During a wine tour of the Ribera del Duero region, our guide brought us to this restaurant in…read moreAranda de Duero. I am usually leery of restaurants on tours, but as soon as I saw how packed this place was at 2:00 and how we were the only tourists in the building, I knew we were in for a treat.
My wife, brother in law, and I sampled a few varieties of meat centric tapas at this Castilian restaurant. They specialize in roast meats here, and both the roast lamb leg and grilled lamb chops were excellently seasoned and succulent. Other highlights of the meal included the housemade morcilla and the mushrooms with foie gras and fried eggs. For those who want to eat slightly lighter, we too appreciated the ventresca tuna belly with anchovies and roasted marinated peppers.
We did not imbibe, but the restaurant serves multiple wines by the glass from the associated winery. The ambiance here is old school tapas bar with legs of ham hanging from the ceiling, a perpetually busy bar, and dark wood furnishings. Additionally, the basement of the restaurant houses an authentic wine cave and museum which demonstrates the old way of making and storing wine. Wear comfortable shoes if you plan on exploring the cave, as the steep steps can be slippery.
While far from the lightest meal we had in Spain, this restaurant offered memorable meat dishes and a delightfully old world, local ambiance. If you are in the area, you could do far worse for a meal.
