H
Harters
New member
There’s something in my head that talks to me about restaurants. It tells me which are likely to be serving good food and which are not. It also tells me when a restaurant crosses the line from “That was a lot of money but it was bloody good” to “That was bloody good and it was too bloody expensive”. I’m not sure where that line is drawn but somewhere La Llonja crossed it. But make absolutely no mistake, La Llonja is serving bloody good food.
From the day’s specials, a dozen queen scallops were served on the half shell. Perfectly cooked and drizzled simply with a little balsamic vinaigrette which added to the sweetness of the seafood. A handful of dressed salad leaves added contrast of texture.
Calamares a la Romana is one of the simplest dishes in the Spanish cook’s repertoire. And one of the hardest to get right. Take spankingly fresh squid, cut them into rings, dust them in flour, briefly fry them so the flour gets a but crispy and serve them up with half a lemon. The chef at La Llonja knows exactly what’s what with calamares. These were absolutely superb.
Equally good were the main courses. A fillet of hake was perfect – still a tad on the translucent side. It was dress in a light sauce, orange yellow from saffron. Alongside a couple of boiled potatoes and a couple of spoonfuls of mixed veg – carrot, runner bean, cauliflower and mushroom. And even here, the skill in the kitchen was apparent, as each must have been cooked individually , rather than all together. You don’t get perfection otherwise.
The other dish was, again, simplicity itself. A dozen or so prawns, just cooked on the plancha. Again real care shown in not overcooking them. These were soft, delicate and tasting of nothing but themselves. You will almost never see seafood of this freshness and quality in northern Europe. We just don’t demand it of our restaurants – and we should. A good salad came as an accompaniment – a few leaves of chicory in there making a particularly welcome contribution of both bitterness and crunch.
OK, so you know you’re paying for top quality seafood. And, yes, you’re probably paying something for location. But with an aperitif each, a half bottle of wine and water, this was a meal that just topped the €100 mark and, however good I felt the food was, it still feels not quite good value for money.
From the day’s specials, a dozen queen scallops were served on the half shell. Perfectly cooked and drizzled simply with a little balsamic vinaigrette which added to the sweetness of the seafood. A handful of dressed salad leaves added contrast of texture.
Calamares a la Romana is one of the simplest dishes in the Spanish cook’s repertoire. And one of the hardest to get right. Take spankingly fresh squid, cut them into rings, dust them in flour, briefly fry them so the flour gets a but crispy and serve them up with half a lemon. The chef at La Llonja knows exactly what’s what with calamares. These were absolutely superb.
Equally good were the main courses. A fillet of hake was perfect – still a tad on the translucent side. It was dress in a light sauce, orange yellow from saffron. Alongside a couple of boiled potatoes and a couple of spoonfuls of mixed veg – carrot, runner bean, cauliflower and mushroom. And even here, the skill in the kitchen was apparent, as each must have been cooked individually , rather than all together. You don’t get perfection otherwise.
The other dish was, again, simplicity itself. A dozen or so prawns, just cooked on the plancha. Again real care shown in not overcooking them. These were soft, delicate and tasting of nothing but themselves. You will almost never see seafood of this freshness and quality in northern Europe. We just don’t demand it of our restaurants – and we should. A good salad came as an accompaniment – a few leaves of chicory in there making a particularly welcome contribution of both bitterness and crunch.
OK, so you know you’re paying for top quality seafood. And, yes, you’re probably paying something for location. But with an aperitif each, a half bottle of wine and water, this was a meal that just topped the €100 mark and, however good I felt the food was, it still feels not quite good value for money.
