Monday, January 23, 2012

TIO PEPE RESTAURANTE

Vince and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary a few months back.  We planned on going out of town to Maryland for a little getaway, but on the day we were to leave, a heavy snow storm almost snowed our plans in.  We waited for the bad weather to pass but it was already getting late, so we initially decided not to go.  However, soon after we cancelled our hotel reservations and other itineraries, we realized what a bummer it would be if we won't do anything for our first anniversary, so we changed our minds and decided to eventually push through our plans.  We quickly packed our stuff, got dressed, shoveled and scraped heaps of snow, prayed for safety, and in a jiffy, we were off to Baltimore.

Our first stop in Baltimore was at Tio Pepe Restaurante for a sumptuous Spanish dinner in a subterranean setting.  Vince had been wanting to eat Spanish cuisine for a while then, and when he searched for Spanish restaurants in Baltimore, Tio Pepe Restaurante appears as the best and most popular of all.


Our Tio Pepe dining experience was memorable for its authentic Spanish ambiance, from the decor, servers and receptionists, all the way to the food, as well as the Hispanic guests.  Vince and I had Paella a la Valenciana para dos, one of the more popular dishes in its menu.   It is mainly a seafood dish composed of lobster, shrimps, mussels, clams with veal, chorizo and chicken in fragrant saffron rice.   The serving was big for the two of us, and Vince, not much of a seafood eater, we had lots of leftovers as expected.  The food was good - very seafood in flavor - although, we felt it could use more taste from the chicken or veal meat, to counter or maybe neutralize even for a bit the power of seafood in it.  Of course, we're no food critics and we could be wrong to say that, but the meal definitely didn't blow us away.

So what I did was... I took home the leftover Paella a la Valenciana and revamped it to suit our palate.  I reheated it in a pan and added a dash of salt and pepper and a portion of chicken bouillon cube, and that did the trick of enhancing the flavor and taste.  I served the revamped version for our next meal, and voila, we finished it!  Nothing went to waste ;)


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You can read more of my foodie stuff here:  GASTRONOMY MONDAY

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Life and then SomFTFBadge

37 comments:

  1. always visiting and supporting here..

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  2. Visiting here and happy monday to you..

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  3. tetweew;) ka tweet man woi.. that food just yummy... visiting from YS;)

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  4. Owww...medyo masalimuot pala ang inyong tinahak papunta sa venue ng inyong date. Tapos, di kayo ganu nag enjoy sa foods pa noh? Me naman, I also love paella pero yung na serve sa inyo parang sobrang dami nga ng one serving. Paella kasi is nakakasawa kaya dapat small amount lang talaga ang kakainin. Anyway, good din yung naisip mo, at least di sya nasayang! :)

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  5. Belated 1st wedding anniv. sa inyo ate KM! :)

    Okay lang yun kung di kayo nakapunta sa Maryland.. Ang importante dun, magkasama kayo kahit san kayo mapunta.

    EHHHH ~ ang sweet-sweet nyo.

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  6. Congrats to both of you, and more anniversary filled with love respect and understanding..

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  7. andaming laman ang plato, di ako pwede jan.. :)

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  8. lobsters...my gawd! :D that serving is good for 1 family! LOL

    anyway, thanks so much for joining COPS. hope to see you next week. :)

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  9. Buti naman at naisip mong i take home at retoke-hin yung paella na yan... Hehehe

    At least kahit papanu hindi nasayang. Sobra ata sa isang tao ang serving na yan eh...

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  10. Happy 1st wedding anniversary to you both Sis KM and many more :-) You look lovely in the purple outfit, glad you push your plan. :-) Visiting from Crazy Over Purple Saturdays,hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.simplyjess.info/purple-dress-given-by-her-aunt/

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  11. Happy Anniversary to both of you! we went to a Japanese Restaurant on our first wedding anniversary.

