Roast lamb options between Madrid + Burgos, Spain.

We just returned today from our usual October stay in the Rioja DOC and spent the day in Logroño on Thursday plus another day in Haro, Friday, plus wine purchases today in Samaniego and Villabuena de Alava at Bodegas Amaren (their Carracaquinta), Baigorri (their Finca Las Navas Maturana) and Ostatu (their Glora and 2019 Gran Reserva Blanco, a mixture of viura and malvasía).

Today´s bonus addition was our meeting up with delightful fellow HO poster and wife at Palacio de Samaniego, whose highly talented Portuguese chef was “poached” from Marqués de Riscal (where he obtained a Michelin star) by the Baroness Rothschild when she re- opened this lovely 9-room hotel.

In Logroño we sampled wine and more creative pintxos at “Umm, Sólo Tapas”, “Tastevin”
and the new location of “Bueno, Bueno!,” (great wine by the glass selection) on Calle San Juan, avoiding the “tourist central” crowd that frequents Calle Laurel (but Bar Soriano on Travesía del Laurel is a must for its “champis” or a, grilled mushroom atop a slice of bread, topped with a baby shrimp and bathed in a very secret sauce.

For dining in Haro, your evening options will be the cutting edge Michelin starred (plus 2 Repsol suns) Nublo (with chef from Mugaritz, which tells you everthing), its more casual sister next door, Los Caños (the mother of the chef’s original place), the new very casual Etxea, across the street for pintxos and very nice grilled meats, all in the tapas bar area called “La Herradura” (which forms a horseshoe shape) and Arrope in the hotel of the same name on Calle de la Vega.

In a pinch there’s the long established Beethoven II also in the Herradura, but… for evening gourmet dining, look no further than at Nublo or Los Caños, but both closed Sun. nights and all day Monday,.

Our friends’s Repsol sunned place on the Plaza de la Paja, “Albaroque”, is only open for lunch, Tues-Sun. , unfortunately not for dinner.

We had lunch with Raúl and Laura at Alboroque on Friday and as usual, were not disappointed with our solomillo de steak tartare and blue fin tuna from Balfegó and chocolate/banana cake with raspberry sauce for dessert, plus a bottle of excellent Ana de Altún (white). But again, lunch only for only 16 diners, so one must reserve in advance.

Had we booked in advance, we would have stopped for roast baby lamb on our way home at the lovely La Portada de Mediodía in Torrecaballeros (Tinín in Sepúlveda being further from home and a greater risk of sleep inducement!!), but today was a holiday weekend (Día de la Hispanidad) and all the lechazo temples along or slightly off the A1 were fully booked, to the rafters!.

Thanks again Maribel - have now added some more venues to my map! In Rioja we will do one dinner in the hotel, and then head into Haro for dinner on the second night for either Nublo or Los Canos (with some wine and snacks before in La Herradura. Both nights in Logrono we will just crawl around and hit up lots of different venues.

Any suggestions for an easy lunch stop on a Monday driving from Logrono to Bilbao? Horma Ondo was my first pick but is closed. We have Asador Bedua booked after leaving Bilbao on the way to San Sebastian but not sure wether to swap that for Joxe Mari. A shame to read both Casa Urola and Ganbara will be closed during our dates in SS!

For a nice selection of wines by the glass and snacks in La Herradura, look no further than directly across the street from Nublo on the square to the new-ish ETXEA. Our friends from Abalos and the two of us now go there for wine & pintxos rather than to Beethoven I, our former “hangout”. But you can visit both.

For an easy lunch stop driving from Logroño to Bilbao, if taking the speediest A 68 motorway (about an hour 35 minutes), I would stop closer to Bilbao because it will be too early for lunch, I think, unless you leave Logroño sometime after 12 pm

If leaving after 12 pm, you´ll reach Añana in the Alava province at about 1 pm, with a slight 12 km detour off the A68. The town of Añana has a nice stop, the ALMAZEN, that gets a nod from the Macarfi and Repsol guides.

Or.. with another slight detour, there´s BIDEKO, a classic asador housed in a typical Basque farmhouse in the hamlet of Lezama, also a short detour off the A68. It also is recommended in both Macarfi and Repsol, which gives it one Sol. We’ve had lunch there twice.

ANDRA MARI in Galdakao, Vizcaya, has a Michelin star and sits in a beautiful country setting in another typical Basque farmhouse, but Galdakao would put you east of Bilbao on the A8, and you´ll be passing through there on the A8 on your way from Bilbao to Donostia.

As to that trip, I wouldn’t necessarily switch from Asador Bedua to Joxe Mari unless you specifically want Joxe Mari´s famous sea bream, besugo.

I´m so sorry that both Casa Urola and Ganbara will be closed during your dates, but…seriously consider ARTEAN BARRA ABIERTA in the Gros neighborhood. It´s one long counter seating only 12, run by a Peruvian couple (she serves, he cooks) and it’s delightful! Beautifully presented and inventive fusion fare. Highly recommended by us and by the gastro critics. But closed Sun/Mon. We went for dinner.

