Loved the pork belly, the asparagus and walnuts, oh and the eggplant fritters were surprising and delicious.

I do like that Pata Negra are doing something a bit different. I’m a massive Ximenez fan too, so I expect that ice cream would be right up my alley. Still haven’t made it to Pata Negra, I’m trying to avoid temptation and save for a US holiday in November.

The ones I had at Pata Negra were much more rewarding.

But back to the food. The ortiz anchovy with smoked tomato and cucumber relish was spoiled by the horrible bread it sat on. My husband loved his fried oysters – a special of the night – and said they were superb. Sadly, I can’t abide the little critters. Black rice with cuttlefish was the stand out dish for me, and had the lovely crusty bits you get in a good paella. Chicken livers were also very good, while the borlotti beans in the fabada had tough skins, which let down an otherwise lovely dish. We also had some new season asparagus with manchego cheese – lovely, and stuffed eggplant – ok.

We drank a couple of glasses of cava and had some excellent Spanish grenache (those Spaniards really know how to treat this grape variety). It was a good night, and if this restaurant was at the end of our street, we’d probably go there often, if for nothing else than the rice, oysters and wine!

Hola!

I think a visit to Pata Negra is in order now that I have reintroduced both ham and wine back into my life.

On the topic of persimmons – I also keep trying them with the thought that maybe I just haven’t had a good one yet. But I think the reality is that their flavour doesn’t do much for me either.

On the night, we had an excellent manager who spent time explaining and recommending things on the menu. She was very knowledgeable and industrious, but the other staff needed more direction as to what to do. While they were lovely to look at, I was feeling very neglected and frustrated by their poor service skills.

As I also mentioned, I loved the interior. I think if you group things together like those old-fashioned orange glass pendant lights above the bar and having sets of different styled chairs around the tables then you can get away by having unmatched things together. What could otherwise be seen as junk-shop kitsch has been confidently turned into cool urban elegance with a 60s twist. It is so refreshing to see this style in Perth where so many restaurants (that’s you, Amuse!) have everything blandly matching.

I still remember the wonderful bar in Melbourne, Madame Brussels, which is furnished with painted white wrought iron garden chairs and tables on that rooftop where the staff, all dressed like characters in an Agatha Christie movie, hand out hot water bottles and rugs when it gets at night. Such urban charm! Another one of your recommendations, dude!