Question for Spain experts
 

Hi,

I have promised my daughter, who is a lover of fried calamari, that when we go to Spain she will be able to sample the best. In Northern Spain I have always called them "rabas". BTW, the best rabas I have ever had were in Cafe Bilbao in the Plaza Nueva in Bilbao!
Can you find rabas in Madrid or Santiago? I don't recall eating them in either place. If you know of a place in either city that serves them, please let me know! I hope I will be able to fulfill my promise to her.

Yes you’ll find it. Not everywhere, maybe not as tender (flown in) and subject to availability that morning on the market, but if you look or ask for Rabas de Calamar you’ll find them, most likely under either Entrantes or Ensaladas or even Canapés.

Your eagle eye will spy the word Calamares on this menu:
http://11870.com/pro/taberna-real/menu/67c183fa

Possibly the sixth from the top on this:
http://11870.com/pro/stop-madrid/media/bffe6d82

If your daughter wants to learn four different ways of preparing them herself, have her scroll down on this website (too long to list in full):
http://tinyurl.com/8vxklg

cruiseluv,
In Madrid they're called calamares rather than rabas, unless you're in a bar that specializes in food from the north and they happen to refer to them as rabas.

In Madrid almost any old time bar (and lots of them in Old Madrid-el Madrid de los Austrias) will serve a bocadillo de calamares or a ración de calamares fritos.
Some like El Brillante, which is across from the entrance to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

Hi cruiseluv,
I'm not absolutely sure that they serve calamares, but I love most everything that they serve in the bar at 0'42 in Santiago de Compostela.

www.restauranteo42.com

Also try Bar Coruña on Raiña 17 for their calamares.

Well, for Madrid, celebrity chef José Andrés in his Made for Spain series says this is THE calamares place-

Bar La Campana, Botoneras 6, within walking distance of your apartment on Plaza de la Paja!

My mind today is shot-I'm in between languages! They're "calamares a la romana". Geeze.
And Calle Botoneras runs on the east side of the Plaza Mayor.

Thank you Maribel and DalaiLama!

This is fantastic info.

cruiseluv,
If you'd like to kill two birds with one stone with your daughter, calamares and flamenco, you might like to have dinner either at the bar or in the restaurant at Casa Patas and follow your meal with a flamenco performance.
The bar/restaurant area gets really lively around 8-8:30 pm before the early performance with the families and friends of the performers hanging out with them. Interesting people watching.
And the bar serves a very decent "fritura de calamares" and a "fritura de chopitos" (baby squid). Prices are reasonable.
They also serve a well priced menú del día at lunch, Mon-Fri.
www.casapatas.com

Hi cruiseluv,
watch this pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha_pineapple/309908004/

I see nobody has posted the obvious: Rabas is Calamares, squids. They call them rabas in some locations in the North. I'll add that I name so the big ones cut in stripes.

Hola

She may also enjoy fried chopito - whole baby squid. With a side plate of patatas bravas. Awesome!

and ajo aceite..

Maribel, thanks I was about to ask about Flamenco in Madrid (since we are not going to Sevilla), so that sounds like a great option.

OMG Revulgo, I should not have looked at that picture before dinner! Now I can't stop thinking about it! LOL

Is the "fried chopito" also breaded?

Lin, Is that olive oil and sauted garlic?

"Is the "fried chopito" also breaded?"

No I think it's just dusted in flour and fried. I love calamari but the chopito were a really nice "twist" on this type of seafood. Have fun :)

ajo aceite, o sometimes called aioli.. is a mayonaisse made with garlic.. absolutely to die for.

chopitos quality ( same for calamares a al romana, etc. etc.) will depend on the breading, too, as some places do a light breading, flour dusting.. and others can be made with too much heavy breading.. so just a chance where you get it.

try "sepia a la plancha". i love it. they grill a squid and then pour a garlic/ parsley oil sauce on top.

yummmmmm

Thanks for the clarification. Oh yes, aioli, yumm!

Wait: I thought that seppie and calamari were two different creatures...

Are these terms used interchangeably?

sepia and calamar are two different creatures, although perhaps same family?

the sepia has a very thick white body whereas the calamar is a longer,thinner, purply skinned body.. at least in the marketplace it has seemed to me.

Hi cruiseluv,

to me, the "chipirones fritos" at the Cafe Bilbao (similar to the chopitos) are far better than the rabas there.

Here in Madrid they are called calamares. I am not a big fan of "El Brillante". They are so famous that they tend to reheat them and they don´t taste so good. I prefer some of the bars going up from Sol to Plaza Mayor.

And I really, really love the "chopitos". Tiny squid in a bit of flour and then fried, very good.

Rgds, Cova

Hi cruiseluv,
The quality depends, I think, on the freshness of the oil and the skill of the fryer, so that they don't get overcooked and rubbery.

"El Brillante" claims to have "los mejores calamares de Madrid", that's their slogan, so places like this sometimes take advantage of their fame and just reheat them, especially since El Brillante gets lots of tourists on the way to the Reina Sofía museum.

Any old time, family run, hole-in-the-wall, less famous "freiduría", specializing in fried foods, like the ones on streets surrounding the Plaza Mayor (La Ideal is another one) have been serving them for decades and probably are a better bet.

I too prefer the "chopitos", the baby squid, to the large rings of fried calamares. Really delicious! Andalusian bars in Madrid usually do all these "frituras" pretty well, thus the recommendation of the bar food at Casa Patas to take care of your Andalusian fritura and your flamenco.