To celebrate Brian’s birthday, we tried to find a restaurant that we have not been to, and decided to visit Ración in Pasadena. They have dishes that we don’t usually get to have, so it was a great experience.
The restaurant is located on the quiet Green Street in Pasadena. 
Spanish Charcuterie: Our starter plate of beef tongue, chorizo, serrano, and liver pate with pickled vegetables. We were not crazy about the liver pate because it was too sweet, but everything else was delicious.
The beef tongue was very flavorful.
Chorizo. Yum!!
Serrano ham.
Summer Squash, Wild Mushrooms and Huitlacoche, Pumpkin Seed. I had mixed feelings about this dish, mainly because I thought there would be actual mushrooms (instead it was mushroom puree) 😛 But it was a refreshing dish. 
Duck Sausage-stuffed Squid, Salsa Tinta (ink sauce), Duck Jamon. A very special dish and probably our favorite of the night! The flavors and texture were both very interesting: tasty duck sausage + chewy squid + a little sweetness from the caramelized onions + the piece of duck ham on top + ink sauce. Love!!
Pan-seared Scallops, Oyster Chowder, Potato, Paddlefish Roe. This was also very delicious!! These huge scallops were perfectly cooked and the oyster chowder was rich and creamy. Again, never tasted something like this oyster chowder before. And we asked for more bread to enjoy the sauce with. Yum!! 
Crema Catalana: Spanish Custard, Date Sauce, Pistachio Meringue. We made an effort tonight to not order too much food so that we would have room for dessert. We didn’t know what to expect of the data sauce and it was delicious! The crushed pistachios added great texture, and the custard itself was smooth and creamy, and not too sweet. We finished the whole plate in no time! 🙂