La Pedrera is a Spanish restaurant located near the intersection of Middle Sichuan Road and Yan’an Road, not far from Yu Garden or the Bund. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any views to speak of. It’s a bit of a walk from any subway station, with Yuyuan Station being the closest. The venue is very spacious, spanning two large floors with a double-height ceiling in the center that creates an open atmosphere. We visited on a Sunday evening and there were hardly any other customers, so the environment was quite pleasant. However, I’m not sure how long this place can hold out—it really is in such a quiet area.

We ordered this 10-course dinner for two via ENJOY, which combines traditional flavors with molecular gastronomy, so expect plenty of slow-cooked dishes… ~~ One thing I didn’t understand was why, even though it’s clearly a set menu for two, each appetizer was served as two individual portions—they looked so tiny…

Homemade bread with tomato sauce and olive oil: the bread was slightly hard and crispy, and quite tasty.

Southern Spanish marinated carrots: thanks to the cumin, these had a distinct exotic flair…

Potato salad with mashed potatoes and crab roe: sweet, with good flavor and texture.

Marinated cod with garlic and parsley: made with Norwegian-imported cod, thinly sliced and marinated. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but the taste was pretty good.

Chilled tomato soup: quite an odd experience. First, it’s cold; second, it’s very sour—and by the end, it was extremely sour. Is this supposed to be an appetizer?…

Fried squid: nothing special, neither good nor bad.

Scrambled eggs with asparagus and ham: although it’s billed as Spanish ham, there was so little it was almost negligible. That said, the scrambled eggs themselves were quite delicious.

Red wine braised beef cheek: slow-cooked in red wine for 3–5 hours, the beef was incredibly tender—you could practically eat it without chewing…

Sea bass with mushrooms: the flavor was quite good and the flesh was decent, but the downside was that it had bones.

Dessert platter featuring rice pudding, cheesecake, chocolate cake, etc.: well-made, but nothing particularly outstanding.

Also included a glass of sherry

Overall, the ambiance of this restaurant is excellent and the seating is very comfortable. The service was somewhat average, but there were no major issues. The food was reasonably good—not especially amazing, but not bad either. Transportation is slightly inconvenient; they should run more promotions to attract more customers…

Photos in this post taken with a SONY A5100 + 35mm f/1.8, post-processed in Lightroom.

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Spanish Food