CASA ARMAS Tapas Bar Y Restaurante: The Return of the Spaniards

It is for restaurants like Casa Armas that I become thankful that we adapted quite a number of Spanish cultures. According to Wikipedia, "About 40% of everyday (informal) Tagalog conversation is practically made up of Spanish loanwords."

While I believe that it is good to infuse one culture with another, some things are better left preserved for authenticity and taste credibility. Enter Casa Armas, located at Greenbelt 3. From the warm textured walls, to the dark wood doors and windows, to the bull heads mounted on the walls, it is Spanish alright!

Casa Armas is well-known for their Paellas. This dish originated from Valencia in the East Coast of Spain during the mid-19th century. It is like a casserole, rice topped with different vegetables and meat. It began to evolve over the years as it crossed Mediterranean borders, and is now being served with sausages, seafoods and many more.  

They begin your meal by serving a basket of unlimited bread with butter. We ordered the Gambas al Ajillo, shrimps sauteed in olive oil, garlic and green chili. For P365, the serving size was small, but then again, it was good. The garlic flavor was very strong but not overpowering, the gambas were sweet at the olive oil went very well with the bread served earlier. It wasn't big enough for three, but it was good enough to stir up one's appetite.

Beef Salpicao came in next at P515. It was swimming in olive oil and garnished with garlic bits. The bigger chunks were undercooked which I'm sure is a good thing for some people, but not for me. I hate seeing blood in my food, or pinkish meat at the very least. That aside, the salpicao was tender, under-seasoned, but it went amazingly well with the Paella Valenciana at P865.

The Paella was festive. It contains pork, chicken, eggs, seafood, vegetables and rice and served in a "paelle" or pan. It was really big, good enough for five people, I think. But since there were only three of us that night, 1/3 of the paella went straight to the doggy bag. My friend suggested that I eat the "tutong" or the burnt rice at the bottom of the pan. Surprisingly, it was better, more texture, more flavor. hahah! 100% pinoy. However good, rice will be rice. I was already full after the 4th spoonful.

There was no room for dessert. 

Overall, I'd say that Casa Armas was honest, authentic, expensive but was well-justified by the quality of the food. The experience would have been better had we ordered their really expensive specialties like the pork sucklings which requires a one-day advance order, or their roasted lambs. But hey, at least I know what everyone's talking about. 

Will I come back for another round? Yes. To try their Callos, roasts and tortillas. 

Price: P450-P1,200

3/F Greenbelt 3, Paseo de Roxas, Ayala Center, Makati

573 J. Nakpil St. cor. J. Bocobo St., Malate, Manila

132 Jupiter St., Bel-Air 2, Makati

1/F The Podium, 18 ADB Ave., Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong

Food :                      ****
Ambiance:              ****

Service:                   ***

Cleanliness:           ***

Experience:            ***
Value for money : ***

Serving:                  ***