Nota: fechou em Março de 2013
Uma ocasião especial levou-nos a almoçar no Tartan, um restaurante no bairro de Salamanca que em tempos esteve na moda. A decoração ajuda a explicar o nome, com as cadeiras em tecido xadrez escocês: o Tartan.
O ambiente é por isso acolhedor e um pedacinho da cultura britânica em Madrid. Tínhamos mesa reservada mas ficámos com a sensação que não seria necessário fazê-lo porque estava vazio quando chegámos e nunca encheu até sairmos.
A special occasion brought us to lunch in Tartan, a restaurant in the Salamanca “barrio” that was once the place to be seen! The decoration helps explain the name, with the chairs in a criss-crossed pattern used in Scottish kilts: the Tartan.It is cosy place and looks like a piece of british culture in Madrid. We did make reservation (we booked a table for 2 p.m.) although we were under the impression we didn’t need to…the place was actually empty and people were coming in but they were never full.
Nós ficámos numa mesa de dois o que significa comer sentados numa poltrona, parece confortável mas para comer não tanto porque acabamos com uma ligeira dor nas costas. Também a ementa vinha forrada em Tartan vermelho.
Assim que nos sentamos servem-nos umas tostinhas com “sobrasada” (um enchido das Ilhas Baleares feito com carne de porco) e de entrada pedimos a “burrata” com tomate seco, crispies de framboesa e molho pesto. Pode dizer-se que será o prato de que toda a gente fala e percebe-se porquê, é algo que dá vontade de repetir vezes sem conta, mas por 19€ perdemos um pouco a vontade.
De prato principal eu pedi o Taco de Lomo fileteado con arroz (com passas e bacon) e um molho Madame Boubier (o que não explica muito bem o que é), o marido pediu a Carrilera de Ternera. Até aqui tudo estava a correr bem mas quando provei a minha comida não tinha sabor, a carne tinha pouco sal e não era naturalmente saborosa e o molho…nem sei dizer a que sabia porque na realidade não tinha sabor. Terá sido um mau dia na cozinha? A 22€ o prato não podem existir maus dias na cozinha.
We had a table for two so this meant eating on a sofá, looks confortable and cosy but when you are eating it is not what you actually think and you do end up with a slight backache.
Another curious detail is the menú, the cover is made in read Tartan fabric.
As soon as you are seated you have a cumplimentary entrée some toasts with “sobrasada” (which is a sort of chorizo – so it’s pork – made in Balearic Islands) but we already had our mind set on another starter that was the “burrata” with dry tomatoes, rapsberry crispies and pesto sauce. This is the dish everyone always recommends you and you can understand why. It is delicious and you want to repeat it over and over again…you just loose that appetite when you see it costs 19€.
The mains we ordered where the “taco de lomo with rice”, which is a filleted beef with a rise that had raisons, pine nuts and crusty bacon, it also came with a Madame Boubier (whatever that means) sauce. The other main what a “carrillera de ternera” which was a stew made with the cow’s cheekbones. It seem tasty, but mine (the filleted beef) wasn’t. The meat didn’t had any salt and because it didn’t had any natural tasty…needed it! The sauce, the Madame Boubier also didn’t had any taste. I actually used the sauce from the “carrillera” (that was a good dish) to eat my food.
Were they having a bad day in the kitchen? 22€ per serving I’m guessing you have no margin for bad days…sorry!
We had a table for two so this meant eating on a sofá, looks confortable and cosy but when you are eating it is not what you actually think and you do end up with a slight backache.
Another curious detail is the menú, the cover is made in read Tartan fabric.
As soon as you are seated you have a cumplimentary entrée some toasts with “sobrasada” (which is a sort of chorizo – so it’s pork – made in Balearic Islands) but we already had our mind set on another starter that was the “burrata” with dry tomatoes, rapsberry crispies and pesto sauce. This is the dish everyone always recommends you and you can understand why. It is delicious and you want to repeat it over and over again…you just loose that appetite when you see it costs 19€.
The mains we ordered where the “taco de lomo with rice”, which is a filleted beef with a rise that had raisons, pine nuts and crusty bacon, it also came with a Madame Boubier (whatever that means) sauce. The other main what a “carrillera de ternera” which was a stew made with the cow’s cheekbones. It seem tasty, but mine (the filleted beef) wasn’t. The meat didn’t had any salt and because it didn’t had any natural tasty…needed it! The sauce, the Madame Boubier also didn’t had any taste. I actually used the sauce from the “carrillera” (that was a good dish) to eat my food.
Were they having a bad day in the kitchen? 22€ per serving I’m guessing you have no margin for bad days…sorry!
>>> Tostinhas com “sobrasada”
>>> Burrata
>>> Milfolhas com doce de leite
Para sobremesa, o marido escolheu da carta a Tarta de Chocolate e eu escolhi do carro de fim de semana onde estava um mil folhas com doce de leite simplesmente soberbo. Já a tarta de chocolate não fez sucesso, pelo restaurante que era seria de esperar que fosse excepcional mas parecia uma daquelas tartes que se compram no Carrefour onde colocaram Smarties em cima.
No final a conta foi pesada para a verdadeira qualidade da comida, voltaria pela sobremesa e pela “burrata” mas teria mais atenção a escolher o prato principal que afinal não foi a estrela. Talvez isso explique porque já não está tanto na moda, porque não é assim tão bom para o que cobram, é certo que a experiência foi muito agradável e o serviço impecável mas 50€ por pessoa pedia que tudo estivesse excepcional. Por outro lado a ida a este restaurante vale a pena pela sua associação á Fundación Raices:www.fundacionraices.org/ e ao seu programa de Cucina Conciencia, onde ajudam á integração de jovens em dificuldades dando-lhes formação e emprego nos restaurantes aderentes.
For dessert, the husband chose from the menu the Tarta de Chocolate (Chocolat cake) and I chose from the weekend cart a “mille-feuille” with caramel fudge simply superb. The chocolat tart was not so successful, for this type of restaurant you would expect it to be exceptional but it looked like one those pies that can be bought in Carrefour where they put Smarties on top.
In the end the bill was heavy for the true quality of the food, I would comeback for my dessert and for the “burrata” but I would have more attention choosing the main course as mine was not the star. Perhaps this explains why it isn’t as fashionable as it was, because it is not so good for what it charges, it is certain that the experience was very pleasant and the service impeccable but € 50 per person requested that everything was exceptional.
On the other hand the trip to this restaurant is worth by their association will Fundación Raices: www.fundacionraices.org/ and its program Cucina Conciencia where they help the integration of young people in trouble by giving them training and employment in participating restaurants.
In the end the bill was heavy for the true quality of the food, I would comeback for my dessert and for the “burrata” but I would have more attention choosing the main course as mine was not the star. Perhaps this explains why it isn’t as fashionable as it was, because it is not so good for what it charges, it is certain that the experience was very pleasant and the service impeccable but € 50 per person requested that everything was exceptional.
On the other hand the trip to this restaurant is worth by their association will Fundación Raices: www.fundacionraices.org/ and its program Cucina Conciencia where they help the integration of young people in trouble by giving them training and employment in participating restaurants.
Nota: Este restaurante fechou a Março 2013
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Living in Iberia 