It’s like the rice no civilization wants to make.
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lol the problem is if you serve real paella to 95% of LA they will return it because it’s ‘burnt’ and there is ‘not enough rice’. I love Spanish food but for what ever reason the good ones don’t last long here.
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On the bright side, Norwegian Air offers kickass (no-frills) fares DIRECT from LAX to Madrid Barajas these days! A screengrab from a few minutes ago from their website:
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pretty reasonable prices! Is security any better at that airport? last time I walked into the country with out getting my passport stamped! And I was looking for someone to do their job lol
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Madrid as a food city is so underrated. Barcelona and San Sebastien get all the love, but Madrid is up there with the best of them.
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Shhh… let’s not shout that out from the rooftops. 
yep… in fact currently booking some … but just using it to hop to Portugal… beware of their baggage and other fees
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It’s great as a pond hopper.
Having never been to Spain, does paella there normally not come w/ a lot of rice? B/c that’s kind of what I thought at the pop-up a few yrs ago at Hinoki & the Bird (and, being Asian, I expect a lot of rice in a rice dish…).
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Taken from a rice cooking class in Valencia.
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Thanks Folks!
Thanks for the actual tips on how Paella should be @J_L. Saying things suck or would make someone cry just doesn’t do it. We knew about having to request socarrat at La Paella but spaced on this visit and wouldn’t dare send it back. Now thanks to @Bookwich’s sleuthing we know to ask for the bomba rice. So, instead of skipping it next time I want to try it with my new found knowledge. 
If all else fails you can just look at it as a really good rice dish. Defeats the purpose of going for Paella, I know, but there’s really nothing wrong with the dish except that it’s not Paella. I doctored mine up a bit, but I do that with a lot of big plate dishes. It definitely wouldn’t make baby Jesus cry, unless baby Jesus was a brat.
I was thinking risotto too @J_L. But it doesn’t spread.
The Croquettes are not super chicken-y @attran99. It’s like a thicker, pot pie gravy w/minced chicken, coated and fried. Out of the three I can remember having in recent years they were the yummiest.
The ones at the now defunct BCN in W. Hollywood being the worst…
Gritty and flavorless. Maybe too much minced chicken?
I thought you might like the Chicken Dumpling Soup at Tres, @Bookwich. It is not what you might expect from the title. Rather than a creamy soup with big glutinous dumplings the chicken meatball is the dumpling. If you like delicate, lite fare it is just right. Pretty presentation too. Be aware it’s definitely not a whole meal for big eaters or maybe even medium eaters.
Yah, nothing jumped out at us. When in doubt I get sparkling. Any wine suggestions?
It’s too bad that the new ownership isn’t hitting the right notes. I was thinking to put La Paella on my group family/friends list, probably still will. It has something for everyone and the price works for all. We last went in Feb. ‘17. I wonder if they had already changed hands?
This has turned into a fun little thread.
P.S. The husband says I can’t go to Spain until I’ve been to Italy. 
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Now that’s a good visual. I get it.
A rice cooking class? I used to think of myself as an excellent rice cooker. But I’m working with so many more varieties now and not always having great success. I should take a class.
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there are worse places to do it than Valencia!
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Yes it was sold beginning of 2017, but again, food wasn’t supposed to be impacted. they kept the sourcing, cooks, waiters.
I’m just going to reiterate our conclusion after going there for a decade. You buy 1 bottle, bring 1 bottle and eat like this
if you get the paella and like it… great! who cares that it’s not world class.
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Yah, I think tapas is the way. The Paella didn’t blow me away, even with my limited knowledge. I just want to try it one more time (with upgrades).
Edit: Those upgrades (socarrat) could be because, like @aaqjr says, some don’t get it and too many people were sending it back.
Another problem is that they’re using whatever shellfish they can find imported from mexico and thailand. In Spain, the stuff from the Mediterranean, with the rabbit and their saffron it’s a different thing.
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Yep, that’s what I meant by “more depth of flavor and ingredients” in Spain. But you know what? They’re trying to survive. As we’ve all agreed, Spanish restaurants are not sweeping L.A.
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We should do a FTC meetup in someone’s backyard and hire a real paellero to make us a one (or two!) big’ol paellas to our liking. Maybe some jamon iberico de bellota also.
There should will be some imbibing and sloshing as well.
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Yes, please!
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Can someone also find a guy that doesn’t charge $80-$100pp