The butterfly takes flight
Pro Creativity, novelty, near the cutting edge.
Con Portion sizes can leave you wanting more.
Pro Creativity, novelty, near the cutting edge.
Con Portion sizes can leave you wanting more.
Per Person €€€€ Food ★★★★☆ Service ★★★★☆ VFM ★★★☆
Basics
Website https://www.bolboretarestaurante.com/
Access One minor step into eating area.
Access One minor step into eating area.
Dietary Asked us well before we ordered.
Pictures
Pictures
Main Points
Hopes? Bolboreta's owners have first class CVs, which means standards, in all areas, should be very high indeed.
Reality? Yes, their backgrounds are evident in almost every aspect of the experience.
First Impressions? Well spaced tables are very welcome. But the space feels slightly under-decorated interior and arguably there's just a touch too much light.
USP? Yes! A real one. Numerous atypical - for Madrid - ingredients make the menu as close to taking part in a tasting on the UK Masterchef as we're ever likely to get.
Reality? Yes, their backgrounds are evident in almost every aspect of the experience.
First Impressions? Well spaced tables are very welcome. But the space feels slightly under-decorated interior and arguably there's just a touch too much light.
USP? Yes! A real one. Numerous atypical - for Madrid - ingredients make the menu as close to taking part in a tasting on the UK Masterchef as we're ever likely to get.
The offer in three words? Influences from Diego.
Service? Excellent. Aimiable and well informed. A not-quite-finished beer glass was whipped away a little too quickly.
On tap? Estrella Damm.
Service? Excellent. Aimiable and well informed. A not-quite-finished beer glass was whipped away a little too quickly.
On tap? Estrella Damm.
Friend friendly? Menu will work for Vegetarians, certainly.
Rating for dating? Table spacing is excellent. Great, if you're with a food enthusiast and OK with the budget you'll be investing.
Tip? Yes.
Change one thing? Hard to choose between some slightly larger portion sizes vs more warmth in the decor. Both would move Bolboreta from very good towards recommended.
Revisitability? Plans to regularly refresh the menu mean another visit, in another season, will certainly happen.
Tip? Yes.
Change one thing? Hard to choose between some slightly larger portion sizes vs more warmth in the decor. Both would move Bolboreta from very good towards recommended.
Revisitability? Plans to regularly refresh the menu mean another visit, in another season, will certainly happen.
Food
Patata, Chorizo, Yema is Bolboreta's confident and admirable statement of intent. A two-mouthful delicious, huevos rotos bite. Full-on Spain, then. Recommended, even if it leaves you wondering just how excellent a whole plate cooked to this standard might be. Pescado curado, jalapeño and scraps is designed with similar admirable intent, but its geography is very different. Here are many of the flavours of fish and chips, some of the textures, although, some might shed tears, none of the chips. A very enjoyable, refreshing dish with a nice background hint of chilli and some proper crunch from those scraps. Good. Oddly, I didn't actually notice it's served chilled until I was well into it. You're not supposed to mop up sauce in fine dining, are you? Rules? Made to be broken.
Terrina de cerdo came with a rarity for Madrid - the lesser-seen Jerusalem artichoke, used as a sort-of chilled puree. Some nice acidy pear drops made for a good balance here too. This warranted a repeat of the excellent, elasticky crunchy bread, which we were told was the only thing bought in from outside - fair enough, of course.
Pichón, chrivía, bays de sauco includes more firsts for me here with more ultra-rare sightings - roasted, charred parsnip and elberberry - elderberry! This dish was a bit of a triumph, with two slices of delicious breast, (one more would have felt more like a full main course), balanced by those berries, some amazing creamy mashed potato (again, a slightly larger serving would be a plus and not cost the earth), an excellent croquette, all brought together, in classical style, by a very punchy, perfectly glossy sauce. In short, an absolutely recommendable dish for its flavour and quality. Just know you may be left wanting a little more.
Dessert time. Bolboreta's British stylings aren't done. As Bill Bryson once said, never, ever, come between (not quite his choice of vocab) Brits and their puddings. So a Sticky Toffee Pudding, only the second one I've tried here, is a welcome success. All the ingredients come through - yes, there's proper treacle in there, adding a hint of bitter caramel to it. You can taste it. Very good indeed. The meadowsweet - which wins the obscure ingredient prize as it doesn't even appear to have a translation that's not latin - icecream and a biscoffy/syrupy tuile add suitable texture and temperature contrasts. Different but just as impactful as that STP the clementine dessert is another top notch combination of taste, texture, flavour and temperature in the Diego Guerrero tradition. If we're going to make a note - neither is quite enough to treat as a share between two. Just at the end, rum fudge petits four arrived as a parting treat. It might have been better before the desserts. Perhaps.
Very nearly the finished article, a visit is recommended and the future looks bright. Fly, baby, fly!