    You are one resourceful wifey to recreate the valenciana at home =)

    my FTF entry is here http://www.mrspinkihan.com/breakfast-at-tim-hortons/

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  12. ay ang sarap naman niyan, im drooling :)

    visiting from FTF!

    http://thelayugan.blogspot.com/2012/01/vegetable-lumpia.html

    hope to see you there too, thanks!

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  13. Happy 1st year anniversary! Even if the food didn't blow you away, I bet your love for each other made the day extra special. Happy FTF! Here's my entry: http://www.delightmyappetite.com/2012/01/a-sizzling-dinner-at-sizzlin-pepper-steak/

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  14. Looks delish and very clever of you to jazz it up! Happy FTF!

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  15. belated happy 1st anniversary...paella's really yummy, specially if having in such place like that, ambiance makes the experience more lovely. and that let over na niretoke, still looks so mouthwatering! katakam. visiting from FTF, hope to see you around and have a bit of my turon split. :)

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  16. Happy anniversary! is that a lobster, havent eaten one is that has the same taste with a crab? Mine is up and its here thanks

    Sahm’s Dining Diary

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  17. oh! what a big yummy lobster Sis KM, happy 1st wedding anniversary to you both and cheers for more :-)visiting from FTF, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.jessysadventure.com/2012/01/shrimp-scampi.html

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  18. Happy anniversary!!! Sarap ng lobster:)

    Visiting for YM! Hope you can stop by:)

    http://www.mommys4seasonsjourney.com/2012/01/frozen-asian-food.html

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  19. what a delish and humungous lobster Sis KM :-) Happy wedding anniversary to you both :-) Visiting from Yummy Sunday, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.tropical7107islands.com/2012/01/i-miss-eating-kinilaw-ceviche-so-bad.html
    )

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  20. dumadalaw ulit para sa Yummy Sunday sis...

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  21. super yum! *wink*

    Hope you can visit my entry too! happy week ahead!

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  22. hi! i think it's my first time here. the food looks really good. im just imagining the paella you were describing and i felt like drooling. deprived sa seafood here e.
    here's my entry for food friday
    http://www.pinaymom-in-germany.com/2012/01/my-36th/
    thanks!

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  23. Holy molly, nagutom ako bigla hahaha, and to think I just ate dinner wahhh.

    Visiting from Yummy Sunday.

    Spice Up Your Life

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  24. If a food is that yummy I think nothing would ever go to waste. Look at that lobster!

    Visiting via Food Friday

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  25. I'm back again:)

    Visiting for FTF! Hope you can stop by:)

    http://www.harpsterschronicle.com/pineapple-upside-down-cake/

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  26. Hi again visiting you from Yummy Sunday I really love that lobster over there. LOL Sahm’s Dining Diary

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  27. That lobster makes me really drool visiting you from orange tuesday this time hope you can return the visit as well hehehe here's mine:

    Mary Anne’s Musings

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  28. Hi KM, Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby! it's been a while too that I haven't eaten and cooked paella. one of the best i've tasted so far is from an indian resto and it was really delicious, i am surprised that the authentic Spanish paella, which i would love to try too, did not blow you both away. anyways, i hope you had a wonderful anniversary date. late visit for YS!

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  29. Hi KM, Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby! it's been a while too that I haven't eaten and cooked paella. one of the best i've tasted so far is from an indian resto and it was really delicious, i am surprised that the authentic Spanish paella, which i would love to try too, did not blow you both away. anyways, i hope you had a wonderful anniversary date. late visit for YS!

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  30. that big orange lobster looks delish Sis KM, you both look adorable too.
    Visiting from Orange Tuesday, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.simplyjess.info/my-little-girls-orange-ariel-hair-brush/

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  31. back here from Orange Tuesday...and laki talaga ng lobster, yum! see you around. have a great week. :)

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  32. Visiting again for Orange Tuesdays! Hope you can stop by:)

    http://www.loveablecassandra.com/2012/01/little-diva.html

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  33. Thank you for Joining Orange Tuesdays 34th edition..
    37th edition will be open around 8pm today..

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