Ortiga

If not for the exceptionally attentive and knowledgeable floor staff, Ortiga’s menu might overwhelm. Instead, any mystery surrounding Spanish terms or confounding combinations is replaced with mounting anticipation of the extraordinary experience to come – dishes that embody cutting-edge contemporary Spanish cuisine, or embrace more rustic traditions, and effortlessly combine these approaches. Impossibly creamy ajo blanco (chilled almond and garlic soup) comes with finely diced green grape and tender smoked eel suspended in grape gel and finished with garlic foam; delicate flavours and intricate textures, in stark contrast to a hearty lamb shoulder to share. The latter is a feast of tender, slow-cooked lamb with few embellishments, served with a pan of patatas a lo pobre (poor man’s potatoes) and lemon puree. The brief dessert menu includes a vibrant blood orange, cumquat compote and pomegranate combination paired with tart yoghurt ice-cream that leaves the palate refreshed after its astonishing journey.