Before Randy joined us in June, four nights a week dinner consisted of crackers and cream cheese for Rita, and Oscar Meyer cheese hot dogs for me. We would eat late in the evening, sitting at the small table in the little kitchen and talking about the day. But Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we went out. I ate langouastine (they look like overgrown shrimp), Jamón Jabugo (an excellent cured ham), large white asparagus (served with thick mayonnaise). I tried squid served in it’s own ink, and discovered that “pan duro” is day-old bread. We started using "duro" as a synonym for "stale", and everywhere bread is very "duro". We always needed to ask for butter, because they won’t offer it voluntarily. I needed to ask for ice, too, and then would only get one single ice cube. Beer was never cold but white asparagus always was. And despite what Rita told us, some places did understand the “doggy bag” concept. Sometimes our dinner out was for business, like when the American bosses came to town; on those occasions we always ate at expensive restaurants because the bosses loved to spend the company's money. After Randy joined us, we went somewhere every weekend. We seldom knew the name of the places where we ate, but we created our own nicknames for our favorite local ones.
"Our" restaurant: On the hillside above our apartment was a humble but good restaurant. It seemed to be a family business, set up in what looked like a closed-in pavilion. They had a menu chalked up in front of the counter where we ordered before we went into the seating area, which had long tables and benches. This place had the quickest, best service we found in Spain. The waiter looked like a teenager but he was unusually quick, efficient and congenial. The food was basic fare but very good, and more than enough. Lomos con potatoes was one of their best. Desserts were sherbets, frozen into the rind of whatever flavor you ordered, such as orange sherbet in half an orange rind. And they had foil bags for take-home food.
Eroski: The super-grocery store had a restaurant which served a daily menu plate and quick sandwiches, like ham and cheese. It was a good place for when we wanted a quick and reasonably priced lunch.
El Cortes Ingles: It was the retail biggest store we went to, several stories tall, and had a few restaurants on the upper level, most of which served sandwiches. We didn't eat there often because there were so many other places to choose, but it was nice in a pinch and, like Eroski, it's main asset was that it very quick. Mealtimes are very leisurely in Spain but sometimes we wanted to grab a bite to eat so we could keep moving and see more stuff.
Pincho bars: Pincho bars were sort of like Spain's fast food but they were much better. Each bar had a selection of pinchos (finger food), usually fish or potato-based snacks to be dipped into the thick home-made mayonnaise that we spooned out of cups on the bar. At first I was wary of eating mayonnaise that had been sitting out for who-knows-how-long, but we never had any ill effects from it. Pincho morunos, served like shish-kabobs on thin wooden skewers, were spicy and very good. The bars only had a few small tables, so most customers ate standing at or near the bar. Customers ate whatever they chose, either snacking from platefuls of pinchos set on the bar or asking the bartender for specifics. When they were ready to pay, the bartender asked they ate and charged accordingly. Although pinchos were quick and tasty, they were not cheap. For Spaniards out in the evening, the custom was to go to several bars, snacking and drinking at each one.
Mario’s 4 star: Downtown Bilbao, close to Mario’s hotel, there was a restaurant which was supposed to be one of the best. Mario took us to dinner there one night. Randy, who likes the good things in life, wanted steak and lobster. The restaurant had a steak dinner and a lobster dinner, but not a combination of the two. Mario spent about 5 minutes trying to explain that he wanted the staff to serve Randy those two meats on the same plate. He spoke Spanish very well, but the concept seemed to be totally beyond our waiter's comprehension. Eventually he brought out two separate dinners for Randy, who enjoyed it all, although the lobster was not as good as a New England lobster. That meal cost in excess of $400 for the three of us.
Old Farmhouse: Somewhere between Asua and Sopalana, an old farmhouse had been converted into a very fine restaurant. It was expensive and required a reservation to get a table. They did not accept any reservation before 9 pm, and dinner was not actually served until at least 9:30. Most of the tables were upstairs. They had excellent food and some of the best pâté we ever ate. We had dinner there when Kris Walters and his wife from Belgium were in town; they had driven an Audi down, which was to be rented by one of the company's big shots. This was also where we had my farewell dinner.
Little White Houses: Along the shore in Las Tamarises there was an area with several little whitewashed houses, some of which had been converted into fish restaurants.
The fish in these was always good, mostly local fish like monkfish. They were served whole, with the tail attached and the eyes rolling in their sockets. Someone said this was to assure the customer that they were getting the exact type of fish they ordered. This was one of Rita’s favorite area to eat. Once when we went there with Steffon and the others, Steff ordered an after-diner liqueur that was truly wicked, sort of like a 200-proof cough service.
Fondue: There was a very good cheese and meat fondue place nearby, but they took a really long time to serve it. We could never figure out what took so long, since they didn't have to cook anything! They served 4 different kinds of sauces with the beef fondue, and they had excellent salads, with Belgium endive and walnuts. We went there several times; once with the gang from work; that time we made Jon pay because we figured accountants have access to the cash.
Hotel on the beach: A newly opened hotel in Las Tamarises had an excellent restaurant. We dined there once with Tom McRaven and Jeff Pruitt. The dinner was very good, and Tom kept ordering more food and drinks for everyone. Tom had a quiet, confident manner, but then, he was the money man. The waiter kept pouring strong scotch into Randy’s coffee, which made him a little sick later.
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