Calle Laurel has no shortage of restaurants, but as we were walking along the very crowded street, there was something about dark, mysterious interior of Laurus that caught our eyes. Laurus prides itself first and foremost as a wine bar, but a wine bar that serves very high quality food.
The wine and the food, yes those were outstanding. But I'll get to that in a minute. An important aspect of dinner that made the evening so memorable was our waiter. He had the sense of humor, conviviality, swagger (and not to mention looks) of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. You need another fork? Don't expect to get one without him pulling a mild joke on you first. It was just punch-line after punch-line throughout the night. If his second job is not as a comedian, I implore him to consider this as an option.
The wine selection featured reds and whites from all three of the sub-regions of La Rioja, many of which are not distributed in the United States. Prices were also extremely reasonable.
For dinner, there are two menus: a three course prix fixe or an a la carte menu. We opted for the prix fixe, as many of the options available were also on the a la carte menu and the prix fixe worked out to be an excellent deal. Portions were also quite large compared to what one typically receives in Europe.
Before we ordered, we were brought warm, flaky, airy bread. For a starter, I had a salad of fresh mixed greens with goat cheese. My main course was bacalao al pil pil - very traditional, but well prepared and hearty. (Laurus does have other more original dishes featuring both fish and meat; the restaurant is by no means a traditional Basque place.) Best of all was dessert: a decadent chocolate and hazelnut cake (it looked very much like a dacquoise).
After dessert, our mischievous waiter brought us various shots of liquor (one of which was orujo). This was a very kind gesture and great way to end the meal.
Because Logroño is not known for having the best food, I was extremely impressed with the quality of what we received at Laurus. read more