I’ve always wondered to myself, if I was looking for a new life – where would I move to? For me it’s a very easy answer. My first choice would be to Maastricht in the Netherlands and my second choice, would be Jerez in Spain. It’s such a far cry from the British way of life and has a rich culture which heavily rely’s on good food and good drink – the sort of ethics I live by. One thing that strikes me most about Jerez is that the English language is known of very little. With such strong ties to the British through sherry, I’m surprised more locals don’t speak it – yet I don’t blame them because us British our very ignorant when it comes to learning new languages. I however love it this way of course, because it makes every visit to Jerez just that little bit more exotic.
We came across Alboronia Bar-tapas after some rigorous hunting on TripAdvisor, ranking in the top 5 across the city. I believe the restaurant is rather on the new side for Jerez and its cooking is probably the most modern this city has seen for a while, it’s very much on trend even by London standards – fusing together both Spanish and Moroccan cuisine. The food here really is very special and TripAdvisor has been surprisingly reliable in relation to Jerez. Food wise the menu here is small and served tapas style – it’s made for sharing. We started with one of the most beautiful tomato and mozzarella salads with hazelnut pesto and polenta stick. Every single element of it was perfect. The morcilla bon-bon with parmesan cream and pear chutney was a dream come true, dripping in flavour and mouth-watering acidity – we had a good idea the food was going to be good, but nothing prepared us quite for this. During our trip to Jerez we’d eaten a lot of croquettes, but noting as good or as fresh as these salmon creations. Bite into them and you’ll release the hot fragrant steam, perfectly seasoned flavour and its crunchy outer was crisp and golden – this is how you do croquettes.
Restaurant Alboronia Bar-tapas is situated in a lovely area by the way. Just off the beaten track, a mere two minutes from the centre of town – tucked away inside a mini shopping mall, filled with artisan stalls selling lots of home-made products (non-food related). The restaurant itself has taken over the central courtyard, with its open roof pouring in sunlight. Apparently this site is also frequented with regular flamenco evenings. Aubergine tempura with hummus was yet another stunning dish. Huge pieces of aubergine were covered in a batter which was in-between a tempura style and British chip-shop batter – but with more flavour. The hummus was extraordinary and I could have eaten a whole pot of the stuff all day long. Andalusian shawarma arrived and looked a little dry – but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Juicy pork, yoghurt and salad made up for a very tasty affair. Easily the best dish here was the Suguran lamb chops with reduced juice and honey. Compared to the rest of the food, it was served very rustic in style and the lamb only partly French trimmed – but it was this rustic style which made this dish such a triumph. All the fatty pockets and crispy bits of meat hanging loose were bursting with flavour, words really can’t describe just how good it all tasted – you’ll simply have to visit and find out for yourself.
As a city full of food and drink – the culinary scene here has rarely changed over the last few years. From corner to corner you’ll still find all the family businesses here which have been passed through the years and a revival of tabancos pouring out sherry from the casks. The restaurants here in this city our certainly dated and so is the food. But that’s the charm of Jerez. It’s not about fine dining or complicated food, but instead this city’s ethics are placed upon letting the quality of the food and drink do the talking – that’s what I love so much about Alboronia Bar-tapas. Yes it’s probably the most modern cooking this city has seen for a while, but it’s still all about quality – with a few nice surprises up its sleeve. If you’re visiting Jerez I could give you a list of good restaurant to try – but just make sure this restaurant is high up on your list first. It shouldn’t be missed.
8/10
