Tag: beer

Cantina Mariachi – Valencia

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For dinner, we were on the look for something on the student budget side. We headed to the nearby mall for our hotel again, and spotted Los jueves! Yes, it was a Thursday and my Spanish finally came to use. So on Thursdays at Cantina Mariachi, you can get two tacos and a beer for only 3 euros! Not bad at all!

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The place has a bit of a Mexican feel to it, but my god the service here is ridiculously slow. I guess I’m starting to get used to terrible service in Spain, but one would think this restaurant was more of a fast food joint. If you want to get quick food here, think again. The servers here, who are young boys walk ever so slowly and watching them move was just painful.

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Anyways, our beers came and they came in some pretty cool glasses. Europeans love head on their beers, contrary to what we Canadians like. We usually try to pour our beer so we get the least possible. Here, they try to get lots. Cold beer was still great for a hot day.

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Taco Ranchero, Mariachi Taco, Taco Beef with Cheese

The only thing about the deal is that you must get the same two tacos. That was fine with us though, as we all ordered something different so we could try each others. M got the Taco Ranchero, which had veal cooked with mushrooms , onions and green peppers. This was a very difficult one to eat as it was very soggy. S got the Mariachi Taco, which was beef stew with beans. Also more of a wet taco, but still flavourful. Lastly, I got the Taco Beef with Cheese, which had veal steak with melted cheese. Mine was the easiest to eat and I also really enjoyed the veal steak. It was probably my favourite. Each plate also came with a cup of salsa for you to pour over.

All in all, you can’t expect much here, but the Thursday deal is definitely a steal! Just don’t expect quick service.

La Surena

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La Surena is inside Centro Commercial El Saler in Valencia. This mall was near our hotel and on a rainy evening, M and I decided to look for nearby food. We ended up in the mall and on the floor where all the food stalls and restaurants were. We came across La Surena and thinking that I knew all the Spanish in the world after just taking Spanish100, I decided to attempt to translate the menu. I read chicken and fish and all, and naively thought that I would be having a fantastic meal for a ridiculous price. Yea right… So our meal came to $11 euros and that included 2 large pints of beer.

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And this is really what he had ordered… 7 mini sandwiches and a salad for S (which was also the most expensive item on our bill). So apparently on specific days, you can get mini sandwiches for just 1 euro! Yea, and they were filled with all the ingredients I had attempted to translate…So I hadn’t exactly gotten the translations wrong, I just didn’t know they would be coming inside a sandwich…a mini one to be exact. And although M hates sandwiches, he admitted that these were pretty good! The ingredients and sauce inside really made it delicious. I actually wouldn’t mind having these agin to be honest. Just funny how I sort of tricked M into getting sandwiches when I really didn’t know. The place was packed and their other popular items are nachos which are also dirt cheap. This would be the perfect place to grab a quick snack and a beer. On different days, they also have other deals such as a bucket of beer for a really cheap price.

Granville Island Brewing Taproom

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After water-biking at Granville Island, J and I were thirsty and walked by the Granville Island Brewing Taproom. I’ve never been here, so we decided to grab an afternoon drink to quench our thirst.

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The taproom was quite packed, but we luckily found a seat by the bar. You basically just walk in and find a seat wherever you like. Pretty much like any pub. In the back, you can see all the machines brewing the beer.

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They have a tasting map with the 8 different beers they have. I’m not a huge fan of beer, so I honestly had no idea what I was ordering. I did however go to a beer tasting event before, so I learned a little, but still not enough to call myself an expert (not in close actually).

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Hefeweizen, Raspberry Ale, Small Batch

They had a special going on where you could try 3 different kinds of beer on tap at around $9 I think? The glasses are around half the size of a normal pint, but it’s perfect if you want to try different types of beer. I chose to try the Hefeweizen, which was described as a unfiltered wheat ale, and is vaguely tart with light clove and banana flavours and aromas. It finishes crisp and dry. I definitely tasted the banana flavours to it, which was quite interesting, but I did find it to be a bit dry, like it said. Next I tried the Raspberry Ale. I keep seeing this advertised around Granville Island, and because of it’s pink colour, I always assumed it would be a girly beer. I believe it’s only available during the summer as it is a seasonal ale, and combines premium malt and hops with Fraser Valley raspberries. It is well-balanced with raspberry colour, aroma and finish. It tastes like fresh raspberries, without being too sweet, and is refreshingly tart with enough pale malt character, so it tastes like an ale, and not a wine cooler. This was definitely one of the sweeter and fruitier beers, and probably my favourite out of the three. Last but not least, J chose the Small Batch, which we were told was basically a dark ale. It was super bitter! Definitely not something I would drink normally, and it left a bitter aftertaste in your mouth.

If you want to try out different beers at a decent price, the taproom at the Granville Island Brewing is the perfect place to go. It gets quite busy during the summer afternoons, and I would assume it’s even busier during night time.

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