped off. And being about 7 minutes drive away is just a bonus!
La Brasa telephone number: 950 390 753
Yummy Almeria 
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