Pura Brasa at Tanjong Pagar Center

Pura Brasa is a new restaurant in the new Tanjong Pagar Center.  New in the sense that it is there for only about a year or so.  The interior is cosy, with all the warm lights around, it is very suitable for a couple of friends to sit down, chit chat over some Spanish food and a pint of beer.

I was there on a Saturday night, about 6pm.  The place was still quite empty, but after around 7.30pm, the place was almost full.  Groups of friends and some big families came here for their weekend gatherings.

Estreella Beer, 1-for-1 at $15.00++

They had this Estrella beer promotion, if you order a pint, you get another pint free.  It was perfect for friends gathering.   The beer was light, and smooth.  Even under Singapore's hot weather, it didn't turn bitter.  Thumbs up for the beer!

Charcoal Rice Paella, $36.00++

We ordered the charcoal rice paella to share for the two of us.  I asked the waitress about the portion, she assured me that portion was meant for two to share.  When the paella came, the portion was really small.  It looked quite a lot from the picture, but the rice was just a thin layer.  Probably the waitress meant was for two small eaters to share, not two pigs like us....haha....

In terms of ingredients, there were 3 prawns, 3 mussels, and some peas, tomatoes slices, etc.  The rice was cooked to the Spanish standard, which means it was wet, but the core of the rice grain was still hard.  I was sure I didn't have a blocked nose that day, but the rice didn't have any seafood smell.  It probably was a good thing.  And it was not salty!  But somehow this paella tasted very plain, but lacked the punch it should have.

If you are going to order many other dishes, then you can just order 1 paella to share for two; otherwise, better get one for one person only, especially for guys.

Grilled Iberico Secreto, $35.00++

On recommendation from some local food blog, we also ordered the grilled Iberico secreto.  The meat is from the armpit area of the pig so it is supposed to be very good.  Indeed, the meat was pretty tender, with lots of juice (fat).  The fragrance of the fat makes this dish almost irresistible.  However, they probably used sea salt as the seasoning for the meat, so it was on the salty side of the taste scale.

Overall, I think the food is decent, but tend to lack of some wow factor.  The beer is good, if I go there again, I will go there for the beer.

By the way, this restaurant is from a Spanish restaurant chain that seems like to be quite well-known.

Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant at VivoCity

Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant has long been a go-to place for Spanish food here in Singapore.  We visited its VivoCity branch on a busy Friday evening.

Pulpitos, $16.80

We ordered a pulpitos as appetizer.  This is considered part of their tapas selection.  Tapas is a Spanish word to describe food that falls into the appetizer or snack categories.  Pulpitos is basically cooked squid marinated with some Mediterranean sauce.   The squids were brittle, the taste was a bit sour nevertheless quite appetizing. I did enjoy this dish, except that the portion was really tiny, what you see in the picture above was all that we had for $16.80.

Paella Valen for 2 pax, $43.00

For the main, we ordered the seafood rice, or Paella in Spanish.  Paella is another dish that is quite open for interpretation.  You will find many variations across the world, however, the basic ingredients are more or less the same.  The main ingredient is, of course, the rice.  Not the kind of Asian rice that we eat normally, but the Italian risotto type of short-grain rice.  For the seafood part, prawns and squids are normally the main ingredients.

For the authentic Spanish paella, the rice is wet & soggy, and worse, it will not be fully cooked and it is done intentionally!  Most Asians don't like it.  To cater to the Asian taste, Serenity modifies their paella so that the rice is fully cooked and less soggy.  Well, it is definitely inauthentic, but, frankly speaking, I like it.

The restaurant advises that normally it will take 30 minutes for the paella to be ready for serving, longer if it is on a busy day.  At the end, our paella came after 45 minutes.  My stomach was already  drumming in protest.  The rice was not bad, not too soft, not too hard.  It was cooked together with some squid rings, soaking in the flavor of the sea.  It was a tad salty to my taste, but still acceptable.  Prawns and mussels were cooked separately and placed atop the rice.  Portion-wise, it was just nice for two no-so-hungry stomachs.  For young army boys, probably one can finish the whole portion.

Overall, I think the restaurant provides an opportunity for locals to have a taste of Spanish food, although with an Asian twist.  The service was alright, but the price is a bit on the high side, probably it is also a bar.  I will still go back if I have a sudden craving for Spanish food.