La Rambla

Long time no see!  I have moved to the town of McMinnville, Oregon.  I am no longer working as a concierge.  Instead I am co-managing a small pizza shop with my husband Brian.  It's a big change, but a good one so far.  

Here in the midst of wine country, there are a handful of quality restaurants using the fresh, local meats and produce this area is known for.  So far we have tried Cuvee, Thistle and La Rambla.  Didn't have my camera at the first two, but here are some shots of our lunch at La Rambla.  It's a Spanish tapas place.

First up was this partially-devoured chef's choice meat and cheese plate ($12).  It came with housemade chorizo, serrano ham, a hard cheese, a bleu cheese and some candied walnuts.  We had this with some good bread and olive oil.

Next up was the manila clams with chorizo, sherry, garlic and herbs ($7).  I could eat these all day.  We used the clam shells to scoop up the rest of the juice left over in the bowl.  

These were one of the best things we ate here:  Piquillo Peppers stuffed with northwest crab, goat cheese, harissa ($12).  Tons of crab spiked with the spicy harissa wrapped in a roasted pepper.  Mmm, mmm, good.

The Willamette Valley mushrooms with garlic and white wine ($7) were nothing special.  Needed more salt and more garlic or lemon or something.  Also they were white or crimini mushrooms.  We were hoping for something more wild.

Fried green beans ($6) with aioli.  Scrumptious.  A tempura-like batter.

Spice-rubbed Tri-tip with romesco and marinated onion.  These were good, especially with the pickled onion.  I loved the romesco with the smoky steak.  

Our last dish was the chorizo empanadas with a roasted red pepper cream sauce ($8).  I was really too full to enjoy this.  The flavor was bold and a little too salty.  

I thought I'd show the pics of the room.  I really liked the lamps and the paintings.  And the signboard outside.

Overall we liked our meal at La Rambla.  They have a bunch more tapas and even a burger I'd like to try.

La Rambla

238 NE Third Street

McMinnville, Oregon

503.435.2126