Three eating experiences, reviewed.
El Molino - classic Spanish dining, with city views.
Casa Felipe - cañass in the heart of town.
Cocó - The local set lunch menu.
Avila Practicalities
Getting there
Approx 90 mins by train, hourly from Principe Pio. Around €20 return.
Visits
A walk of the walls is essential. The cathedral and the (small) town museum all recommended. Little-known highlight; Palacio Superunda. Anyone looking for quirky museums should probably pop into the Army Logistics museum for the chance to see military meals through the ages. The city tourist ticket (only available from the tourist office at the bus drop-off point) allows access to everywhere you want to go for 48 hours for €15. It's worth it, but some of the entry arrangements (the main Wall walk entrance and cathedral, for example) are stressful, with gift shops and ticket checks combined at one desk.
Anything else?
Overnight stay recommended. Before and after the tour parties flood the place, it's a different almost medieval, experience. Buy some yemas from La Pajarita, surely the most authentic option just outside the walls. There's a decent-sized standard priced breakfast at La Aguila.
Dinner: El Molino €€€€
Website Link
Access Step free to bar. Main eating area is upstairs.
In Short
Hopes. Something smart.
Reality In this town, it's feeling like a ghost town.
First Impressions. Stark, yellow emptiness.
USP? Location and views.
The offer in three words. What's going on?
Service! Exceptionally amiable and timely.
Friend friendly? Classic Spain. So not very wide choice, but there is good pasta.
Rating for dating. In theory, high. In practice, empty.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? The other customers. Both of them.
Revisitability. Low.
What's the story?
Lauded by everyone we know who knows Avila, this is a 10 minute walk downhill from the centre of town (so a five minute taxi ride back up afterwards). Across the river, just outside the walls, El Molino has plenty of milling ephemera inside, but the main dining area is modern and bland, although with fine city views from large picture windows. Sadly, mysteriously, there don't seem to be customers in the evenings. On a Friday night on a December holiday weekend by 2230, the staff, including a chef with an audible cold, easily outnumbered the customers. So, away from a severe atmosphere shortage, how was the food?
That's a generously sized, smart cheese aperitif, which gave us great hopes for the rest of the evening.
An island of morcilla adrift in a sea of beetroot sauce wasn't as intense in flavour as one might hope for, although the portion size was colossal.
A goat's cheese and tomato pasta was as filling as you'd expect and no less moreish, neither.
This carne roja/beef entrecot didn't live up to the sales pitch from the manager, sadly, Although well-cooked, that large crust of crisped-up fat lacked the freshness I'd have hoped for. Not the most enjoyable taste ever, unfortunately.
A fried milk/french toast dessert was better than we'd been expecting after the hit and miss stqarters and mains. Three chupito bottles were a nice touch too from yet another friendly waiter.
The food's ok to good, the location's excellent and perhaps on a busy day El Molino lives up to the recommendations we'd received. But we found a deserted restaurant, without a hint of atmosphere festive or otherwise. We saw only two other customers, one of whom wanted everyone to know exactly what kind of date he was on.
All in all, sadly this made for a less than attractive package on this visit, at least.
Cañas: Hostal Casa Felipe €
Website Link
Access Step free to bar. Steps to dining room.
In Short
Hopes. Patatas revolcadas! Please!
Reality. Yes. Albeit a confused one.
First Impressions. The sunny side of the square.
USP? Aperitif lottery.
The offer in three words. Full-on No Frills.
Service! Proper grumpy.
Friend friendly? Cheese or olives. Or both.
Rating for dating. Lunchtime drinks stop.
Tip? No.
Change one thing? Nope.
Revisitability. High.
What's the story?
Ah...patatas revolcadas. Essential Winter eating in this neck of the woods for the omnivorous. It's a hefty serving of artery-hardening mashed spuds cooked in chorizo juices. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Not sure if the latter is meant to apply for the walls of arteries too... Anyway, in case you still feel under fed. they'll add some torreznos/pork scratchings atop and you're sorted.
El Molino - classic Spanish dining, with city views.
Casa Felipe - cañass in the heart of town.
Cocó - The local set lunch menu.
Avila Practicalities
Getting there
Approx 90 mins by train, hourly from Principe Pio. Around €20 return.
Visits
A walk of the walls is essential. The cathedral and the (small) town museum all recommended. Little-known highlight; Palacio Superunda. Anyone looking for quirky museums should probably pop into the Army Logistics museum for the chance to see military meals through the ages. The city tourist ticket (only available from the tourist office at the bus drop-off point) allows access to everywhere you want to go for 48 hours for €15. It's worth it, but some of the entry arrangements (the main Wall walk entrance and cathedral, for example) are stressful, with gift shops and ticket checks combined at one desk.
Anything else?
Overnight stay recommended. Before and after the tour parties flood the place, it's a different almost medieval, experience. Buy some yemas from La Pajarita, surely the most authentic option just outside the walls. There's a decent-sized standard priced breakfast at La Aguila.
Website Link
Access Step free to bar. Main eating area is upstairs.
In Short
Hopes. Something smart.
