Dinner at La Antigua Hueveria

Goo Goo g´joob

Basics
Location
Website



Per Person
Three shared tapas, 1 dessert, bottle of tinto.
(30% El Tenedor food discount) €15

In Short
Hopes?
Relaxed atmosphere, quality food.
Reality?
Relaxed atmosphere, ordinary food.
First Impressions?
Smart shabby decor.
A USP?
Exceptionally cheap drinks prices.
The food in three words?
Just too simple.
Can they get the staff?
No problems, but also no other customers at 2030.
Service with a smile?
Amiable, but not polished.
Would you take your friends?
No. There are so many more interesting alternatives.
Rating for a dating?
If I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together, you might meet your eggman.
Tip?
Small one.
Change one thing?
We'd have chosen our other option.
Going back?
There's really no reason.

Compare and Contrast
Good value lunch at El Rincon.
Just along the street at La Prodiga.

In Pictures
On Google Images

In Depth
There aren't a whole lot of egg shops left, are there? There must be the odd one lurking about in a market, but a burly fella loading up his fridges with cackleberries of many colours? Something that's almost gone.

So, the old egg shop? Is it worth shelling out on a visit?

It doesn't sell its connections too strongly, although there's an amusing eggbox decoration on a wall. Keeping to the theme, our first choice, half a dozen croquettas, turned up in a very nice ceramic egg box. We experimented with a tomato and cheese option - a rare thing, a vegetarian croquette that doesn't have mushroom in it. And we liked it a lot. More cheesy with a hint of tomato, but a nicely different take on something is always welcome. A doubt would be if it was cooked seperately from the meat-filled options. Worth checking on, for some.

Antigua hueveria


Aaand here comes the essential egg dish. Surely this should be good stuff, considering where we are? You'd hope they have egg-xacting standards. Well, this decent-sized huevos rotos was second on the bill, and we can't begrudge a decent amount of grub for €9. Sweetish sweated green peppers were a very odd inclusion, though. Had they run out of pimientos de padron? Something as sweet as they are isn't the ideal flavour to add to rumbustious ingredients like these.

Part three was a spud 'n' sauce combination, with the potatoes served up in another egg-shaped dish. A nice touch, but this should have either come second or at the same time as the eggs, which is a bit of a basic error in serving terms.

The spuds were cooked OK; but lacking seasoning. The sauces were a major disappointment. Homemade perhaps, but they didn't taste it. The alioli lacked garlic. The blue cheese was watery. Something red wasn't as good as ketchup with a dash of tabasco would have been.
Antigua hueveria


Dessert? Go on then. It's a short list so we'll see what this way comes. A generously large beer glass of tiramisu was creamy enough, but could have done with more boozy sponge to keep me happier. No complaints, but no prizes.

So, cheap? Yes. With an El tenedor discount, even with a bottle of wine we were only just scratching €30 for two. Cheerful? Yes, while not proficient - it's Madrid, asking for bread is not something you expect  to do - the staff were amiable and friendly and kept things moving at a good rhythm.

But it comes down to the food, doesn't it? We needed at least a smidge of pizzazz or passion. A surprise. Some, and I know you want this, egg-citement. That's not really what TAH seems to be aiming for.

The objective seems to be dishes which are safe, unchallenging and conservative with a cosy, small c. You're not going to scare the horses with food like this. You're not going to startle a stallion. Or mesmerise a mule. You're not even going to mildly dazzle a donkey. Perhaps it's up to us to get off our ass and try something a bit bolder.

That's no yolk.