Last year I was invited along to one of
the launch parties for the SAGARDI restaurant in Shoreditch (please
check out my
review), the food was
amazing - so imagine how excited I was when my partner won a
competition on the SAGARDI facebook page to go and sample the new
summer menu!
On arrival we were greeted by the
marketing and sales executive for the restaurant, Jon who explained
that the Chef would be coming out with each dish that he had prepared
and would talk us through it.
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Pan-fried txistorra |
We were served drinks and a plate of
traditional pan fried txistorra (that’s chorizo to you and I) was
brought out to us along with some sourdough bread and olive oil in
which to dip it. The txistorra was meaty goodness and then some, it
had a great smokey flavour to it which went down well with the bread
and olive oil. The bread we were told was made fresh each day and
purchased from a local bakery, the bakery itself is only able to make
just over 200 hundred loaves a day and once they are sold, that’s
it, it was therefore a good job for us that SAGARDI seem to have a
standing order with them, otherwise we would have missed out on this
wonderful bread.
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Tomato salad using meta de cabra, cor de bou and cherry tomatoes |
Having polished off the txistorra the
Chef brought out the next dish, a simple farmhouse tomato salad using
meta de cabra, cor de bou and cherry tomatoes from the SAGARDI garden
which are flown in each week. The tomatoes were dressed in olive oil
and finely sliced Ibarra chilli with a sprinkling of salt, which
really brought out the flavours. When I say simple, I mean that in
as much that it was an easy dish to prepare, however there was
nothing simple about the flavour of the dish, you seriously cannot
beat the flavour from a home grown tomato which coupled with the
olive oil and chilli made for such a tasty course and one that I will
be making myself when my own tomatoes ripen!
To be frank, I would have been more
than happy to have just devoured a plate of the tomato salad, however
there was more foody goodness to come and we were soon brought out a
plate of grilled hake “kokotxas” from Hondarribia.
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Grilled hake Kokotxas from Hondarribia |
On first look
I thought they were fat anchovies but it turns out the are hake
chins, who knew they had chins! Anyone who knows me knows that I
don’t really eat fish so you can therefore imagine what was going
through my mind, the first thing being I hope Scott likes them
because he is going to have to clear the plate! Well obviously it
would be rude not to try them, you can’t really comment on
something unless you have at least tasted it. Well what do you know,
I like hake chins! I was seriously surprised by the texture and
also the flavour - kind of salty and somewhat gelatinous. We were
told that this is a real delicacy and very difficult to find outside
of the Basque Country. The kokotxas come from hake that are at least
4kg in weight and are cooked in a charcoal grill with pretty much
nothing else done to them in order that they retain the natural
flavours and texture.
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Pagos de Araiz Rosado Navarra |
With each of the dishes that we were
served, the sommelier paired them with an appropriate wine, I have to
say the rose that we tried, Pagos de Araiz Rosado Navarra, was by far my favourite, the aroma alone
was so intense and fruity.
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White tuna from the port of Bermeo |
Following the kokotxas the Chef then
brought out white tuna from the port of Bermeo which was served with
a fresh tomato sauce and green Ibarra chilli peppers. Again, fish! Was someone out to get me? Well, what can I say other than I loved
it, the tuna was so meaty, I almost forgot I was eating fish! The
sauce that accompanied the tuna along with the chilli peppers really
enhanced the flavour, luckily we had more bread as well too mop up
the sauce, waste not want not as they say!
There was me thinking that was it, hell
no! Chef comes out with yet another plate, this time beef sweetbreads
with roasted tomatoes and yes, I was thinking exactly the same as you
are now, however as it turns out these were not those type of
sweetbreads, these were from the neck, phew!
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Beef sweetbreads with roasted tomatoes |
I really couldn’t
actually give you a description of what these tasted of, they were
nice, especially the edges which had crisped up, they were soft in
the middle and the roasted tomatoes complimented them nicely but
again, its difficult for me to liken them to anything, I guess you
will have to give them a try yourself and if you do, let me know what
you think.
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Peach in txakoli syrup with vanilla ice cream |
Just when you think you couldn’t eat
another thing, Chef brings out dessert (time for me to loosen my
belt!), peach in txakoli syrup with vanilla ice cream. Just incase
you are unsure, txkoli is a slightly sparkling, very dry white wine
produced in the Basque Country. This was very nice, however at the
time I was slightly disappointed as I was expecting to be wowed after
having had such a wonderful meal with so many different flavours and
taste sensations, that said and in hindsight, it was actually the
perfect end to the meal, simple and light, there was no need for
anything heavy or intense.
We rounded the meal off with a
cappuccino along with dark truffles with a hint of Sagardoz apple
liqueur. I have to say whoever makes the truffles deserves a
Knighthood for services to the country, oh my days, these just melted
in your mouth, I think they should box them up and sell them! Mmm
now there’s an idea I might take up with them!
What can I say, it was a very welcome
return to SAGARDI, we were once again knocked out by the amazing food
and the great service, I couldn’t fault a thing and hey, I ate
fish! There is plenty of choice on the menu so certainly something
for everyone, we got to sample some of the highlights from the menu
which I am sure is going to be a big hit. Thank you SAGARDI for a
great evening and for looking after us so well.
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Cider Pouring at Sagardi |
Had lovely feedback from Sagardi for my review! It's great when restaurants appreciate my reviews!