After week eating at small bistros and cooking for myself I decided to treat myself and friend I met at the school to a (somewhat) high class meal at a restaurant I have heard nothing but rave reviews about, Poncelet.
Now it’s no surprise to regular Vagabond readers that I love to eat cheese. Poncelet is a world renowned restaurant and cheese bar and gastro pub, it’s just a couple blocks away from my where I’m staying. The menu features a mixture of classic Spanish dishes and some more modern interpretations. Needless to say the star of the restaurant is the wide selection of cheese and how they are incorporated into dishes.
We started off by sharing the cheese croquets which were quite delicious but maybe a little too rich for a beginning to a meal but delicious all the same. For an entrée I had the mushroom risotto which was filled with a delicious parmigiano reggiano cheese.
The Arborio rice was cooked to perfection in a seafood stock that was filled with an incredible umami flavor. Jessica opted for the oxtail soup which I have come to love during my time in Spain. If I recall correctly oxtail is a very tough piece of meat which requires hours of slow braising to achieve a succulent, fall-off-the-bone texture. This was the first time I have encountered oxtail served with queso and I was a bit skeptical but it turned out to be an incredible pairing.
After gorging on risotto and croquets we took a leap of faith and decided to snag some dessert as well. We opted for the al a carte rice pudding and a mojito sorbet. The rice pudding left a little to be desired but the sorbet was light, acidic and delicious.
All in all, Poncelet made for an incredible evening with a new friend.
Also, you can check out their enormous selection of high quality cheeses here.
I neglected to bring my camera with me so I borrowed a photo of the risotto from Sr. y Sra.
