We (a couple) visited Atrio Restaurante one evening in August. We had reserved months in advance and were very much looking forward to our visit to this two star Michelin restaurant in beautiful Caceres. As we have both lived in Spain previously we are familiar...with the dining scene and associated Spanish culture and we also speak Spanish. .
We asked for and were given a tour of the amazing wine cellar /bodega before taking our seats, a real treat.The decor is fabulous all round, stylish, cool and the lighting is amazing.
One thing at the start was a little off-putting and surprising for a place so clearly fussy about getting things right. Within 1 to 3 minutes of sitting down we were being asked , on more than one occasion, whether we had decided which menu we wanted, which aperitivo we would like and whether we wanted the wine pairing .....How could we know this immediately or within a minute or two ? We had not been before, one needs a short bit of time to access and decide. Not a long time by any means, just not to be hit with all of this immediately and a little too insistently, by one of the two main sommeliers and also one of the waiters, more than once.This felt rushed and uncomfortable to us.We were surprised by such an approach.
We did not opt for the wine pairing, but were then(and perhaps because of this?) not afforded much time or much information to pick a glass and a bottle from the list. I did not expect to read the huge list/book , just to have a short conversation about our tastes. This was not really provided. We took some Sherry as an aperitivo which was lovely, a glass of white wine each (seems to only have very minimal choice if wanting by the glass as my request for Austrian or German Riesling was not considered possible at all.) Then we took a bottle of red, a Ribera del Duero for 60 euro, cheap in this restaurant context (30 the next night in another nice restaurant here) but I was prepared to pay up to 100 if a tiny bit of time had been allowed for our expression of preference and the provision of some considered advice.
Our main waiter, a man from Romania was charming and had a nice sense of humour which we really enjoyed throughout our visit. We both opted for the Del Mar y Del Campo menu ( not the one based on Iberian pig). The first dishes were fabulous, seviche, carpaccio, oyster with vermut blanco sauce etc....really wonderful food. The meat ones were a little too rich and heavy in places , for us anyway. Dessert was lovely. Espresso coffee at 6/7 Euros for a cup after such a big and expensive meal is inappropriate.
We dined in the last few years at Restaurante Liu/ Cocina y Alma in Jerez (no stars), Alexandre Mazzia in Marseille (1 star) and Kokotxa in San Sebastian (1 star) and left each of these absolutely places thrilled by our experiences. For over 500 euros (the most we have ever paid for a meal including visit to two Michelin star Patrcik Gilbaud here in Dublin), Atrio while having some really great dishes and being very stylish indeed, was a little less impressive that we expected.More
