Amelibia is my favourite place to eat in the old walled town of Laguardia. We ate here a couple of times on our last trip and were very keen to get back and see what’s new. It’s a small restaurant (just 12 tables) that overlooks the vineyards and across to the Cantabrian mountain range. Laguardia is just about the last outpost of Euskadi, or Basque country, and as such the food here is a good mix of Basque food and traditional Riojan food. So you will have a menu that has things like kokotxas pil pil (throat of hake in an olive oil and garlic emulsion, a very Basque dish) and rabo de vaca al tinto vino (oxail in red wine, a typically Riojan dish).

Most importantly, the wine selection is excellent. Mostly made up of local producers from Laguardia (and there are many), plus selections from around Rioja, with a few other things like Cava and sherry in there as well. We went with Artadi Vinas de Gain 2006, which has soften over the past year and is even more silky and fragrant than my last tasting. Still, there is nice line and length with a firm backbone of acid, it coped with my very fatty main with ease.

These guys offer modern interpretations of traditional classics, so your oxtail has no bones and is wrapped in what looks to me to fried rice paper. Excellent quality ingredients are used here, including the great fresh produce of La Rioja. Today we had a carpaccio of bacalao, very thin slices salt cod over a base of aioli with oil, chilli flakes and chives, and some mixed vegetables with jamon and garlic to start with. For mains we had the excellent Rabo de Vaca and a dish of deboned pork knuckle and foie gras. The pork knuckle that had been slow cooked and shaped into a cube, with a big hunk of foie in between. Very decadent.

Pork knuckle and foie

Then there is dessert. Ultra dense chocolate mousse with Maldon salt and olive oil…sounds weird, tastes like chocolate on steroids! The salt brings out the chocolate flavour and intensifies it. This is going on high rotation at home!

Another bonus is that they are open on Mondays (someone has to!), so they are closed Tuesdays instead. Also closed Sunday to Wednesday for dinner. Booking essential in peak seasons, highly recommended at other times. Ph: +34 945 62 12 07