Pinchos

Pinchos is a little hole in the wall tapas bar in Leederville that was previously home to Snags & Sons, both of which are from the talented Justin Bell of Jus Burgers fame.

Pinchos, or Pintxos means ‘to spike’ – we’ve got lots of yummy Spanish nibbles, small to large plates & lunch options all at authentic European prices.

GG and I headed along on Sunday for our first visit to try the new menu of the day, “Menu Del Dia”, which is a well-priced lunch special consisting of One Pinchos, One Tapas and One Salad & Ciabatta, Oil and Vinegar ($15).

Photo Credit: Pinchos

Now we decided we’d also try a few other dishes while we were there, including a serve of the chicken and chorizo paella and some of the cured meats.

To order you just place ticks or crosses on the order form next to the dishes you’d like and hand it to one of the friendly staff.

As well as what was sure to be a tasty lunch, a visit to Pinchos was also an opportunity for some Spain training. We’ll be spending five nights in beautiful Barcelona as part of our #Europe2015 adventure so the more practice we have at eating Spanish food the better. OK yes, I’ll use any excuse to eat.

We kicked things off with an Estrella beer, which was an easy drinking brew and soon enough the food started to appear in an exciting and slightly daunting ‘we may have ordered too much’ flurry.

We started with the Pintxos Chorizo con Miel – Sausage, Honey and Cheese and while it was only a mere mouthful it packed plenty of flavour with the spiced chorizo, creamy cheese and sweet honey. Definitely kick started the taste buds into action, like an amuse bouche on a stick.

Next up were the Croquetas – Smoked Ham and Chicken Croquettes and Chicharrones – Roast Pork Belly, Cumin and Lemon. Best to tackle the deep fried goodies early on so we could chase them with the refreshing salad. The croquettes were well seasoned and full of shredded chook and smoked ham with a crispy crumbed outer coating. It’s hard not to fall in love with deep fried little treasures like this.

Also having spent a decent amount of time in the fryer were the generous chunks of fried pork belly, dusted with cumin and spritzed with zesty, fresh lemon. It was really interesting having the pork belly fried. Meant there were a whole bunch of different textures on the go – crispy bits, pleasingly chewy bits and the fatty belly goodness just melted in your mouth. Different to how I have had pork belly before, so I liked that they had mixed it up.

The cured meats we had were all very tasty – from the grilled chorizo and spanish sausage to the jamon and the salami. I also liked how there was a fennel salad included to cut through all that tasty, salted meat. Plus the salami had a bit of a spicy kick so was soothing on the tongue.

The paella was a very generous serve with chunky slices of chorizo and pieces of chicken and the rice had been slowly prepared in their giant paella pan, so there were nice crispy bits throughout the well flavoured rice. It is such a filling dish!

Thankfully though there was just enough room to round things out with the Ensalada de la Casa – iceberg lettuce, manchego and PX vinegar. Iceberg often seems like a more at home type of lettuce but the Pinchos team really showcased how to dress it up. Shaved manchego and a zesty sherry vinaigrette and you’ve got yourself a very tasty salad and it was perfectly refreshing after some of the other fried style dishes.

Yes I had perhaps gotten a touch carried away with ordering, probably didn’t really need the cured meats, but I am a big fan and had wanted to give them a whirl! So I made my peace with my slightly fuller than I should be feeling and rolled myself out of there.

So next time you are in Leederville in need of a quick bite to eat then keep Pinchos in mind. Perth’s own slice of Spain on the corner of Newcastle and Oxford.

Thank you Pinchos for the invitation to visit.