Oh how I wish I was back in sunny Jerez right now. I miss the long sunny days, relaxed atmosphere, slow pace of life, fabulous wines and delicious food. When we last visited Jerez we stayed at the Hipotels Hotel Sherry Park – a now regular haunt of ours. It’s no luxury hotel but is still probably one of the best hotels in the city in relation to what it offers – and it has a lot to offer. Part of the offering in the hotel is its restaurant. It has two actually – one being a regular buffet option while the other is named El Abaco and is a little more interesting – but seems to have lost its way a little which I think mostly comes down to the table covers. We were the only ones dining that evening. Inside it’s a little old-fashioned, but that’s much like the rest of the Jerez.
I really have no idea why or how it started but wherever you go in Jerez you’re always greeted with either some variant of a Russian salad or more often potato & tuna salad. It’s worth bearing this in mind when ordering food so to not get carried away, that and the bread they bring out can fill you up rather quicker that you anticipated. Wine in Jerez is my soft spot. I’ve never seen a still red or white wine from the Cadiz region outside of Spain (apart from Sherry of course) so when you order a bottle, it’s exciting not knowing what you’re going to get. At the bottom of the wine chain you could order something like this Antonio Barbadillo white. It’s very cheap – around 3 euro retail or 10-15 euro in the restaurant. For such a low price point it’s not a bad wine at all, but it’s not going to leave you salivating much.
Our starters here were a little bit of a mixed bag. First out was a full plate of Serrano ham, juicy, vibrant and actually its texture was softer than most, almost verging on a Jaman Iberico though this one needed a little more age for that. A slightly odd addition to the starters was steak medallions with couscous, basil oil and a thick & luscious prune sauce. The meat and sauce were a heavenly addition but that couscous was an absolutely disaster. It was so sticky and overcooked you could pick up the whole mound and drop it back on the plate without any movement. If it wasn’t on the plate in the first place, I’d have loved this dish and for a starter I don’t think it was needed – the meat would have been fine on its own.
When it comes to food in Jerez it’s still in some places 20 years behind the UK. It’s all very 1990’s. From the decor right through to the food. You’ll see dishes such as stroganoff on menus – a not very Spanish dish which seems to appear everywhere. I’ve not eaten pork stroganoff for probably 10 years so I really couldn’t resist the temptation and it actually turned out to be a revelation. The soft Iberico pork probably helped matters, but the sauce has more of a focus on tomatoes rather than mushrooms so works a little better. It may have been 20 years – but bring the stroganoff back to London please. In with the old and out with the new. Tuna steak was healthy sized portion despite the photo (the plates were so huge they struggled to fit on the table). The fish was a little overcooked unfortunately but still had its flavour. The real problem was everything on the plate was tepid in heat and meant it got cold awfully quick. The slow cooked onion were also pleasant though not memorable.
Portions were so huge that by the time dessert arrived we really were struggling to squeeze it in, but a holiday isn’t a holiday unless you have to waddle up to bed full. Mixed fruit with a scoop of ice-cream really was as simple as it looked, but the fruit was at least ripe and flavoursome – not like the pre-prepared stuff in the supermarkets these days which is rock hard. Much better was the pears poached in red wine and finished off with a drizzle of berry sauce, whipped cream and vanilla ice-cream. Again very much stuck in the 90’s but It still gave me a good ten minutes of utter pleasure.
El Abaco truly was a lovely experience. Yes it wasn’t perfect but the restaurant has lots of potential, you can taste it in the flavours. While this restaurant seems to have been very popular in the past something has sucked the life out of its dining room since – it hasn’t even had a review on TripAdvisor since 2013. When I next visit Hipotels Hotel Sherry Park, El Abaco will be on my list but unless the dining room gets fuller, hotel guests start eating here and the restaurant gets its own website (come on its 2015) then I can’t see it surviving which is a real shame because it has bags of character, if not a little dated.
7/10
