When eating out in Spain the menu can be daunting unless you know a little Spanish, the first thing to remember is that the menu is called la carta and if you are in a tourist area will almost always either have pages in English, or a translation under the Spanish name.
Here are a few items that you will see on most menus,
Ensalada Mixta:
a normal salad with green leaves, tomato, cucumber, olives, onion, but possibly also with hard boiled egg, anchovy, tuna, Tuscaroras, pineapple chunks, and kiwi fruit slices.
Ensalada Tomate:
A plate of sliced tomato with basil and olive oil
Ensalada Russo:
Meat dishes in Spain tend to be either grilled or stewed, and only rarely roast.
Filete de Ternera:
Is a very thin beef steak, like a minute steak, often not very tender
Solomillo de Ternera:
Is a traditional British beef fillet steak, thick and tender and served normal (rare) medio (medium rare) and muy hecho (literally well done, but often still pink, but with no blood.) Do not be afraid of sending it back if is not to your liking.
Solomio be Buey:
Is a similar steak to the Solomillo de Ternera, but the meat is from an Ox, it is very similar in flavor and unless it was pointed out to you, you wouldn’t notice any difference.
Solomillo de Cerdo:
This is a pork fillet, often opened out flat, always tender with no fat or bone and is usually offered with a pepper sauce, (salsa pimiento), if you are not sure about the sauce you can ask for the sauce to come separately (salsa seperado).
It is unusual to get much in the way of vegetables in Spanish restaurants as they are considered a poor person’s meal, but you will sometimes get roasted green pepper as a garnish.
Magra con Tomate:
A very tasty pork stew with tomato sauce. Magra con Tomate literally means lean meat with tomato, This dish is often given as a tapas in a small portion, or served with fried potatoes as a main course.
