Sangonereta (NOW CLOSED)
Calle de Sorni 31
46004 Valencia
Spain
Tel.: +34 963 738 170
Overall rating: 8.5/10
Date of visit: December 2012
I was very impressed with Sangonereta. Unlike at La Sucursal in Valencia and Victor Gutiérrez in Salamanca, the food here had a lot of flavour.
I bought the tasting menu for €49,68 with six courses. First a small appetiser with salmon and green peppers:
* Three typical Valencian starters (6/10)
* Millefeuille of foie gras, goat cheese and mango, with caramelised fig, pickled ginger and black sesame (9/10)
* Sea bass with a pig trotter stuffed with mushrooms and a mushroom sauce (7.5/10)
* Encrusted Bull tail with a potato puree and liquorice sauce (8/10)
* A “Mojito”: Rum jelly, mint sorbet and lemon foam (8/10)
* “Nutella”: Milk panacotta, hazelnut cream, biscuit ice cream, and a brownie (9.5/10)
I’ve never liked foie gras, but this was clearly the best foie gras I’ve had my entire life. Wonderful!
The mojito was the best mojito I have ever had. The lemon foam was a tad too acidic, but nevertheless a most pleasant dessert.
The nutella dessert was really, really intense and flavourful like all chocolate desserts should be. I’ve been thinking back on that dish again and again since I’ve been there.
The first course was clearly the weakest of them all, and although it was nice, the rest was a lot better. If they replace that one, the meal will practically be perfect.
There were only a few minor bumps along the way (such as the fig needed a bit of seasoning, and the pig trotter was a little bit salty), but I let the waiter know. Coming home, I noticed on the menu that the sauce for the bull tail was liquorice. I had just assumed it was a braising sauce, so maybe that needed a bit more intensity as well.
The service was great too. It can of course never compare to that I had at for instance Sant Pau, Pierre Gagnaire and Gordon Ramsay‘s three star restaurant, but the waiter was very friendly and relaxed.
I don’t know if they regarded me as a special guest, but they let me have a glass of red and a glass of white wine included in the price of the menu (and they let me try different wines before I decided which one to go for), so I only had to pay for water and bread on top of that, landing on €55 in total. I really got my money’s worth here.
The waiter told me that they also make a menu for €25, but they only make that one because of the credit crunch, so people can afford coming here. Frankly, it didn’t sound that interesting, and the waiter also said that it was clearly the tasting menu that expressed the restaurant’s philosophy.
It’s a tough decision between Ca’ Sento and Sangonereta, but I think Sangonereta might just be the best restaurant I’ve been to in Valencia. The food might not have had the elegance that Ca’ Sento had, but it nevertheless had the flavours. I don’t think they had a Michelin star, but this meal definitely deserved one.
