Platos Mineros

Jonathan, Ana and I decided to leave the Gran Vía and head back North to where he lives to have some dinner on my last night in Madrid.

It had been such a great weekend, I was actually quite sad to leave.

La Mina is a cute little bar just up the road from JoBro's flat, near Francos Rodríguez.

We rushed in from the rain and the cold, brushed the raindrops off our jeans and warmed up with some cañas, which came with a tapa de patatas alioli.

I'm not a big fan of cold potatoes, but not to worry, Jonathan soon demolished the entire plateful!

We ordered a couple of raciones of food (like big portions of tapas) and a couple of platos mineros, which are miner's dishes.

We couldn't quite work out why they were called "platos mineros" then realized we were sitting in "La Mina", 'The Mine'. The entire restaurant was themed around miners and mines, which was pretty cool considering all of our Welsh ancestors worked in the mines.

So I felt we were paying homage to them!

The food was classically Spanish and homemade; effortlessly simple and delicious.

Homemade croquetas straight from the frier

 They were rich and creamy and filled with jamón

 And shamelessly eaten with our hands

 Definitely some of the best croquetas I have ever had!

 There were so many patatas bravas!

 Which we dunked in alioli and salsa brava.

The alioli, 'garlic mayonnaise', soothes down the spicy salsa brava.

Albóndigas, 'meatballs', with more patatas. 

 And huevo, chorizo and, you guessed it, patatas.

I was so full after eating so many patatas, but they were so delicious we just couldn't stop!

Us girls might be smiling, but we were hiding our food babies under the table!

The weather outside was still appalling so it was home time for us. 

All three of us cosied up on the bed with Cola Cao (hot chocolate) and watched el peliculón de las 10 on Antena 3 which was Evan Almighty. 

I had no shame in third wheeling the couple. Eventually they went out with friends for some Saturday night fun, which meant I got the double bed and the TV all to myself! Muahahaha. I soon drifted off into dreamland and managed to get some shut eye before my early train back home to Málaga in the morning. 

I had such a great time in Madrid! Thank you JoBro for looking after me!