Disidente
Carrer del Comte de Salvatierra, 41, 46004 València, Valencia
The phrase disidente in Spanish means precisely what you suppose — dissident. The time period for this can be a cognate — a phrase that’s virtually the identical or the identical in each languages and might actually assist when studying as a result of there’s loads of vocabulary you already know even when the pronunciation is a bit totally different.
When the V-I staff appeared on the restaurant named Disidente, it made us surprise. What is it they’re dissenting from? How is {that a} good title for a restaurant — it feels way more prefer it ought to be a goth nightclub. The menu is, nevertheless, fascinating. Some of it appears regular with Patatas Bravas, Hummus, nachos and the like. There are some inventive outliers like Truffle Mac & Cheese, curry and a Thai wok dish nevertheless it truly seems like a fairly regular carta and never something that’s defiant, protesting, taking difficulty with or the opposite traditional definitions of the phrase disidente. Boy had been we flawed.
We eat at loads of eating places in loads of locations and typically it looks as if menus are related sufficient to be a little bit of a riff on the theme. New Orleans is an effective instance of this. A chef good friend there says that NOLA is “4 thousand eating places and one menu”. This is true in loads of locations like California, Paris, London and sure, even in Spain. But that’s OK. We need acquainted however we would like it to have the non-public stamp of a selected chef on the dishes.
Boy howdy, does Disidente do this.
Take the croquettes. Listed as “La Croquette” on the menu the title alone appears defiant. And it’s. Croquettes are tremendous crispy on the surface with virtually no greasiness however a light-weight creaminess inside. They are virtually like deep-fried hummus.
They are listed on the menu as being “Creamy croquettes of “chorizo”, smoked Idiazábal cheese, truffled roasted pear emulsion”. The chorizo is in quotes as a result of these are vegetarian (not vegan, they do have egg and cheese). The croquettes are fabulous with a slight smoky ham taste. They are served with the marginally truffled emulsion that’s candy and topped with shredded unsweetened coconuts (that appears like grated parmigiano at first) and chives.
OK. Not a foul begin in any respect however dangle on…
Up subsequent was listed as Burrata y Granola. That sounds a bit dissident and it’s. There is a big ball of glistening burrata within the middle of the shallow bowl surrounded by a granola with nuts and seeds and raisins. At first that appears odd however this isn’t one thing like now we have ever had earlier than. Anywhere.
The granola is a mix of what we suspect is quinoa and oats perhaps. It’s a bit like in a single day oats with some however not loads of texture however that’s the place the comparability ends as a result of its a beautiful brick crimson shade and tasting of sun-dried tomatoes, paprika and olive oil. This is topped with beneficiant crunchy nuts (walnuts, sesame seeds, peanuts, cashews) and raisins together with blistered cherry tomatoes (which might be served chilly). A candy(ish), sticky French dressing holds this all collectively and the entire thing is sprinkled with extra EVOO and a few micro greens.
A chew of the “oatmeal”, a chew of the “granola, some beautiful tomatoes and a little bit of cheese. Repeat. Over and again and again.
If that is granola, we would like it for breakfast. Every single day.
The major course dish labelled Quinoa, Garbanzos and Aguacate is equally misleading. This is known as a composed salad like a extremely grown up Cobb Salad.
There’s chilled steamed broccoli, hominy corn, sliced avocado, tiny garbanzo beans (tremendous creamy and tender) and the fluffiest quinoa you’ll ever discover. All of that is topped with a barely spicy yellow corn French dressing that has a contact of lime and microgreens. The salad is served with home made laminated crackers of flax, sunflower and sesame seeds. At €14,95 it’s not low-cost by Valencia requirements however it’s a enormous plate of meals and all you want for dinner (or a lunch with some leftovers).
There is a little bit of a letdown (whew!).
The ¡A Las Bravas! are their tackle patatas bravas and are each good and nice. They are served with a scrumptious paprika, aïoli that really may be very very similar to a Romasco and bitter cream. This is topped with what they name praliné de “cacau del collaret”.
The cacau de collaret is a small peanut that’s native to Valencia and on this case it’s utilized in what could be described a a dukkah. It provides a bit extra spice and a some crunch. This and the sauce are superb (the good half). However, however the potatoes are solely OK (the nice half). They are russet potatoes which were oven baked and lack the crispy pores and skin that you really want in a patatas bravas. If that they had been roasted longer or a waxy potato used, this may be a significantly better dish.