Reality In this town, it's feeling like a ghost town.
First Impressions. Stark, yellow emptiness.
USP? Location and views.
The offer in three words. What's going on?
Service! Exceptionally amiable and timely.
Friend friendly? Classic Spain. So not very wide choice, but there is good pasta.
Rating for dating. In theory, high. In practice, empty.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? The other customers. Both of them.
Revisitability. Low.
What's the story?
Lauded by everyone we know who knows Avila, this is a 10 minute walk downhill from the centre of town (so a five minute taxi ride back up afterwards). Across the river, just outside the walls, El Molino has plenty of milling ephemera inside, but the main dining area is modern and bland, although with fine city views from large picture windows. Sadly, mysteriously, there don't seem to be customers in the evenings. On a Friday night on a December holiday weekend by 2230, the staff, including a chef with an audible cold, easily outnumbered the customers. So, away from a severe atmosphere shortage, how was the food?
A fried milk/french toast dessert was better than we'd been expecting after the hit and miss stqarters and mains. Three chupito bottles were a nice touch too from yet another friendly waiter.
The food's ok to good, the location's excellent and perhaps on a busy day El Molino lives up to the recommendations we'd received. But we found a deserted restaurant, without a hint of atmosphere festive or otherwise. We saw only two other customers, one of whom wanted everyone to know exactly what kind of date he was on.
All in all, sadly this made for a less than attractive package on this visit, at least.
Cañas: Hostal Casa Felipe €
Website Link
Access Step free to bar. Steps to dining room.
In Short
Hopes. Patatas revolcadas! Please!
Reality. Yes. Albeit a confused one.
First Impressions. The sunny side of the square.
USP? Aperitif lottery.
The offer in three words. Full-on No Frills.
Service! Proper grumpy.
Friend friendly? Cheese or olives. Or both.
Rating for dating. Lunchtime drinks stop.
Tip? No.
Change one thing? Nope.
Revisitability. High.
What's the story?
Casa Felipe's on the east side of the square, so as long as the sun's out the terrace gets the warmer lunchtime weather. It's a good short stop spot, but be ready for randomness. We went twice. The first time, at the bar, our spuds came as an apertif. We paid not a penny. Second time, sitting outside, we ordered them. And got almost exactly the same serving for €7. Average price €3.50 is still on the good VFM side.
Website Not available at time of writing. Google is hopefully your friend.
Access Steps up to enter.
In Short
Access Steps up to enter.
In Short
Hopes. A better meaty offer than our night at the mill.
Reality. Iberian Laura Ashley chic.
First Impressions. Busy and it's only just gone 1pm.
USP? Generous content on the (city-wide) €45 for two lunch menu.
The offer in three words. Classics and burgers.
Service! Chaotic but somehow timely, for us at least. A mystery how that works.
Friend friendly? As you might expect, not the widest range ever.
Rating for dating. Good on decor.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? It's all a bit chaotic, all told.
Revisitability. Yep, fine.
What's the story?
Now we know. Avila's a place for lunch, not dinner. We'd planned on an early one and it was a wise decision, More or less randomly, we chose Cocó just after 1300. A half hour later, the place was full, with a queue out the door and customers being turned away without even a waiting time. Mind you, things weren't helped by some very basic service errors, with staff wandering about looking lost, not listening to each other (despite everyone decked out with enough comms tech to protect a president) and some tables left with waits long enough for one group to give up and walk out.
Set lunch consisted of two platters and dessert. First, half a dozen starter/sharing tapas, centred, without any apology, around pig products. Today's morcilla was better flavoured than the previous nights, for one thing. Fresh migas with a slightly overfried egg, some immensely savoury Avila-style beans and, inevitably, more pork fat powered potato purée. You'll get through pretty much all of this, although a bit of pacing might be wise.
This is followed by a huge steak to share. On this occasion, we'd gorged so much on the starters we couldn't manage as much of it as we might otherwise. That meant the good news was we got to focus on the best meat on the cut, while, conscience alert, the bad news is far more wastage than we're comfortable with. Those potatoes were more like chips (ie fries) than crisps (ie chips).
Desserts were a success. Appositely egg-centric (while not in anyway eccentric) in the city of the yema, natillas was a big hit, with a floating granny's biscuit proudly ruling the waves. At less than €25 for two, this is one of several places ploughing that price furrow around town. Allowing for the idiosyncratic service, the quantity and quality explain why there'd be a queue out the door.
This is followed by a huge steak to share. On this occasion, we'd gorged so much on the starters we couldn't manage as much of it as we might otherwise. That meant the good news was we got to focus on the best meat on the cut, while, conscience alert, the bad news is far more wastage than we're comfortable with. Those potatoes were more like chips (ie fries) than crisps (ie chips).
Desserts were a success. Appositely egg-centric (while not in anyway eccentric) in the city of the yema, natillas was a big hit, with a floating granny's biscuit proudly ruling the waves. At less than €25 for two, this is one of several places ploughing that price furrow around town. Allowing for the idiosyncratic service, the quantity and quality explain why there'd be a queue out the door.