Don Quijote @ Dempsey Hill {Foodee}

It was Arlyn’s birthday, so we dressed up and celebrated it at Don Quijote, a spanish restaurant at the famous Dempsey Hill.

She chose the place because of her current fixation with the Spanish culture.

Her brother Armar even insisted that we should converse in Spanish throughout the meal.

Err… hermoso lugar! 

Deliciosa comida!

Which means “beautiful place” and “delicious food,” respectively.

I do know un poquito Spanish, though, because my hometown’s dialect is Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole language.

But don’t expect me to hold a decent Spanish conversation with anyone.

I tried explaining The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, which Arlyn and I had watched before dinner, and ended up saying this: “Dragon! Fuego! Casa! Duende! Muerte! Lagrimas!”

I don’t think anyone Spanish would have understood.

Or maybe they would have, thanks to my hand gestures. Hand gestures change everything.

Anyway, while we perused the menu, a waiter or marketing guy approached us and gave us an overview of their best dishes in Don Quijote. He said three people could order one small paella and 3 tapas, or 1 medium paella and 2 tapas.

Here’s what we ordered:

PAELLA DE CARNE (Medium) Slices of beef, chicken, chorizo sausages and rice cooked in saffron stock

HUEVOS ESTRELLADOS A Madrid favourite “broken eggs” with chorizo and potato wedges

SECRETO A LA PLANCHA Grilled secreto. The waiter explained that this was made of fine black pig and tasted a bit like beef

Of course when you want to have alcohol in a Spanish restaurant, you should always ALWAYS go for the sangria.

SANGRIA TINTO (red) or BLANCO (white)

I did so here and did not regret it, because they make really yummy sangrias. It has just the right amount of wine and sweetness.

The food, like I said earlier, was really delicious, too, not to mention very filling. We had a hard time finishing all that paella. If it were not so good, I never would have been able to, because I’m not used to eating a lot of rice anymore.

The waiter or marketing guy kept dropping by our table to talk to us and even helped us scrape up the last bits of our paella from the bottom of its pan.

He asked us if we would like dessert, and when we nodded, he said that it was on him, this being Arlyn’s birthday and all.

A few minutes later, a couple of waiters sang “happy birthday” and walked to our table with a small hard chocolate brownie with a lit candle.

We chimed in, too, and took some photos before Arlyn made a wish and blew out the candle. Then we ate the brownie which was really sticky-chewy-delicious.

But actually, here’s what happened earlier – Armar bought a lighter and I brought birthday candles. I told him I would pretend to go to the loo and he needed to distract Arlyn while I ordered a small cake.

“Perhaps you can hire someone to pretend to collapse,” I told him, “and you’re going to help him.”

Hiring people to pretend to do things is one of our favourite inside jokes.

So after we ordered our food, I excused myself to “take pictures.”

I really did do that, but I also hid behind a giant post and talked to the chatty marketing guy and whispered, “Can I order a slice of cake?”

Of course I had to whisper. Duh.

“Unfortunately we don’t have the bomba de chocolate anymore,” he whispered back. “But we do have the hard chocolate brownie.”

“Okay, can I have that, then?” I replied. “And can you put this candle on it?”

“No, no, I don’t need that,” he shook his head at the bag of candles I offered. “I have everything.”

And he really did.

And he did not even charge us for the brownie. So nice of him. We chose the right restaurant.

It really was the perfect setting for a classy birthday celebration, though. I loved the muted indoor lighting which lent it the perfect cozy, intimate ambiance.

I also loved the outdoors which was adorned with strings of lights and the Harry Potter-ish lamp posts, making it look… magical.

We walked around to enjoy the surroundings afterwards, and found another spot for hot chocolate, which was not only not hot, but not chocolatey either. We should just have stayed at Don Quijote. I bet they had Spanish chocolate or something.

We promised to come back here again, someday soon, if not to Don Quijote, then definitely to Dempsey Hill.

DON QUIJOTE
Block 7 Dempsey Road, #01-02 Singapore 249671
Website: http://www.don-quijote-restaurants.com/
Tel: (+65) 6476 2811

Mon – Wed : 4pm to 10.30pm
Thu – Fri : 4pm till late
Sat : 11am till late (Brunch 11am – 2.30pm)
Sun : 11am to 10.30pm (Brunch 11am – 2.30pm)