Food and drinks
Our philosophy on cuisine...
We naturally focus on Spanish cuisine, using fresh local ingredients as much as possible. We do depend on the offer of the butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer and vegetable gardens in the neighbourhood. Moreover, we try to include the wishes of the guests in our menu selection of the day. In practice, this means we like to hear at breakfast whether you would like to dine in the evening. Let us know if you have food allergies or really don’t like things and we will take this into account. Even more pleasant is if you already let us know at the time of booking whether you would like to dine the evening of your arrival. A menu with amuse, starter, main and dessert, water and bread costs between €18.50 and €25.50, depending on the products. In consultation, we also prepare specific regional dishes such as leg of lamb or game. We charge a reduced rate for children up to 10 years old.
A justification for...
An account of the meat, chicken, the fish and the eggs you get on your plate with us.
The eggs we use are usually (certified) ecological and come from a chicken farmer here in Frías. If that doesn’t work out we fall back on regular free-range eggs. The chicken in the menu always comes from a farm where the chickens can roam freely. Not from the immediate area because there are no such farms here. Lamb comes from our region and if we cannot source it here from the immediate area then it is sourced from the neighbouring province of Palencia. The quality of Spanish lamb cannot be compared to the lamb usually found in butchers’ shops in the Netherlands. Depending on what we can get, we use meat from suckling lambs or very young animals (maximum 17 weeks) for our stewed leg of lamb. You can taste that, the meat is more tender but above all much more refined in flavour than you are used to. Many guests who find lamb at home too strong in flavour are amazed by the tender taste of lamb here in Spain. In all cases, the animals come from sheep farmers where the animals have plenty of room to move around (indoors and outdoors). Our beef always comes from cattle and calves raised around here in the mountains of the Merindades. They roam freely there and you are sure to come across them if you go hiking. These animals eat different kinds of grass and herbs, are on the move all day and you can taste that. In winter, they are sometimes fed supplementary feed.
Meat from free-range pigs does come from Spain but not around here. All the pork we use is from the Ibérico pig. This breed of pig is used for the famous Ibérico ham (Pata Negra, black leg) and comes from the region of Extremadura. These pigs are raised in the ‘dehesa’, an area of grass and oak trees. In autumn, these pigs’ menu consists entirely of acorns and this gives the meat a fantastic flavour.
The fish we serve has the MSC or ASC label where possible. However, these labels are not yet as well established here as in the Netherlands and Belgium. Sometimes we also manage to source our fish from fishermen who fish close to the Basque coast.
About the wine...
Our region borders the Rioja and that has its effect on our wines. Our house red wine is a Rioja Crianza from Bodegas Navajas. In addition, we always have other good red wines on offer. Ask about wines from other regions, or a Reserva or Gran Reserva. The white house wine comes from Rueda (Buhro, 100% Verdejo), a widely appreciated wine region from Castilla y Leon. We also always stock a special white wine, the “Txakoli” from the Basque Country. Cava lovers will not be short of anything, we always have it cold. A pleasant side effect, wines are pleasantly priced in Spain and therefore also with us.
Because of the relationship we have built with Bodega Navajas, we can make an appointment for you to visit it. It is a family business and the tour is therefore provided by Antonio, the owner, or Merche, his daughter. For groups, we can also organise a tasting.
More information on the Rioja wine region can be found on our website here.