Kanalla Gastro-Taberna — Restaurant in Zaragoza

This was an unexpected surprise. We were actually waiting in line at another restaurant close by and didn't want to wait, so we took a chance on this place. My god did it not disappoint. We liked it so much that we ended up making a reservation to come back the following night for dinner again. There were just too many tasty looking dishes to try all at once.

All of their food items have an incredible palette and balance. Even things as simple as a russian salad are elevated by adding additional emulsions of olives and sweet potatoes. The risotto is exactly what risotto should be. Mushroomy, truffly, cheese goodness. They hadn't used the traditional rice for it either which gave it more texture. The fried chicken and potatoes had a similar wide array of flavours that complimented each other. The cold cuscus side dish in the middle of the plate broke down the smooth warm mushiness of the potatoes, and added a little crispness to the whole dish. The octopus dish came with another interesting selection of sorbet and sauces that when mixed together went just heavenly with the slightly charred fresh octopus tentacles. My wife was pregnant when we visited so we asked for the steak dish to be more on the well done side. That did not in anyway seem to take away from the taste or texture of the cut. Similar themes of alchemy and mixology carried through with the desert.

The staff was really friendly and even though most of them didn't speak English, they quickly sent their young server over who did. She was very thorough and did a great job translating and explaining what each dish was, instead of leaving us at the mercy of google translate.

Overall 5/5, this was everything we looked for in a restaurant and so far the best food we have had in our trip to northern Spain.

PS: don't bother with the lineup at Mr. Dumbo...

Walked 30mins here for supper as listed under Indian restaurants on tripadvisor but isn't. After lots of laughs, signing and animal noises the waitresses and I deciphered the menu. So I had a tapas size but plenty of hummous with flad bread, hot pieces of lamb and quarters of tomato on top. It was delicious and other people's food looked interesting and imaginatively served. Before my meal arrived i was given what I translated to be a local dish of tempured fried borage leaves -again delicious. This, the waitress told me, was on the house so all I paid was 5 euros. Such a fun hour with excellent food and such lovely staff in a back street away from the town centre but obviously well known by the locals. Thank you and well deserved 5...

Servicio a la carta de raciones gourmet para compartir. Cenamos bien, aunque de todos los platos que probamos sólo un par nos dejaron con la sensación de "sólo por esto vendría de nuevo", la ensaladilla (brutal!!) y el canelón de longaniza y trufa (delicioso). El hummus de tomate muy rico, pero el sabor del tomate no estaba muy presente. El pulpo un tanto escaso para el precio de la ración. El resto no estaban mal. Los platos son bonitos a la vista, pero luego el sabor no nos pareció para tanto en muchos de ellos. En la brandada de bacalao cubierta con el velo de tinta, por poner un ejemplo, no se apreciaba bien el sabor del pescado en cuestión, ya que la tinta de calamar predominaba en el plato. Así que el resultado termina siendo eso, muy espectacular visualmente pero un poco depcionante en boca. Pedimos los tres postres que tenían disponibles ese día (torrija con helado de lima, chocolate en texturas y mousse de arroz con leche de coco y helado cítrico, este último muy reseñable). Quizá llegamos con las expectativas demasiado altas porque nos habían hablado muy bien del lugar, y por el precio esperábamos salir de allí al menos con la sonrisa puesta. No es económico precisamente. El ambiente y la iluminación del lugar es agradable. Pero la disposición de la sala nos resultó un tanto incómoda, ya que las mesas son muy altas y cuesta un poco acomodarte en la silla. El trato impecable, eso sí. Nos atendieron rápido y con mucho cuidado al detalle, que eso también se valora. Probablemente no se convierta en un imprescindible en nuestra lista de restaurantes favoritos, pero sí lo recomiendo si te apetece probar...