On my third date with my husband, we went for tapas. We both read the menu and then put them aside both with an expression of uncertainty. It was my then new boyfriend who was going to broach it first. “We could just order everything except the croquettes.”
I agreed immediately. And apparently that’s when he decided we were going to get along.
(These little, ‘I like you because…’ asides did go a little awry on rock climbing (date2). He said he would only want to date a girl who would be happy going rock climbing. I only went cos I fancied him and then had to be rescued from the top of a fake rock. But hey, we still seemed to end up married. )
And tapas was what we thought we were ordering from L’Oculto for takeaway. We were wrong. There was too much. These dishes, empanadas and pies were enormous. It has to be said every dish was brilliant. The rabbit meat balls were phenomenal.
Their cheesecake is famous. I have to say, I suspect that the cheesecake is marmite (as in not literally yeast extract flavoured… yeah, anyway.. you get me). It actually tastes of strong cheese. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know my feelings on overly-sweet cheesecake (here http://blackheath.london/copper-and-ink/i-found-good-cheescake-a-review-of-copper-ink-se3/ at Copper and Ink, and here at Champagne & Fromage http://blackheath.london/greenwich/champagne-and-fromage/first-name-terms-with-a-champagne-named-colin/) however, I think I may be undone because this was considerably less sweet then the starter of tosta celina. What I did think was perfectly flavoured was the chocolate cake, another delicacy that I am particularly picky about and hardly ever order. Here I trusted them.
A note on the hygiene – what was visible was impeccable, separate plastic gloves for each transaction, and alcohol rub on the side.
However, I appear to have aged. Back in the olden days, that romantic evening in MK when the waitress laughed at us… i did finish everything on my place. Tonight, nope. I have a waist line to consider. Empanada for breakfast anyone? (That’s rhetorical, food is scarce these days.)
L’Oculto has moved to Brockley which threw me a little after ordering. Probably been there a while, but I have a lot of eating to get through on your behalf. So, depending which side of Blackheath you live, you might decide it’s a little too far to justify during social distancing. When all this is over, I’ll be moving in with them.
Click on the “Date night” blog for a link for takeaway and wine menus to L’Oculto.
Have you pre-ordered my novel “Helen and the Grandbees” yet? Don’t wait for publication date… there might be a run on books by then!
https://www.legendpress.co.uk/helen-and-the-grandbees
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Alex+morall&ref=nb_sb_noss
