Riff, Vanencia, Spain

Funny enough we showed up at 13:30 on the dot and the guy sweeping the entrance asked to us to wait a few minutes. I’m assuming in Spain not everyone is as punctual. The Restaurant Riff is very sleek and sophisticated, it creates privacy by having some fancy metallic silk drapes between tables. The chef is german and talks to us about the menu. We go for one of the formal ones and let ourselves be accompanied by whatever wines they see fit.

The amuse is some home-made cured tuna (a play of a spanish traditional) served on some Almond mayo. Some more tapas like dishes made it our way a piece of sardine and a salute to the Chef’s german heritage, a piece of Currywurst. It was a funny idea, and I give him kudos for the witiness of the dish, but I’ve never understood the Currywurst idea in the context of fine dining.

Most dishes were fish-based in on or the other way. I really enjoyed a fish tartare (expert knifework) but was slightly disappointed by a plate which combined artichokes with peanut butter and artichokes. It was too sweet and sticky for my palate. The weirdest was called dirty rice and it really was a pretty dirty plate. Essentially some Paella rice with saffron and sepia powder. Again I’d give it points on appearance but it was too disconnected in terms of flavour to please me. The savoury selection finished with a piece of rabbit with strong and powerful north african flavours

Some dessert made it our way to finish our meal, a well executed combination of strawberries and chocolate. Was I completely thrilled by this meal ? No, but at least in the courses I didn’t like as much, it felt like the chef went down swinging implying he wen’t over the top in some dishes and didn’t quite suceed. To be fair the prices are almost spectacularly pleasant. 59 Euros for the menu and 26 for the 6 or so glasses of wine is fantastic. In other places of this calibre, that will buy you a main course and an overpriced glass of red wine. What I do recommend is that you check out the Gin Bar across the street, one of the largest selection I’ve ever seen.