9. May 2013: Restaurant Porrue
Last year our group of friends went to Porto – we had booked the Restaurant O’Paparico there because it was ranked #1 on TripAdvisor then – now we did the same (Porrue was #1 in November, when I booked) – and we were absolutely not disappointed! The evening started with a small selection of fresh bread ranging from regular to corn bread which was served with either almond or vanilla oil. The oil was rather smooth and did not have much intensity but it was nice and tasty.
We decided to go for the menu of the time “la primavera, el regalo de la tierra” (the spring, the present of the earth) for EUR 55.00 (excl. VAT) which started with “Yogur de Espárragos de Navarra ligeramente trufado” – basically asparagus yoghurt with a light hint of truffles. The yoghurt was tasty and had a very subtle and fine taste of asparagus – the truffles you could barely taste though.
The next course was “Cebiche de Percebes y matices de Jalapeno y Piparra” – a seafood ceviche with the spiciness of Jalapeno peppers. A nice combination of subtle spiciness covered in seafood.
“Salteado de Perretxikos de Gorbea con huevo a baja temperatura” followed – the mushroom ground was tasty and the egg boiled with low temperature was fine too – a bit uncommon to be honest but pretty tasty overall.
The course was followed by “Kokotxa de Bakalao Skrey a la brasa con su pilpil ahumado y Quinoa de colmenillas” which great in taste – and the interesting part was that the food was covered with a cloak which was filled with smoke from the grill – so when the waiter lifted the cloak, the smoke pretty much was flowing to your face and nose.
Next was a typical dish for Spain – red tuna: “Atún rojo micuit, sopa de guisantes y hummus citrico”. It was served on citric hummus – which was surprisingly refreshing.
The course which came next was “Cabezada de cerdo ibérico de bellota y el sobre de jamón comestible” – it was already served quite surprising. The jamon iberico was wrapped in edible paper. It did not taste like anything but provided a new texture of crunchiness which made it secial. The taste of the ham was overwhelming everything else though. It was served with a piece of the cheek of a pig in a meaty sauce. The little white thing you see was mustard – the spicy one. If you mixed it with the sauce and the meat it was a blast!
The name of the next course was rather – well not saying anything really – Mamia 3.0. But it turned out to be quite something. In the glass was honey – and on the side was honey icecream. The glass was then filled with some kind of milk – we were told to wait for a couple of minutes (when we asked if we should shake it, the waiter was shocked and denied fiercly).
Once we had waited as we were told, the milk got hard. We opened it and it was pretty much smoked milk – definitely something unique which was not to everyone’s taste at our table. Mixed with the honey on the ground it was quite good though and the honey icecream was mind-blowingly tasty!
For the last course of the night, some entertainment was provided: the “Mus de Toffee cuajada en nitrógeno líquido con esponja de cacao y polvorón de cacahuete” was prepared in front of our eyes. The cream was prepared in liquid nitrogen which was quite an interesting spectacle to watch …
… who it was carefully prepared …
… and finally ended up on your plate like this. It was quite damn cold (obviously) and came with flour of peanuts and a fluffy chocolate foam. All was tasty but I must admit that the cream – while it was spectacular to watch – was somehow not that amazing when it comes to tasting it.
In any case, I must say that the degustation menu the Porrue offers is a blast! Amazing food is just one of the components which makes it outstanding …
… furthermore the place is modernly and appealingly designed and just very lovely to look at so you can spend hours there …
… and of course there is the mandatory pig’s leg to cut fresh jamon iberico as in every better restaurant in Bilbao (as it seems).
When you are seated, you just feel like it is an amazingly nice place! Truly, haven’t seen such a beautiful restaurant in quite a while! Even the bar – which is located right next to the entrance – looks like it is able to serve a couple of good dirnks!
The impression from outside is nice already – so it is appealing to enter – but it only fully hits you when you’re inside. Now, a few words about the service. The service was highly dedicated, passionate about their job, especially the waiter we had. Only when he once said that we were not allowed to film, his mood turned a bit dark which was – unfortunately – noticeable! Other than that, almost perfect service!
Besides the price for the menu – which is definitely not expensive – the prices for beverages are also very fair. A bottle of wine – which was recommended to us – was also fair in price (EUR 18.00). The same applies to the water (EUR 2.80) which is apparently quite special because according to the waiter the water sees light for the first time when the bottle is opened. It was interesting – but it also has a downturn as one of the bottles definitely had the smell of sulfur (egg-ish) which was – of course – then exchanged within a couple of minutes. A double espresso accounted for EUR 2.20 which is more than fair as well.
Overall, the Restaurant Porrue is a true dining experience – truly outstanding food, great prices, amazing atmosphere and dedicated personnel – just one hint: don’t show your mood swings, the attentive guest will realize! Otherwise: perfect! Booking recommended!
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Porrue
Alameda Rekalde 4
48009 Bilbao (E)
Tel.: +34 94 423 13 13
Homepage: http://www.porrue.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
