Andalucia, Rockville

Andalucia in Rockville offered real potential since its Spanish/Portuguese/Northern Italian menu is not just everyday same-o, same-o fare. I had been there a few years ago but it has apparently changed ownership so we tried it out. It's in an area off of Parklawn near the Twinbrook metro stop that seemed oddly out of the way to me, and the immediate surroundings are not particularly charming, but the restaurant itself is inviting. To have a direct comparison with our prior venture, we ordered the calamari to start. It's broiled in a lemon garlic butter sauce and is not cut into rings, so you get the body without tentacles. It was good - cooked very nicely, not rubbery, and delicately tasty. For dinner, I had the paella, which included shrimp, mussels, clams, and chicken. The rice was sticky - maybe this is just a personal preference and not a standard, but I think of paella as being a lighter, fluffier type of rice. This wasn't. The shrimp, mussels, and clams were fine although I think they had been cooked too long. Overall, it was good, but not wonderful. One of my kids had a pasta with chicken that she liked a lot. My other daughter tried the Portuguese steak which comes with a fried egg on top. She really liked it that this was the first time she had ever seen this dish on a menu, and she also really enjoyed eating it. For dessert, they shared a creme brulee which they loved (the custard was a little heavier than usual in my view, but still yummy). Overall, from a food and charm perspective, this place was a winner. We would go back - except that a dinner for 3 without alcohol cost me $100. Ouch. It wasn't worth it. So we give this one a neutral :-