DISH OF THE WEEK: Albóndigas at EL COLMADO

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

I’m taking a much needed vacation this week to Portugal and Spain. Having never been to the Iberian peninsula, I’m super excited. This means a chance to try lots of tapas and to practice my Spanish (and Portuguese).

Recently, I visited the hip food court Gotham West Market before a show and I got a dish from the always-crowded tapas bar El Colmado. It was so good and I’m just hoping all my meals in Spain are as memorable.

We did tapas our way by ordering one dish from El Colmado, the tapas counter from Tertulia’s Seamus Mullen, along with a few bowls of ramen and rice at neighboring Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop. That’s how you do it at these food courts.

The dish we settled on was a small plate of albóndigas. These are fried lamb meatballs with a rich meatiness and a healthy cumin spice. You can taste the Moorish influence in Spanish cooking with these hearty and crisp bites. The luscious orbs were heightened with the addition of a tangy yogurt and some red pepper garlic oil. And once the meat was gone, we still had buttery toast pieces to sop up the remaining oil. Score!

If I’m lucky, I’ll be eating a dish just as good as these while you’re reading this review. It would be pretty silly to be in Spain and thinking about a dish I had back in New York. But it was that good!