Last time we were in Madrid our host introduced us to this absolutely fabulous tapas bar, called Villa Paramesa. Unfortunately the place in Madrid had to close, it was more like a restaurant and not like the tapas bar it was intended to be. We were happy to hear that the main tapas bar in Valladolid was still open and within driving distance from Madrid. Because here they have the best tapas in Spain, no kidding!
We let the kitchen decide on what to eat, because except for one we were all omnivores. The meal started with ‘Cameron Mexicano’, a mix of shrimp tar-tar and guacamole which worked like a charm. We were hooked again!
Cameron Mexicano: garlic bread, shrimp tartar, lime, guacamole, fried prawns and chili pepper @Villa Paramesa
Then came the sardine ceviche. Look at this, doesn’t it look absolutely stunning? That’s exactly how it tastes!
sardine ceviche with combu seaweed and black garlic @Villa Paramesa
The vegetarian courses meanwhile were tortilla and artichokes.
mini tortilla @Villa Paramesa
grilled artichokes @Villa Paramesa
From here we moved on to marinated conger eel, followed by puff pastry with sausage. I was impressed by the eel, not something I would normally order. Maybe it was the deep-frying that made me love it or the combination with pickled onion. The puff pastry had a lovely topping, excellent combination of sausage with kumquat but the pastry was bit too thick for me. For our vegetarian there was only one more course, porcini with egg. If you are not into meat and fish and this is definitely not the right place for you.
marinated Conger eel, pickled onion and olive bread @Villa Paramesa
puff pastry with Majorcan sausage, honey Valdéon cheese and kumquat @Villa Paramesa
Next up were anchovies with eggplant. Another wow effect, the presentation alone had me raving while the saltness of the fish worked marvelously with sweetness of the eggplants.
Santona anchovies with eggplant, truffle, honey and cheese @Villa Paramesa
Have you ever heard of hot salt stone? Me neither, but here it arrived with fish on top which needed to be turned by us. Another crowd winner!
fish with lemon on hot salt stone @Villa Paramesa
fish with lemon on hot salt stone @Villa Paramesa
Here I have to apologize because I left the table and when I came back, the next course, duck breast, had already been distributed. Maybe that’s why can’t remember it clearly. The meat was tender and juicy, not really sure of anything else to say.
duck breast with potatoes @Villa Paramesa
For the next course I stayed again at the table, octopus with deep-fried cod. The octopus was moist and tender and worked so well with the pimientos mayo.
octopus with padron pepper, garlic mayonnaise and deep-fried cod-fish @Villa Paramesa
We were still not near the end, another meat course was coming up. This time it was a lamb confit with breadcrumbs and grapes. The lamb was melting in my mouth and so soft that the crunchy crumbs added some texture. Heavenly!
confit of suckling lamb with breadcrumbs and grapes @Villa Paramesa
Since the vegetarian was a bit starving we got the cheese course before moving on to the deserts. The quince jelly was a lovely addition to some of the more biting tastes.
selection of artisan cheeses @Villa Paramesa
Looking at the pictures now I am not sure how we managed to even eat one more desert but the five of us managed to eat seven more. We started with four different ones and then re-ordered three of them. So you can imagine how fantastic they were. My absolute favorite was the torrija which is like a french toast but way more caramelized. The chocolate churros with the vanilla sauce were a surprising variation and the mini ferreros better than the real deal! We ate the wine cork already last time, nonetheless it was still as lovely as I remembered. The coffee mousse, with the chocolate crumbs on top of the cream cheese hill.
“Un canto al vino”: cacao, licorice, fresh cheese and coffee @Villa Paramesa
“Mini-Ferreros”: chocolate, turrón, orange and yoghurt @Villa Paramesa
dessert variations @Villa Paramesa
Torrija @Villa Paramesa
When we finally left the Villa Paramesa the bar was empty except for us. The owners were nice enough to let us stay until we couldn’t eat anything anymore. With a heavy heart but a happy stomach we said goodbye and continued our road trip. Yours, Pollybert
Villa Paramesa
47001 Valladolid, Calle Calixto Fernández de la Torre 5
Tel: +34 983 35 79 36
Email: villaparamesa@villaparamesa.com
Mon-Sun: 1:00-4:00pm, Mon-Sat: 8:00-12:00am
https://www.villaparamesa.com/
