Paella Guys: Live the Experience (Dine Out 2024)

With memories of their Paella cooking class still fresh in mind, I was looking forward to the Paella Guys Live the Experience as part of the Dine Out Vancouver Fest.  Rather than being in their commissary kitchen, they take over a quaint spot at Dageraad Brewing just next door.  Seated at a communal table, it is a night truly to be with friends and to make new ones.  This I did since Jackie was stuck at Metrotown due to a shutdown of Skytrain.  The people around me were fun and we had great conversation.

Onto the food, much like the Paella cooking class, we were presented with a collection of tapas to share.  This included Marcona Almonds, Tortilla de Patatas, Anchovy Marinated Olives, Spanish Iberico Meats and Jamon Iberico.  These were a nice start to the meal and as I've said before, Marcona almonds are the best!  So light and crunchy.  Meats were solid but the tortilla was my favourite as it had just enough potato to compliment the fluffy egg as well as some onion for sweetness.

Now the tortilla was delicious, but the Empanada Gallega de Atun was even better in my opinion.  These little pies featured a light and flaky crust that was a good match for the tuna filling.  With olives, tomatoes and peppers, the filling did have some antipasto sauce vibes (yes, I know that is Italian, but you get the idea).  For my beverage (extra cost from the meal) was the Japanese-style Dark Larger with wild rice.  Despite the dark hue, this was still refreshing and crisp with more depth.

Usually, I'm as excited about a salad as a root canal (I've had one, so yah, I'm serious).  However, this Ensalada Mediterranea was absolutely stunning to look at and super delicious to eat.  When they were preparing it, they tossed in a good amount of salt.  This really helped bring out the flavour of the vinaigrette as well as the natural sweetness of the beets, tomatoes and corn.  As such, I went back for seconds!  A salad!  Beneath the vibrant veggies, we found a mix of crisp greens.

Onto the main event - the Paella Mixta with bomba rice, chicken, red peppers, mushrooms, onions, shrimp, prawns, tomatoes, garlic, pimenton and house-made seafood stock.  As big as this paella was, the entire thing was perfectly cooked.  Beyond the al dente and super aromatic rice, we found pieces of socarrat that was both nutty and provided a nice mouth feel.  The chicken thighs were still tender while the shrimp and prawns were just barely cooked through.

For dessert, we had the Tarta de Santiago.  I've had this before and yah, this was just as delicious as last time.  This almond tart had aromatic and buttery crunchy edges with caramelized sweetness.  Inside, the almond was nutty, buttery and purposefully sweet.  Loved the obvious taste of lemon in these as it brightened things up.  Overall, this was a fun night that was more than just the food.  Yes, it was fantastic (and also plentiful, because you can have seconds), but the communal table, live music and vibe were the things that made this a unique experience.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- This is how we should eat this food, with friends, music and drinks
- Excellently-prepared Paella
- Unique

The Bad:
- Once again, the parking situation in the industrial parking lot is challenging