Customer Reviews

The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Columbia Restaurant is a historic and famous restaurant in Florida. Located in historic St. Augustine and in Tampa, restaurant connoisseurs are sure to talk about the fine Spanish cuisine served here. The cookbook lists many of the Columbia's most popular recipes. From traditional tapas to a delectable flan, the book is absolutely loaded with exquisite recipes. The book also gives a detailed history with picutres of this infamous restaurant. If you cannot make it out to this fantastic restaurant for yourself, the cookbook will be a close second to capturing the Spanish ambiance and fine cuisine.

I've had the pleasure of eating at this restaurant in historic Ybor City and even bought my autographed copy of this book there. It's one of the many reasons to want to live in Tampa; the food, the culture and so many entertaining stories are expressed thoroughly in this cookbook. It's very simple to understand and follow and even if you never make one dish from all of the delicious recipes you will enjoy it for the great recollection of the childhoods of the authors. I highly recommend buying this book (and visiting the actual restaurant if you ever get the chance!)

The Columbia restaurant is the oldest spanish restaurant in the US and the very best! Their succulent recipes are all here and I have tried them. My dishes tasted just like the ones I have eaten there! The history of the restaurant, told in this book, has tears, laughter, romance, tragedy, triumph and above all, and incredible love for this, our country. This book is indispensable in my kitchen and my house is always full of company because of it. Recipes that are many generations old, made with love. Beautiful book.

I visited both the Columbia restaurant in Ybor City and in Clearwater,and I had to buy the book,the recipes are wonderful,specially the seafood dishes,but,what I liked the most was the actual story about Tampa and the family that owns the restaurants,I finished the book feeling like I knew the family since ever!!!.
If you are not around Florida right now,I'll suggest you to buy the book,and if you are in Florida and anywhere close to any of the Columbia restaurants,make a dinner reservation right now!!,and then,buy the book.

The recipes are just one reason to buy this book, the history is the other. The family's story made me laugh and cry. I read this book on the plane ride home from Tampa to Boston and my mouth actually started watering when I got to the Rum Omelette recipe. I had no idea how far back the history of this restaurant and Ybor City went, I've already decided that Tampa is the place for me and am moving there in the near future. I already miss the cafe con leche and cuban bread that tastes like nothing I've ever had before and upon reading the book, now I know why.

This is such a wonderful cookbook. In South Florida, I visited Columbia and loved the food. I purchased it to try something new. The recipes are authentic with some background narrative woven in there. The language is easy and you can follow the recipe without any problems. Of the recipes I tried, most could be prepared from a well-stocked pantry, not necessarily a huge trip to the grocery store like some cookbooks demand. There are some really great seafood recipes in here too. You'll love the simple Cuban sandwich in here too. I believe this cookbook is well worth the price.

A recent salad made wonderfully by a friend convinced me that there is just about as much art in making salads as anything else. It made me think of the excellent 1905 Salad at the Columbia Restaurant which we get every time we're there. It has just the right combination of things and an especially fine dressing. But here's a case of "Don't try to do it at home" unless you are really accomplished at that sort of thing. The time we tried to do it, following the recipe provided exactly, it didn't taste anything like what you get at the restaurant. And we had purchased their own dressing. Anyways, they have have a new location in Palm Beach which I want to visit. The best we've tried is the one in Sarasota. You can go afterwards to see the Rubens tapestry cartoons at the Ringling Museum of Art. That's a fun afternoon.

Once I received the book, it turned out to be more of a "biography" about the authors and their family history than cookbook. It's interesting, but not what I expected.

This cookbook was ordered for a gift for my daughter who likes Columbia Restaurant. She was very happy to receive it. I glanced through it and know that she will enjoy making the recipes.

This was such an asset to giving my daughter a spanish themed graduation party. This cookbook was not only that but the story of the restaurant which my family visited. The pictures in the book are great too.