We've eaten in some mighty fine tapas bars all over Spain, and this restaurant is up with the very best of them including San Sebastian. It was our last Saturday night and we wanted to end our journey with somewhere different. The Basque name immediately drew me here. If only we could bloody find the place! Why is it always like this? Getting lost on dark foreign streets in search of great grub? I asked a few locals, (as I always do, it's like a language lesson), where is this restaurant with a Basque name? I had and still have no idea how to actually pronounce Txikote.
We eventually found it and after our usual negotiation on where to sit, we decided on an inside table as it's on quite a busy road, away from the usual tourist spots.
We started off proceedings with a bottle of cool, crisp Albariño, a snip at a mere €16.
Then a steady stream of absolutely wonderful tapas came, and were swiftly devoured by us. A wonderfully rich, gooey, divine Foie a la plancha (con compota de Manzana €6.80).
Morcilla de Burgos Frita con Pimientos Asadaos (Spanish black pudding from Burgos, always a favourite, €3.50).
Elsa Pataki. (Tataki de tarantela con base de salmorejo de remolacha, wasabi y soya, €7.50).
This is a sublime, raw, flat tuna dish, equal in quality to El Campero down the coast in Barbate.
Two wonderfully juicy Mini burgers. (€6.50). I bore myself going on about how 'less is more' with burgers, so I won't mention it again. They went down in one delicious bite. The quality of the meat is easy to spot. Excellent chips too, fat but crunchy.
A decent but not exceptional Steak was definitely improved with some grilled foie on it.
The next course was possibly our favourite. A single giant red prawn wrapped in thin crunchy pasta, we sucked the flavourful juices out of the head with relish. Chop suey con Langostinos (pasta de arroz con verduritas, salsa de soja y langostinos a la plancha, €4.50) was a dish you could imagine being served at Michelin star Aponiente, and I'd guess may have been inspired by the wonderful food there. These scarlet Carabinero prawns are the best in the Mediterranean if not the world. They will cost you a whopping £15 - £25 in London's Barrafina. Let's look at that again, this dish was just £3.50 here for exactly the same product!
Yet more superb tuna. 1˚ Premio. (Pasta brie rellena de cebolla caremilizada con sashimi de Atún de Almadraba y Lajas de Parmesano, €7.50).
Usually dessert is a bit of an afterthought in places like these in Spain. But low and behold two stunning puds! The simplicity of a Mojito Sorbet was exactly right, (€4.50) and their chocolate éclairs/dougnuts dish were totally gorgeous. (€4 for 2). It was a bit embarrassing asking for an 'orgasmo' though even if the name is well suited.
It's hard to describe how good Txikote actually was. It's sort of popularist with burgers and hot dogs on the menu but niche and 'foodie' at the same time. It's inexpensive but the quality of produce is never compromised. Everything here was done with a twist in a way you don't really see in the UK at this price level. I'm not sure it could exist in Manchester. If it was here, I reckon I'd never eat anywhere else.
File under; the best tapas bars of Andalucia.
* Our bill came to €79.40 with wine for two. I doubt any normal person would eat as much as this though.
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