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Cheri’s Special Tasting Event with KAMEREO!
Thank you very much for coming to my event at Tomatito! It was really fun as always!
I guess I had enjoyed the most…. There were some new comers as well as regulars at the event. To my surprise, there were also some people I knew from online that I got to meet coincidentally. What a start! And there was another huge group besides us at the restaurant! It’s like everyone knows where the good food is♪
So as for this event, I was hosting it with Tomatito and Kamereo. Kamereo is a Purchasing & Sourcing Platform For Restaurant. It’s a real pleasure for me to work with those food professionals.
They worked really hard for my event and you know there were many of my favourite foods there, so I couldn’t wait for the night.
And finally the time had come and when I got there, what I found out was….
Oh my…
Yes, I’ve heard we are going to do live cooking show for our guests, but I didn’t expect this MASSIVE one. Wow, what a surprise!
Apparently they cook paella for Sunday brunch with the huge frying pan. And they exceptionally use it for my event. Ohh, thank youuu sooo much!
What’s more, the paella for the night was gorgeously cooked with meat and seafood! For real!?
By the way, this pan is a special equipment and look at it, the stove down there was specifically made for it!
Needless to say, without heating up the pan entirely, it would be impossible to cook the beautiful paella, right? As you can see, there are so many circles of flames heating up the pan down there. Sooo cool!
I was talking with one of the regulars of my event, who is also a food professional. Having got too excited by the pan, we were like…
“It’s really cooool!!”
“Yeah, I wanna cook with it!”
and drooling… Wait, remember I wasn’t the one drooling but HE was. LOL
There was another lady taking photos next to me. She was a bit astounded and went…
“Hey Cheri, you were staring at paella like you are falling in love with it….”
…
You know I’ve never seen these gigantic pans before!!
And Julio, the chef there, was such a nice guy with an excellent cooking skill. When met with him first time, I intuitively knew he was a great cook and it was totally true!
Well-cooked broth and vegetable soup stock, smoke paprika from Spain, saffron and carefully-selected rice. You can’t go wrong with these!
Apparently, Julio personally likes al dente but he said
“We have Japanese guests tonight, so I make it a bit softer!”
And he was adjusting the heating power. Such a skill!
It seemed he was doing it with ease but it’s actually really hard to cook paella that much at once!
Usually it’s cooked in an oven and/or toasted by cooking torch, but he was using only this pan by adjusting the heating power. And can you see? The rice is slightly scorched at the bottom and gives it an extra flavour! It’s an art, really! Now, I have to admit I was the one who was drooling for this…
Of course, tapas were fabulous too. I was actually running around on that night, so I couldn’t eat them much.. But I know they are very nice, for I had tried them out before the event.
Without knowing much about food here, I cannot suggest the best for my guests. So I did some homework before the meeting on the event. Julio was apparently touched by my attitude but it is I who was moved for his skill and insights, honestly! Their recipes are full of inspirations and surprises.
I was busy running around and saying “See, it’s really good, isn’t it!? How inspirational!”. I might’ve looked like their shill a bit…(￣▽￣)
Oh, and I didn’t know about this one.
There’s a glass pitcher of sangrias. It’s available from 290k for 1L? Just a glass of wine would cost around 200k at a modest restaurant usually, right!?
We enjoyed it very much as a welcome drink, and their pricing sounded a bit surreal to me. So I just double-checked with them. Yes, it’s real.
I couldn’t help but order another one for me… Look at the juicy watermelon on top!
This one’s got a passion fruit flavour and this one is good too! I can drink it all at one go (Stop, Cheri, please….)
Honestly, I was thinking the restaurant has many wonderful tapas at expensive-ish prices and of course we have to pay the price for a good reason. But given it’s pricing for drink and their quality, it’s actually quite reasonable, overall!
What’s more, we had a dessert made of chocolate from that famous patisserie, Marou. I’m not sure if they have it regularly, but it tasted gorgeous.
Hard to describe but I’m glad to have an event here at Tomatito. I could share the special moment with my friends and this event gave me the insights on the restaurant! I mean I wouldn’t have noticed how dedicated they really are if I had come here just as a customer.
They gave us a great deal, really! Sometimes I’d had some not-so-good events at other restaurants because of the tight budget or whatever reasons, unfortunately. You know that’s up to them but I’ve never talked to them since then…
Tomatito was different, though. We’d love to share the wonderful experience at the restaurant with our friends on social media and in person. Of course, we will come back to this Spanish place again and again. They can think about the long term future and invest in it. What an excellent restaurant Tomatito is!
I’ve been quite fortunate to work with superb restaurants like Tomatito, Belgo etc.. You know I can write my blog thanks to the supports from those fabulous places. I feel that way even more when hosting events.
