Ronda: De Locos Tapas

We were really enjoying our time in Ronda. From the beautiful scenery, to the friendly people, to the, well, I'm not sure I can put it any other way, atmosphere, we were loving it.

At night, with all the day trippers gone and in low season, there just seems to be a rather romantic mystery to the place. Quiet takes over and you almost feel like your an extra in some exotic romantic thriller from another time.

It was sad that we had only one night to spend in Ronda, with one dinner.

The walk to our dinner destination took us down through the Old Town. Past the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor. Like many churches built during the Reconquista, this was constructed on the remains of a mosque. A quick look at the bell tower belies the Moorish roots of the structure.

Across the way, the light on top of Santuario Maria Auxilium shone brightly in the night.

Our destination was a little shop just inside the Almocabar Gate, once the main entrance to this side of the city. The name of the place? De Locos Tapas.

This place gets a ton of love, so I went ahead and made reservations a month before our trip. It's a good thing too; the place has but 5 tables. When I mentioned we'd be having dinner here to the lovely lady at Apartmentos Rondacentro, Hilde, she went, "aaaah, you've made a good choice, it is my favorite place in the city."

The place is run by a Husband and Wife team. It is Guillermo who is the front man, originally from Basque Country, he is very friendly, quite chatty, warm, with a great sense of humor. He speaks perfect English and is one heck of a storyteller. We were the first customers to arrive, so he took his time with us, telling us about working in a Japanese restaurant. When he found out we live in San Diego, he mentioned he lived in San Gabriel for a time. When I mentioned being from Hawaii, he regaled us with a story about his cousin (if I recall) who came back from Maui with some board shorts for Guillermo. The main pattern on those shorts was, ahem; the "cash crop", if you know what I mean. His dad pointed to the pattern on the shorts and inquired what it was. So quick thinking Guillermo, who remembered the "local" name for said herb said "pakalolo". His dad, thinking it was some kind of exotic tropical plant was satisfied. And so Guillermo got to keep his "special" board shorts.

The menu at De Locos is a combination of various traditional and some very non-traditional tapas. Many with an Asian twist from the time Guillermo worked in the Japanese restaurant. There was also a menu written in Korean. According to Guillermo, there are many Korean visitors during January and February. The Korean menu is an abbreviated version of the hand written menu, consisting of items that their Korean clientele often order.

We had a blast figuring out what to order and decided (quite rightfully so) to stray from the norm except for a few dishes.

We started with the "Quail's Nest". Quail eggs lying in a "nest" made of "Kataifi", shredded filo dough. As you can tell from this dish, the presentation of some of the dishes are composed in a lovely, flashy-whimsical way. The quail eggs were nice but nothing special, the filo a bit too dry and crumbly. Not bad.

The Artichokes and Jamon, a more mainstream dish was downright delish.

The artichokes were nicely seasoned, the texture excellent, a bit of crunch, but not tough. The jamon added that nice savory touch that paired nicely with everything. The mustard based sauce was a nice slightly pungent touch. The Missus (of course) loved the fried egg.

The Truffle Egg presentation was very nice.

Lovely flavors, just enough truffle oil, the jamon again adding a nice touch of savory. The only complaint was that the egg was overcooked for my taste.

My favorite dish, hands down was the Pork Tataki….yes, basically seared, ultra rare pork.

Man, the textures and the flavors, touches of ginger….good lord, this was so good. I've learned that sometimes I just need to go with my instincts….and while the Missus still sometimes has doubts (see torisashi), she's learned that there are times when you need to throw caution to the wind. Many times, the payoff is a memorable dish like this one. I've heard that Japanese is the "in" cuisine in places like Barcelona now…..so I'm looking forward to returning and getting some "Tataki de presa ibérica".

Meanwhile, Guillermo is from Basque Country, so I had to order the Txangurro (Spider Crab), a Basque regional specialty.

For some reason, this didn't do it for us……not enough crab flavor, a bit too mushy, and in need of some additional seasoning.

And while the Octopus was decent, perhaps a bit too chewy, but nicely flavored….those potatoes, the truffle oil…..was delish.

The Sea Bass Ceviche was nicely seasoned, refreshing, though I prefer mine with a bit more citrus.

Since there was Foie Gras on the menu, you know we had to order it, right? This came with a very nice tangy, passion fruit sorbet which acted like a nice intermezzo. The foie was decently seared, the texture wonderful. I did find it a bit too much on the sweet side. Of course, perhaps I've become a bit jaded having had so much foie gras over the last couple of years.

The Smoked Duck was nice, but the duck tasted almost exactly what I get here in San Diego.

The Ox Cheeks were nicely done, I've yet to meet a version of carrillada that I didn't enjoy in Spain.

We also ordered the Deer Tenderloin which we affectionately called "Bambi".

Tasting like a more gamey version of the Ox Cheeks this was very tender and quite tasty.

For dessert the Missus chose the Gin and Tonic Sorbet which has a wonderful combination of tart, sweet, citrus tones, and black pepper (!). It was the perfect end to this meal.

While not every dish was a hit….and with this many, it's hard to do…remember, this isn't Azurmendi or even Disfrutar, the meal topped out at 60 Euros! That's right, with a couple of glasses of wine…all of this, a shade over sixty bucks! Plus, we had a blast chatting with Guillermo. And while, perhaps, this wasn't the best meal of our recent trip, it was by far, the most fun we'd had during a meal in a while! And that really does matter.

If you're planning to visit De Locos Tapas; make reservations, have an open mind….and relax….you'll have a good time!

De Locos Tapas
Arquitecto Pons Sorolla 7
Ronda, Spain 

We took our time walking back to our apartment. The Missus climbed up one of the stairways on the city wall and took the photo of the Old Town above. We stopped at the same spot where we took a photo of Puente Nuevo earlier in the day. It's just as beautiful, if not more so, at night.

As we got back to the apartment……

We decided to take a detour and walk around the building overlooking the valleys, where we came across this……

Much like Miki Haruta, I had to look this one up when I got home.

As we walked around the Parador de Ronda, I took one of my favorite photos…..

And then another photo from our patio……

You know, there's something true about this.

I still smile when I think of Ronda….which led me to this on YouTube…..

BTW…..we visited a couple of places in the video. That jamon guy and the shoe store sure look familiar.

Have a "Happy" weekend!