Taberna de los Verdugo — Restaurant in Ávila

Based on the good reviews we've decided to go to this restaurant. And we've had a nice girl helping us out, who could actually speak English. She helped explaining what was on the menu. When we had to order, a lady who didn't speak English, took our order. The presentation of the food was great! I ordered the picaña which came covered by a bell jar with smoke underneath. Cool to see! However, the meat was horrible. Very rubbery, it was difficult chewing myself through it. To my astonishment, there were no potatoes or rice accompanying the meat. My husband ordered a medium sirloin steak. But it was served rare and he had to send it back 3 times to request the medium he ordered. My daughter ordered a hamburger. Pretty plain and easy, you'd think. However she didn't like it. Since kids usually complain about food, we didn't immediately respond. Since my meat was totally disgusting, I decided to give her hamburger a try. Well... she was right! I've never had a hamburger tasting this bad. The meat tasted so poor. It was dry and also with a lot of rubbery things inside. The entire experience was so bad we all started laughing. We just couldn't believe that we had such a poor experience at a highly reviewed restaurant. All 3 pieces of meat were totally bad. It was so bad none of us finished our dishes and we left almost everything on our plates. We only ate the fries (which we had to order separately!).The nice waitress who helped us, asked us what was wrong. We explained her that we didn't like our dishes and that the meat was awful. We had to pay the entire bill, no discount or excuses. After paying the bill the waitress asked if we wanted to talk to the owner. Well we didn't anymore! We ran out as fast as we could. Just a tip for the kitchen: when somebody complains about the food, just taste it! If you can't taste the poor quality maybe it's time to pursue...

1.MORCILLA con pera confitada y cebolla caramelizada (8€): Suculenta combinación de ingredientes, a destacar la morcilla de arroz con la base de patata y la cebolla caramelizada, la pera aporta matices dulces al plato pero hacen bien en dejarla apartada del conjunto.

CROQUETAS de jamón (5€): Sin más, no destacan, es el plato más flojo. Buena cobertura de la croqueta pero falta cremosidad e intensidad de los sabores, aparecen unas finas líneas de alioli de albahaca que está rico pero no aporta nada debido a la escasa cantidad y a la mala colocación en el plato.

3.CROQUETÓN de Carabineros (6€): Todo un acierto, buen juego de ingredientes en el que todos se aprecian y nadie pierde. Se percibe bastante el alioli de ajo negro, la cecina y las huevas de salmón, todo ello sin enmascarar el producto principal, el cual cuenta con una textura cremosa. Es otro nivel, producto de calidad y elaboración redonda.

4.ALBÓNDIGAS DE RABO DE TORO(12€): Sencillamente curioso, la textura es inimaginable (no spoiler, vayan y comprueben) , el sabor bastante redondo pero no destaca el gusto del típico guiso al que estamos acostumbrados.Acompañado de unas patatas caseras y una suculenta salsa. Son adictivas y bastante recomendable.

5.STEAK TARTAR de solomillo avileño(21€): El rey de la comida, poco que decir, productos de calidad, aliño perfecto y redondeado por un magnífico showcooking en mesa (te preguntan cómo lo quieres y te dan a probar antes de servir) o-b-l-i-g-a-t-o-r-i-o.

6.TARTA DE QUESO CABRALES(4'50€): Es diferente a todas las que he probado, en cuanto a textura no es fluida, es entre consistente y flan. Sabor a Cabrales nada que añadir , sabe a lo que ofrecen en carta. En mi opinión me sobran los frutos rojos pero para ciertas personas puede ayudar en la guerra de sensaciones de este postre.

7.TARTA GREDOS(4'50): Rica y consistente pero fácil de comer. Destacar la presencia de crema y la notable importancia del hojaldre.

PARA MÁS CRÍTICAS Y RESEÑAS EN MI INSTAGRAM:...

This restaurant is simply SUPERB! One of the best restaurants I and my wife have visited in the last years!! Everything is perfect: the very cozy atmosphere, the gentle personal, and the food!! The "tapas" (or starters) are delicious, and you can taste many of them and one is better than the other! The main dishes are also a must, as are the desserts and the wine list. And the price is unbelievably low for the quality of the restaurant and its food. We would like to thank the chief, the owners, the waiters! We would like to come back to Avila for many reasons, but specially to visit the...