Or for something more similar in style to the upstairs Casa Urola (where we had dinner last week) and there’s ASTELENA 1997 in the Old Quarter. Ander González is a fine chef.

Great suggestions again! Will start to look into them more. The taberna side of Garena looks interesting too?

Will move my (many) SS and more basque questions over to the appropriate threads.

Garena, the taberna side, for their shorter, less expensive menu and to avoid the tasting menus in the Michelin star, is a great idea if you don´t mind the longer detour. They also make their own txakolí. It´s a favorite of our Bilbao friend and Basque tour guide.

We were in Burgos about 10 years ago and had wonderful suckling lamb. Here is an excerpt from my blog:

As we strolled around the town with our trusty Guide Michelin, we checked out various restaurants, and settled on Casa Ojeda, which has a bar and delicatessen on the ground floor and a formal restaurant one flight up. The decor is charming and traditional, as is the food. We both started with the pickled partridge salad, a regional specialty seen on many menus. Their version was top-notch. I then had the roast suckling lamb and Stanley the confitado of suckling lamb cutlets. Both were superb, as were the scalloped potatoes served alongside. A bottle of Ribeira del Duero 2010 was only 18 euros, and my coffee came with delicious mignardises.

Website: http://restauranteojeda.com/

More on Burgos in my blog:

I had originally planned to go there for dinner but it’s closed on Wednesday evening, our only night in Burgos. Also looks like La Favorita is closed too which was my second option - google hours are different to their website.! We will stop for a big lunch en route and then just do some tapas bars for dinner. The following day we might have an early lunch at Casa Pancho to try their ‘olla podrida’ which seems to be only served on Wed+Thursday from noon.

It’s best for us not to have roast suckling lamb at night, which has been Casa Ojeda’s speciality forever.
(Interestingly, there are 5 dishes that Spaniards never (or rarely!) eat at night: lechazo, cabrito asado, cochinillo, paella, cocido. And in Asturias we never tackle a fabada in the evening!.

About La Favorita, which is yes, my favorite tapas bar (also with sit down dining) in Burgos: it is indeed closed on Wednesday evenings. I’m sorry!
But…another spot for tapas at night in Burgos: La Quinta del Monje

At Casa Pancho we go for its cojunudos (chorizo atop a slice of bread topped with a slice of red pepper and quail egg) and its cojonudas (the same, but with morcilla instead of chorizo). Casa Pancho is a classic.

For anyone else planning a special meal in Burgos, Cobo Estratos/Cobo Tradición by chef Miguel Cobo sports a Michelin star plus 2 Repsol suns and is a two-tiered space, divided into the upstairs Evolución serving an avant-garde tasting menu and the downstairs Tradición offering a la carte dining, plus a smaller traditional tasting menu.

We had a lovely lunch there recently at Tradición (my husband isn’t a fan of long tasting menus). The Tradición menu offers updated classics such as truffled veal meatballs & Robuchon potatoes, canalones of poularde, a rice dish with Frisona beef, (excellent!), braised Wagyu beef cheeks, carpaccio of blue fin tuna, suckling lamb shank. Highly recommended.

Another top rated, contemporary dining spot: La Fábrica by chef Ricardo Termiño.

If open on Wednesday evening, Tradicion, is excellent, as Maribel has mentioned. I prefer it to casa ojeda. Don’t miss the museum of human evolution in Burgos if you have the time available.

Ditto! I’m another who prefers Tradición. to Casa Ojeda.

3 must visit Burgos sights for us:
the stunning Gothic Cathedral, the Museum of Human Evolution that tigerjohn mentions above and by car, the very short drive, 3.5 km., out to the Cartuja de Miraflores, the burial place, royal pantheon of Isabel la Catolica´s parents, Juan II and Isabel de Portugal, with their spectacular alabaster carved tombs, work of Gil de Siloé, and splendid altarpiece. It’s a late Gothic masterpiece!

The monastery is still inhabited by Carthusian monks and is open daily, even Mondays but closes midday between 3-4 pm. No guided visit required.

A fourth sightseeing stop for those with plenty of time is the Monasterio de Santa Maria Real de las Huelgas, the Cistercian Monastery, part of Spain’s National Patrimony. But visits are guided, and I believe, still in Spanish.

Thanks for the tips! I think we’ll play dinner by ear and see how hungry we are after the lamb - snacks and a few drinks at La Quinta and Casa Pancho might suffice! Will do a quick breakfast at La Favorita in the morning before exploring the cathedral and other sights, and then on to Briones via Ezcaray.

Ezcaray is one of my favorite Riojan villages, very picturesque. I just purchased yet another cashmere throw there from Mantas Ezcaray, my weakness.