Aside from spectacular views and ease of access, unheralded Cuenca also offered some of the best values in dining and apartment rental among the 13 Spanish cities we visited. Here are just some of the reasons why my wife ranks Cuenca among her favorites towns in Spain.
RECREO PERAL (Cuenca)
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Highly recommended by our apartment's owner, this classy riverside restaurant turned out as one of our favorites anywhere in Spain. We're talking about a gargantuan feast that our waitress predicted that we wouldn't finish, a 6-course modern Spanish menu with foie gras, oxtail and all, including a bottle of local red, for less than 30 Euros per head.
A 10-minute downhill walk from Cuenca's medieval quarters, Recreo Peral is widely considered the best upmarket dining option around Cuenca's old town. While it is possible to order a la carte, the best offer here is a Menu Ejecutivo which includes not just one or two, but four appetizers to share, plus individual entrees and desserts for each diner, plus wine. And sizeable appetizers too, apart from this first course of crusty Croquetas with a soft creamy filling of Jamon Iberico.
Appetizer #2 turned out to be my favorite dish in Cuenca -- a basketful of baby squids or Chopitos, tenderly deep-fried in Andalusian style and served with flavorful Padron peppers, substantial enough as a main dish anywhere else but relegated to one of four appetizers here. It was by far the best calamari-type dish I've had in recent memory.
Appetizer #3 was my wife's favorite and would be a highlight in just about any meal: two thick, generous slices of Foie Gras -- not Terrine de Foie Gras, but sizeable slabs of whole, velvety duck liver, deveined and expertly coated with a thin crust of delicious salt flakes. How this became buried among one of four appetizers in a 27.5 Euros set menu is still a complete mystery to me. An appetizer of Foie Gras of this size and quality currently costs about 15 euros in Madrid.
Appetizer #4 was a local style of Migas involving some humble bread crumbs, moistened, generously seasoned with paprika, sprinkled with hand-torn specks of Jamon Iberico and raisins, oven-baked and topped with a soft egg. I probably tasted only a few spoonfuls, not because it wasn't good but because we're starting to get full even before the main dishes.
But first, a glass of iced granita as a palate cleanser, and a much-appreciated interlude between the four appetizers and the main courses.
And then the mains arrived. Luckily I did have the foresight to order a Steak Tartar instead of a Paella or a large chop of Iberico pork shoulder, which would have been unmanageably heavy as a fifth dish. Somehow I did muster the appetite to finish the entire steak, though a little more kick ... some briny capers perhaps? ... would have helped digestion.
While I didn't order a substantial dish, my wife did.
It was an excellent dish of Arroz Meloso con Cola de Toro y Setas -- Creamy Rice with Oxtail and Wild Mushrooms -- with superb meaty flavors all infused into the softened rice. We definitely tried our best, but were ultimately foiled by the physical limit to the size of our stomachs.
How we managed to find room for dessert I have no idea. But this Milhoja de Hojaldre, analogous to the French Mille-feuille featuring an luscious cream filling between scrumptious sheets of pastry, was so light and airy that my wife, a diehard fan of Mille-feuille/Napoleon, had no problem finishing.
At last, a molten lava cake in a tin can to cap an outstanding meal with impossibly generous portions. In retrospect I found the appetizers -- especially the Chopitos and the Foie Gras -- to be most enjoyable of all, but everything else from entrees to desserts and wine were top quality, especially at this attractive price.
Bill for Two Persons
| Menu Ejecutivo x 2 | 55 Euros |
| TOTAL | 55 Euros (CAD$82.5) |
That price-to-quality ratio was exactly why we always seek restaurant recommendations from the locals, who introduced us to another restaurant famous for regional cuisine, but at a cheaper price range.
SAN JUAN PLAZA MAYOR (Cuenca)
Location Map
With haphazard clusters of tables stretching down Plaza Mayor in the shadow of the gothic Cathedral, San Juan occupies by far the most desirable location anywhere in Cuenca. Based on our observation it's also the most popular restaurant in town, and not all because of its prime setting.
The appeal here is simple and effective -- regional recipes, ginormous portions of four appetizers plus entree, throw in some local wine and dessert for an unbeatable price of 15 Euros per person. Appetizers #1 and #2 were a tuna salad followed by Croquetas with a harder-than-usual crust and a filling that turned out denser than those at Recreo Peral.
Appetizer #3 was a classic Cuencan dish known Morteruelo, a rich, rough pate made from pork liver and mystery game meats such as wild hare, partridge, or whatever the hunters bring back.
Appetizer #4 was another local favorite known as Ajoarriero, a cold paté of salted bacalao, garlic and potatoes drizzled with herbed olive oil. We finished neither the Ajoarriero nor the Morteruelo as our colossal mains would soon arrive in the form of ...
... a whole leg of lamb from the casserole, slow-braised in its own juice and served bone-in for a simple yet richly flavored dish that I somehow found the appetite to strip down to the bones.
But the best dish of the evening was my wife's choice of Secreto Iberico, a highly sought-after cut between the shoulder blades of the black Iberian pig better known for lavish 150-euros-per-kg cured hams. It was an amazing pork steak, juicy and flavorsome to the degree of tasting closer to beef than to pork. In retrospect I don't understand why we didn't order Secretos more often while in Spain -- good luck finding this in Canada.
For desserts we shared a berry tart and a Spanish version of crème caramel known locally as flan. This was a tremendous amount of food -- not spectacular food but certainly enjoyable especially for travelers curious about rustic regional recipes -- for just 15 euros per person.
Bill for Two Persons
| Menu del Dia x 2 | 30 Euros |
| TOTAL | 30 Euros (CAD$45) |
All these heavy meals called for a comfy bed for those long siesta naps. As tempting as the majestic Parador, housed in a medieval monastery built at the edge of a sheer cliff, appeared despite the 180-euros-a-night price tag, we came across a better deal for a self-service apartment without giving up that canyon view, for about a quarter of the price.
How much of a good deal? How about a bachelor suite with a gorgeous view down Cuenca's famous canyon, cozy decor, excellent new appliances including satellite TV, stove, fridge, coffee machine and even a washing machine for those weeks-long trips, including K-cup coffee and simple pastries for breakfast, a two-minute stroll from the medieval square and cathedral, for less than 50 Euros at the time of writing? That's cheaper than half-price compared with our dirty spartan apartment in Barcelona.
For two mornings we woke up to this panorama of fellow cliff-side houses overhanging the Huecar Canyon, stretching beyond the town onto the arid plateaus of La Mancha. Did I mention that Felix the owner was so gracious that he woke up at 06:30 just to get us a taxi to the train station? Look up Apartamentos San Martin in Cuenca -- you'll thank me for it.
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