On the First Day of Christmas

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” Virtually everyone knows this Christmas carol. Madame Thermomix, however, gets to live it every month in 2011 as part of the best Christmas present she has ever been given. 

After being submitted to my moaning this year about how Christmas is overly commercial, my dear, darling, thoughtful and clever husband came up with something that we both can share and enjoy. As I flipped through the pages of a 2011 diary I had just unwrapped, a piece of paper fell out, upon which was written the following: 

“Your Christmas present is 12 memorable meals out over the next 12 months, featuring:
Michelin Stars
Celebrity Chefs
Spanish Tapas
Modern Seafood
Modern Italian Cuisine
High Class Dim Sum
in London, Surrey and farther afield.” 

I don’t think I could utter a sound for a good minute — a rare occurrence indeed. How thoughtful! How delightful! How delicious! How cheeky, the little devil gets to eat all these wonderful meals with me! 

Once I got over the initial shock of the meaning of this present I began eagerly paging through my new diary, searching for the meals. Starry-eyed (Michelin-starry eyed, should I say?), I read names like Tom Aikens, Will Holland, Mat Follas and more. Lesser-known chefs and restaurants appeared amongst my pages as well, their names rising into the Michelin stratosphere as we speak. The best restaurants in Surrey take their place beside some of the best restaurants in London. And they all will take their place inside a very, very happy me! 

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” El Pic Spanish Tapas Restaurant & Bar on the London Road in Camberley, Surrey. “Why Tapas?” I can hear you say. Quite simply because on 12^th February my husband and I are donning our fundraising hats and preparing the first Tongham Tapas Fiesta in support of Tongham Village Hall. With seven wines and 12 tapas on offer for the ridiculously good value price of just £22.50 per person, John will once again be wine tasting master and I will once again don my chef’s whites to produce the food. 

While we had already chosen the Spanish wines, we were desperate for ideas for the tapas. El Pic fit the bill perfectly on several counts, including being voted amongst the top five local Spanish restaurants in the UK by viewers of Gordon Ramsay’s “The F Word.” 

So off we go to Camberley on 30^th December for a really good meal in “A Little Corner of Spain.” Owned and run by the half-English, half-Spanish Richard Stiles, El Pic is an independent restaurant which is celebrating its 20^th anniversary in 2011. That in itself is a major achievement, and so is the quality of El Pic’s food. Cooked freshly to order, El Pic’s tapas menu spans meats, fish, seafood and vegetarian offerings. There is an El Pic Tapas Fiesta Menu for parties of 4 or more with all the classics, as well as “Tapas for a Tenner” on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We were there on a Thursday and there were only two of us, so we ordered a la carte and enjoyed fresh, tasty tapas to our hearts’ content. We chose Albóndigas, Habas con Jamón, Chorizo Picante, Paella de Marisco and Patatas Bravas, along with Tortilla Española. We quaffed some Tempranillo and Rioja Royal in moderate quantities as we were driving, and thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the evening. 

El Pic’s decor is casual and Spanish-themed. If the weather had been warmer I could have imagined myself in Spain! Managed that evening by the amiable Amy, our service was spot on. There when we needed her, unobtrusively observing when we didn’t. 

Great food. Great service. Great stuff. 

El Pic Spanish Tapas Restaurant & Bar
177 London Road
Camberley
Surrey GU15 3JS
01276 670670
bookings@elpic.co.uk

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