We’re so lucky to be in Saigon, especially when it comes to food. I mean it!
Great people with great food. I’m so delighted to have this event with Tomatito!
By the way, that huge paella is available at Sunday brunch. It’s called “Unlimited Paella”, apparently.
So for those with good appetite, check it out!
When eating the paella, try it out with garlic mayonnaise and a hint of lime! Surely it’s good as it is, but they give it an extra accent to it. Julio was like “Hey guys, try it out with this mayonnaise. Hey, pass this lime to them”. You know how important they are now.
It was a weeknight but the restaurant was packed with people. So I would suggest you to make a reservation in advance. If you haven’t tried their wonderful tapas, just go there and try them out soon.
For those who participated in the event, thank you for coming and let’s support the restaurant! We need to see them thriving even more.
Menu from Cheri’s Event
5 Best Tapas You Should Try At Tomatito
You know Tomatito is quite versatile. It’s good for serious dinner and just for a casual eating. It could be used for a meeting as well. It is attracting more and more people lately. We are in Saigon where many foodies live, so we don’t leave the good restaurants alone.
I often eat out there for drink with some tapas. But the thing is if you are not familiar with English or Spanish, it’s a bit difficult to read the menu.
So I would like to suggest the best 5 tapas they have! No worries even if you cannot read the menu anymore! All you have to do is just try these 5 tapas there and you would be quite satisfied!
Tapas 1: Salmón TNT 2.0 – Cheese puffs with salmon on top flavoured with truffle oil and honey
If I had to choose only 3 tapas, I would definitely choose this one. Have it in one bite! It’s too simplistic but that’s the best way to eat it! Guess how many t-shirts I had left stains on to find out the way…..Ahh
I’m not sure how they make it but there’s a jaw-dropping creamy cheese inside the pastry. Of course it goes with salmon, and salmon is also slightly flavoured with truffle oil and honey.
Refreshing salmon and the scent of truffle. Once we break the crunchy pastry in the mouth, the creamy cheese embraces us… It’s almost like a “sin”. Yes, it’s a taste of sin, I would say…. If there had been this tapas ages ago, they would’ve used it in the “9½ Weeks”(wait, who is following me now. Sorry it’s a bit too old….) Anyway, the tapas is highly recommended!
Tapas 2: Manchego TNT – Crispy prosciutto tapas
This tapas also has cheese and pastry but this one is rolled up with gorgeous prosciutto.
As you can see, it’s thin and even crunchier than the one before. It’d be like sticking a knife to your throat if you tried to have it in one bite( I tried…).
You wouldn’t do that but be careful with juicy cheese inside flooding to your table.
Tapas 3: Fuagrás – Foie gras canapé
Soooo Gooood! Foie gras lovers, you would love this. Of course it’s not cheap..
Foie gras is often served with fruits but this tapas comes with sautéed onions. You can tell the sautéed onion was cooked carefully too.
Honestly we don’t have many opportunities to have foie gras in a daily life, and some of you might hesitate to try. This tapas would be a great start to see if you like it or not. It would be a great experience! The portion is small but it’s rich in detail, so the tapas is actually quite satisfying! Soooo Gooood!
Tapas 4: Croquetas de mejillones – Fried mashed mussels
“Wait, fried mashed mussels!?” you might think. I know, neither had I tried it before.
What an inspirational dish that is! I’d had the ones with oysters or scallops back in Japan but we rarely encounter those, right? I’d never heard about the one with mussels like this.
You know mussels don’t have that distinctive flavour much which shellfish usually have but they are rich in umami, savoury taste. Its umami perfects the dish with crispy coating outside. Ohhh, give me the sangria right now!
Tapas 5: Mi Causa – Octopus tapas
Refreshing! It’s an octopus tapas! You know squid and octopus are incredibly tasty, right? Besides the reliable tastes, they are tender but got some texture at the same time. This tapas takes advantage of the ingredient.
Tomatito have some restaurants in Asia and I only have tried this restaurant so far. But as far as the octopus tapas concerned, I am pretty sure Tomatito Saigon is in a better condition!
Compared to the other tapas above, it might be less distinctive but it’s so reliable and refreshing. It would be great to have this one with more distinctive ones!
Tapas with Drinks
As you know, a glass pitcher of sangrias with full of fruits is available at around 200k; So reasonable, right? And their tapas are great, too.
Sometimes we can’t eat that much for whatever reason but we always can drink. It would so cool to have this sangria with some tapas at Tomatito. Every bite and every sip here are unique and high quality! Your gourmet friends would love this place too. Still wondering where to dine out on this weekend? Chill out with the wonderful tapas and drinks at Tomatito!
Original post in Vietnamese: http://cheritheglutton.com/blog/event-tomatito/
