Review on Bar Mistela - First almuerzo after COVID-19

Few weeks ago, after I had my Spanish C1 exam, Adri came to pick me up and we went for lunch. We were eating an ultra-salty anchovy sandwich when Adri told me that he could not taste or smell anything. Turned out that he was tested positive for COVID-19 and since we had (a lot of) contact before, I also stayed in isolation, which was already my 3rd isolation after lockdown. 😭 

Luckily he only lost his smell and taste for around 10 days without other symptoms. But we both suffered from a lot of pressure given we did not know if we would have passed it to someone else before he got tested positive. Given the economy in Spain is drastic at the moment, people can lose their jobs just because they had contact with someone tested positive and can't go to work! 😭 Meanwhile since some people don't show any symptoms, they could have passed it the higher risk group that suffer from more symptoms... 

Anyway thank god we are both totally fine now and Adri has also recovered his smell and taste. After the official confinement period indicated by the doctor, we went to this really popular place called Bar Mistela for Almuerzo. We needed to get out of the house so bad!  

To start off, we ordered their famous Torrezno which is deep fried salted belly pork. It was super crunchy outside and chewy inside with the perfect layer of pork fat. 

They serve several Almuerzo menu, all at pretty good deal to be honest.

You can order a half sandwich (15cm / €5), a normal (25cm / €6) or a Masclet (50cm / €10) with pickled olives, toasted peanut, a drink (water, soft drink or beer) and a coffee included. We ordered 2 sandwiches to share.

The first one was the sandwich of the week served with pork loin roasted in low temperature, cured cheese, picked union, rocket and mustard mayonnaise. The meat was so tender that it combined perfectly with the melted rich cheese, while the rocket gave it a fresh touch and the mustard mayo balanced out the greasiness. The bread of also undoubtedly fresh, crunchy on the outside but super spongy and spongy on the inside.

We also ordered one of the classics - Calamares a la Andaluza which is basically a squid ring sandwich with mayonnaise. The squid rings were flavourful and moist with a light batter. You can't go wrong with that really.

Despite it was a rainy day (which is really rare in Valencia and everyone here goes panic when it rains here), there was a long queue outside the bar and we were just dying to go out, especially to have an almuerzo which we both love! It is actually a really nice bar but since we did not want to queue in the queue, we prefer to sit outside with out jacket on under the awning. 

To finish I had a Americano and Adri ordered a Cremaet (see blog about Spanish breakfast & coffees) and a Mistela. Yes Mistela is actually a Valencian sweet dessert liquor and this bar serves their own Mistela (given being called Bar Mistela... duh). It's worth having a try if you haven't tasted it before!

Every week they have different dish and sandwich of the week and you can find out in their Instagram. @barmistela. I really look forward to come back to try more of their other dishes in the future.

It felt so good to be able to go out again after isolation even though it is just to have a nice sandwich in a bar. It is not only for the symptoms but also the mental health that one can suffer. I really hope it is not far for us to go back to normality and be able to travel again.

Hope you enjoy my sharing. See you next time!

Lots of love,

Cherrie