Being on leave has its merits and on Friday, DL and I finally decided to take our craving for good paella to the next level. Hence we headed out to the Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant in Lorong Kilat.

For those who are directionally challenged (like moi), this quaint little restaurant is located in Jalan Jurong Kechil. This is in the Beauty World vicinity, off Bukit Timah. I'll post the address at the end of this post so you can check it out for yourself and please call to make reservations! The restaurant is especially busy on the weekends.

It has been many years since I've had good paella and DL and I have tried out a few places which were alright but not great. Until we heard abiout this little place. Firstly, we had no idea where it is all that we knew came from HungryGoWhere.com, then we had no idea exacly how far out this was. But at the end end of the day...it was worth it!

The service was warm and friendly, and even thought he restaurant was almost filled to capacity at 8pm, they still managed to get us some seats outside. Since it was a Spanish restaurant, we naturally had to order a Sangria. Our very friendly waitress (whose name I regret not asking) recommended the Sparkling Sangria, which is made with sparkling De Cava wine. Made with oranges, lemons, red and green apples, this is one heck of a refreshing drink. Especially after one hell of a painful workout. It had the right amount of zest and wine, making it a great companion to the food we later had.

First up, we had asparagus wrapped with bacon. This was alright. Nothing to crow about but the good thing was that the bacon was nice and crisp and the asparagus was not overdone.

And then came the Quijote Special Paella. Please note that it will take 20-30mins for the paella to be prepared, so you may need to sample some appetisers first. Or have the warm bread with herb butter...Yum! Done el dente with fresh mussles, clams, prawns, squid and chicken...Food orgasm! I thnk was groaning in despair when I was telling the owner about that particualr tidbit. The rice was fragrant and very well flavoured, the seafood fresh and succulent.

Every bite was really heaven...and then our intrpid waitress was like...would you like some chili with that? Let's just say that if you like it spicy, then the chili is a fantastic accompaniment to the paella. This is strictly not for pussies as the chili really gave the dish a good spicy kick. Hello tastebuds!

We were being a little greedy thereafter and also had the roasted beef. Done kebab style with thick cubes of meat, finely sliced chorizos, onions and capsicum, this is a meat lovers dream. The chorizos' natual saltiness gave teh meat an additional boost and it was just well seasoned without being overwelming. The only downside was that the meat was a little tough. The wedges were a real winner though - thickly cut and seasoned with sea salt. I was happily eating up the entire bunch :P

Sadly, by the time we had the beef, we had no more space for dessert! Dang it! But no worries, there is always the second visit, where I hear the squid ink pasta is waiting for me...along with another jug of sangria :o)

Overall rating: 4/5 for excellent food, great ambience and warm with plenty of smiles.

Don Quijote Spanish Rsetaurant
17 Lorong Kilat #01-09
Singapore 598139
Tel: 6465 1811