Boqueria SoHo

My friend CT and I love to treat ourselves well, so it only felt appropriate to have dinner at Boqueria SoHo. We were about to be escorted to a two-person table sandwiched between other parties, but I suggested to sit at the kitchen bar (good call). While we looked on at the chefs working their magic, we tried the Pink Grapefruit sangria, Leonora cheese, Jamón ibérico (a.k.a. pata negra), marinated octopus on crostini, and special seafood paella. Everything was amazing, but I seriously have daydreams about the pata negra.

From my point of view, if there's just one reason to visit Boqueria, it's to witness the slicing of the pata negra. Sitting at the kitchen bar, I was able to watch the chef delicately sheer off thin 4-inch slices of the meat and carefully arrange them on a wooden board. For those of you who don't know, pata negra is a unique type of cured ham produced only in Spain. Until recently, it was not available in the United States. It wasn't until Dec 2007 that the first pata negra was released for sale in the US. It also is one of the most expensive hams in the world. If you happen to come across it, perhaps at Boqueria, be sure to try some and savor it slowly. The meat is very flavorful and smooth textured; it will literally melt in your mouth. 

The seafood paella was also delicious; I absolutely loved the incorporation of the bean sprout leaves. I've only had it in Chinese cuisine (Dou Miao), stir-fried, but it balanced out the saltiness of the seafood in the paella. Plus it added some gorgeous peaks of green to the plate.

Lastly, thanks to Groupon, our $100 bill ended up being $35 each ($45 including tip). Regardless of the promotion, this is one place I will most certainly visit again.


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