BonAmb — Restaurant in Xàbia / Jávea

We had an evening reservation for 2. Arriving at the restaurant the first impression was a very warm welcome by the staff and the impeccable design of the interior and exterior. The design is very clean & focused, capturing the local esthetics perfectly in a modern style without being pretentious or overloaded at all.

Before being seated we received our first amuse-bouche, an ancestral preparation of cured fish & a cucumber honey concoction - a nice touch setting expectations to experience more traditional ingredients & preparations from the region.

At our table overlooking the pristine garden & sunset we were presented with the menu, giving the choice of 3 tasting menus mainly varying in number of dishes. A la carte dining choosing from the same dishes was an option.

We chose the sol menu which is the ‘medium’ choice featuring 10 main dishes, 4 starters and 4 desserts plus the wine pairing. We requested a couple of changes to include dishes from the larger menu which was no issue.

Service - overall we were very happy with the service receiving the right amount of attention including good explanations on the dishes without being intrusive or overbearing. Probably being a good 10-15 years younger than the normal clientele of such restaurants we felt very much welcome and appreciate the enthusiasm of the staff for the regional concept of the restaurant.

Wine - due to the seafood focus of the menu, the overwhelming majority of the wines where whites, with only 3 reds. The pairings worked very well and we had a number of very original wines we would not have considered outside of such a setting. Moreover there was a number of original items like a regional sparkling sake or a wine-beer hybrid. Overall we were very happy with the wines.

Food - the menu has a strong seafood focus, with the initial dishes showing strong Japanese influences which I enjoyed a lot. The only criticism is that some of the portions might be slightly too large for such an extensive menu. Especially the regional pastry dish - while enjoyable and well made - was definitely too large. A positive surprise was the Spanish caviar and sheep milk dish which to my surprise was very tasty. The mains showcased local ingredients very well and overall with the standouts being the cured tuna & iberico, the radish with egg yolk, the sepia noodles as well as the lamb belly. The dessert taco (pumpkin&sweet potatoe mouse with passion fruit & yuzu) was fantastic and a perfect refreshing bite. The peach mousse with yuzu sorbet was one of our favorite dishes of the meal. Unfortunately the almond cake was not overly inventive or special and a bit of a low point compared to the previous two very amazing dishes. The macaroons were a nice finish to be paired with a coffee or digestive. Overall the meal progression was quite good with the above criticism of some of the earlier dishes being a bit on the heavy/large portion side. Taste and preparation was excellent throughout which is to be expected at this level and - except for one or two dishes - everything was very inventive and unique and along a clear philosophy to be very true to the regional traditional foods and preparation methods while pushing the innovation by introducing Japanese flavors and techniques in a sensible and respectful manner.

The price tag including menus, wines, water & aperitif and coffee was around 430 euro for 2 which we considered a fair price given quality of food &service.

Overall we can only recommended this restaurant, it was a very good experience start to finish and we left the restaurant after 3.5 hrs very full & happy. When we come back to the region we will definitely...

4th Michelin stop in our little gastronomic tour on the Spanish east coast. Have a look at other reviews to compare and follow the challenges with my lists.

What’s extraordinary here? Usually, I’m looking for what’s interesting but here it’s extraordinary. First, a bit of context, in gastronomy, there’s this concept of « Alliance terre mer « (matching food from earth and the sea). It’s a big thing, and most of the 2 and 3 stars try to have at least a dish where they showcase that they master it. I highly suspect that’s a criteria to go from 2 to 3. Especially in France. One of the reasons it’s a really big thing is because you can have a dish with a wider specter in terms of aroma, but you need to match stuff that are really difficult to balance. Well, you’re in the house of one of (if not The) the master of this delicate Art. And I’ve tried a lot of Michelin (most of them, I did not publish a review), so I’m writing with some background here.

The craziest is that the chef is a natural. I don’t think he’s thinking of doing it consciously. No, it’s just natural for him. How can I be so sure? Well, two reasons : it’s in the roots and got a tip! The tip came from the right arm of the chef (le second). We had the chance to chat a little bit (she’s French, that helped me..), and during the chat I had a glimpse of the chef creative process. That’s my tip. It has to feel right. And to feel right, it has to be rooted. Which brings me to the second and the main point, it’s in their roots. I had the chance to chat (yes, I do like a lot to speak with the staff… I’m a nightmare!) with the co owner Pablo Catalá, and it stroke me. Pablo was explaining that people around here were working the earth during the days (cherishing their winter tomatoes, etc…) and fishing at night (they have their own techniques). That’s who they are. That’s the chef, Alberto Ferruz , and the co owner, Pablo. That’s the key to understand their food. It’s not instinctive, it’s their culture so deeply rooted that it feels natural. Hence this seemingly unnatural capacity to associate ingredients from the land and from the sea.

I did not mention the staff because I was mesmerized by Pablo stories, but he has a great brigade de salle.

In my book, it’s a top tiers two stars pushing to three stars, especially since the price point give them...

We visited Bonamb for the second time and we were very curious for the new menus, since they opened the new season the 1st of February 2018. The different dishes were overall fantastic, yet there are some remarks that made us feel less comfortable.

1. We chose the TIEMPO menu (some 17 different tastes) which is the largest one. We arrived at the opening of the restaurant at 19.30, and still it was often a rush from one dish to another, and finally achieved the finish around midnight. We didn't have the time to enjoy each different wine, because there was already another dish placed on the table and a new glass filled. Even after we insisted to slow down, the serving was still too quickly.
2. we recieved the menu in our language (dutch), which is fantastic, but the presentation of every dish was in a bad english that was difficult for us to understand. It would be a much better idea to leave the menu in the language of the clients on the table for the whole evening, so that we at least knew what we were etening and at what stage we were in the menu.
3. the filosophy of fermentation, salting, and returning to ancient modes of preparation is a wonderfull idea, but some of the dishes were really too salty and lost most of their taste. Being humble Flemish, we did not want to express our meaning to the waiter, but we were happy when we heard another table of Swiss people remarking the same remark: some dishes are really too salty! Will we come back? Of course! Because after all visiting Bonamb is a wonderful experience, but take care that you don't loose...