Tia Pol - Oh. My. God.

Chorizo con Chocolate

palacios chorizo with bittersweet chocolate
$3.5

This is their signature dish. It was almost perfect; toasted banquettes with melted chocolate, covered with slightly spicy chorizo and sprinkled all over with saffron and sea salt. It was so good, we had to order a second round!

Croquetas de Jamón
ham croquettes
$4

This was my attempt at a trendy food image. Will not try that again. Notice how creamy the inside is, it's filled with cheese and little bits of salty Spanish ham. The outside was fried to a perfect crunch, yet not the least bit greasy. Someone in the kitchen had a fry thermometer.

Bocata de Loma Adobado

pork loin, piquillo and tetilla baguette sandwich
$9

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but it actually tasted better than it looked. And it already looked amazing! The tetilla cheese, the pepper, the pork all worked together perfectly! Tia Pol had great bread. Crusty, chewy, WARM! Everything bread should be but seldomly ever pulled together in most restaurants. I would happily eat that sandwich everyday, and for only $9, I could!

Navajas y Almejas

razor clams and cockles
$7

Since the friend I went with is such a meat-a-vore, I wasn't allowed to order any non-meat dishes. I was able to sneak in this little clam dish tho. How can you not order seafood (especially clams) cooked with garlic and white wine? That would just be moronic. And yes, it was great.

Assorted meat Croquettes
$9 (not positive)

That was the only disappointment of the night. The sauce was decent, made up of cream and herbs, can't really go wrong there. The croquettes on the other hand were bland and basically tasted like they came out of Applebee's.

Beef Short Ribs

$15

It is really rare for me to leave a meal and not be able to decide what was the best dish. But this one ranked right up there. First of all, beef? What's not to love? And this was a great piece of beef, flavorful, tender, juicy and the sauce? FABULOUS! It confirmed for me yet again that the best pieces of the meat are the ones close to the bone. And btw, the meat came off the bone with just a little help from my butter knife.

Pinchos Morunos

lamb skewers
$10

You know how some people really love street cart lamb? If you are one of those people, you shouldn't try this dish. It's not meant for you. Because you will never go back to the carts. Why go back to Coney Island when you have been to the Caribbean? The meat was unbelievably fresh and lamby and ridiculously tender. I had no idea lamb can be so tender.

Old School Cantonese in Flushing

The long awaited first post, I am going to dedicate this to my partner in crime who first dragged my procrastinating behind into this.

I am a firm believer that while you can get a variety of decent Chinese food in Chinatown, Flushing is the place to go for truly good old school Cantonese. And what's more old school than seafood cooked in multiple ways and claypot rice?

Let's get to the good stuff...

Lobster #1 cooked in egg yolk sauce with dried scallops and shrimps

This is by far one of my favorite presentation of any crustaceans. It's actually a variation that you don't find often in the states, the last good version I had was in Shanghai. It an old method of first deep frying the seafood, then baking it in a concoction of salted egg yolk, dried baby scallops and shrimps. It tasted like the ocean on weed.

Lobster #2 cooked in black bean sauce

Some people complain that the flavor of the black beans is a little too strong to compete with the sweetness of the lobster. But personally, I think the salty, murky flavor of the black beans are a perfect contrast to the seafood. THIS should be the next miso and cod!

Chilean Sea Bass in sweet soy sauce

I was actually a little underwhelmed, in a sea (literally) of shellfishes, crustaceans and etc, Chilean Sea Bass in my mind is a pretty generic tasting piece of flesh. It has that subtle, almost milky flavor, but it really does depend on the sauce to fully coax out it's personality. Give me some uni or fresh oyster that can stand up on it's own without any garnish.

Beef Short ribs with chili peppers

Truthfully, beef is hardly ever the highlight of any Cantonese meal. Perhaps it was because pork is the dominant meat in China or perhaps because of the quality of beef served in Chinese restaurants. You are never gonna get waygu lo mein in Chinatown or Flushing. However, short ribs is always the safe choice to go since it can stand up to flash cooking via a wok relatively well. This rendition wasn't half bad.

Rice Casserole with Chinese sausage and frog legs

Next to the lobsters, this was the highlight of the meal! This was the traditional rice casserole with Chinese sausage, duck and pork, however they added frog legs!! The whole dish came in a perfect little claypot with it's own mini-pot of sweet soy sauce. The sauce was dumped into the pot and the lid was placed back on for a few minutes for the soy sauce to be fully absorbed into the rice and to lend even more flavor to the meat and frog legs! The best part was the crispy, slightly burnt rice on the bottom. It's rare for a restaurant to conquer the food-stall version of claypot rice and the high-end preparation of the lobsters.

Red bean soup

No decent Cantonese restaurant would let you leave without some form of "sweet soup" and fruits. And the red bean soup is my favorite. I am usually as giddy as a child when I am offered this treat at the end of a cholesterol laden meal of seafood and meat. Think of red bean as the Chinese fudge. Rich, decadent, comforting and leaves you completely satisfied and warm inside. It's perfect by itself on a cold day. It's even better on ice during the summer. Starbucks should take note.