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“El Quinto Pino”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Spanish	Chelsea	Cheap Eats	Great

d a baguette. It's got a hearty ropa vieja-styled filling that includes pulled pork, morcia and sautéed onions that Alex explained is a riff on the classic pringa of pulled leftover meats from the Cocido-Spain's national dish, an all-day stew of beef, chicken, and pork and chickpeas. The third is a Serranito, or a Serrano Ham sandwich. I thought hey, a Serrano ham sandwich is a Serrano ham sandwich, I'll try it but I ain't expecting that much. But after eating it, I realized that this is JUST a Serrano ham sandwich in the same way that say Manolos are just sandals, or Tom Brady is just a guy who throws a football. This is a SANDWICH-the secret being the nutty Serrano ham fat that's melted down and turned into its own very special Serrano butter. Forget lardo folks. This is the best.

Alex also does a few fine tricks with fried foods. The soldaditos de pavio, or fried salt cod ($7.50), is a model for Chip Shops all over the city, if not in London proper. Hunks of moist cod are snuggled into a robe of almost (but not) doughy batter and fried up golden and crispy and just salty enough. There's no sauce, no malt vinegar, and you don't need it. Sometimes naked food is quite right.

Now, while the Unini has gotten the lion's share of press, I'm surprised that more hasn't been said about the Berenjena con Miel (eggplant with honey), a dish from Malaga, or Catalunia depending on whether you ask Mani (Malaga) or Alex (Catalunia). The eggplant is sliced into little round chunks that resemble mini-marshmallows, then deep-fried and drizzled with honey and topped with a fluff of bonito flakes ($7.50). The eggplant gets this crisp almost eggshell-like outer wrapper from being soaked in salt water and deep-fried; inside the crust you'll find a molten creamy honeyed center. Topped with the smoky bonito flakes, it's a spectacular experience that definitely rivals the Unini in terms of revelatory pleasures.

I should mention there are two desserts that must be consumed at EQP. The first is actually a cocktail that may be used as a dessert. It's a frozen drink that's not exactly ideal for this weather, but somehow it warms you up anyway. It's a horchata ($9)-a thick and frosty chufa nut (think almond) frozen drink that's topped off with a healthy dose of Spanish brandy. It's that brandy that acts like a little furnace inside you. The second is a collection of three little fried honey and walnut cakes called casadielles. These are little huts of flaky, ... [more, click below]

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Posted: December 10, 2007

Other restaurants in Chelsea :
+ Matsuri   + La Bottega   + Tia Pol   + Bombay Talkie   + Cookshop   + D'Or Ahn: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Buddakan   + Crema   + InTent: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Trestle on Tenth   + Klee   + El Quinto Pino   + Socarrat   + Txikito   + Co. (Company)   

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