Day 11 - A Taste of Spain

Portugal VS Korea DPR
Chile VS Switzerland
Spain VS Honduras

Paella is the one dish that always pops into my head when I think of Spanish food and there are a few places in Toronto I know of to get some. My first paella in Toronto was at Segovia. I remember the tapas and entertainment being good but the mussels in the paella were inedible and I haven’t been back since. Another place to get Paella is Embrujo Flamenco which is located next door to the Red Violin on the Danforth at Broadview. I’ve been there twice and everything was good.

Today it was time to try yet another paella. This time it would be from Cayo Coco located on Richmond just west of John Street. There was a small patio at the front of the building but I decided to go inside. Once inside, an Asian woman came to the edge of the stairs on the second floor so I headed upstairs and took a seat. I was waited on by a friendly Mexican man with whom I later discussed the World Cup with and got some advice on some other restaurants in the city.

There were a lot of tapas on the menu and I decided to order a bowl of gazpacho as an appetizer. Cilantro is one of those ingredients that you either love or hate and I’m one of those people that love it. When I tasted cilantro in my first spoonful of gazpacho, I was in love with it too.



I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a bread person but thanks to a small bowl of salsa, I consumed about a half a loaf. I don’t know what all the ingredients were in the salsa but I really liked it.


The menu at Cayo Coco had a few paella options but all of them were meant for 2 or more people, however, the staff was kind enough to make me a paella for one. I ordered the Paella Valenciana. When it arrived, it looked like it could have fed two. I don’t eat paella often enough to say if was a great paella but there were two things I noticed; the mussels could have been a little fresher and the calamari was tender, not chewy. I find that most calamari served in Toronto tends to be chewy so I personally give Cayo Coco “bonus marks” for having tender calamari. As far as the mussels go, they were still edible. Given that everything else was so good, I’m willing to overlook the mussels, this time.




There were a number of interesting looking tapas on the menu so I think I will be going back to try them out. Since Cayo Coco is so close to my office, I might just have to go there for lunch once my staycation is over.