Five start romantic dining, Adelontado style

Recent newcomers, Patriek and Bernadette, a Dutch/Belgian couple, are fast making a great name for themselves. They took over Cortijo La Haza in February and have been packed ever since. Both have extensive backgrounds in the travel and tourism industry having most recently worked as duty managers for Eurostar. What brought them to Adelontado was a desire to live and work in Andalucia, having already been property owners for 4 years in the Alpujarras.

Cortijo La Haza is a 5 bedroom hotel (capacity 12 to 13 people), very tastefully restored and beautifully located with far-reaching views. Patriek and Bernadette cater for their own hotel guests and for non-residents in the evenings with a table d’hôte, producing very seasonal menus each day. No two days menus in a week are the same and there’s a maximum capacity of about 18 people for dinner, any day of the week and at any time to suit. Sadly lunches aren’t available.

When I first rang to make a booking for a group of seven of us I was just asked if there was anything in particular any of my party couldn’t eat. I have my blue cheese problem, you’ve heard about that before, and an allergy to bananas and another friend doesn’t eat fish. No problem, said Patriek, all that could be taken into consideration. After our conversations I already had a great impression of what could be in store for us as nothing was too much trouble.

We arrived to a great welcome and met our charming hosts for the first time. Drinks were served in the garden and we sat in peaceful surroundings watching another beautiful sunset. Our taste buds were woken by paté on toast with homemade orange chutney, delicious and perfectly presented. Our hosts also politely asked if we wouldn’t mind delaying the start of our meal until after the hotel guests had started as both parties had young children; of course that was not a problem for us.

Dinner then began. To start we had Ajo Blanco, a delicious Spanish cold soup of garlic and almond, garnished with olive oil and grapes. That hit the spot immediately and set the standard for what was to follow. Our main course was a large chicken breast wrapped in Serano ham, served in a blue cheese sauce, with tagliatelli. I had my own special version with a cream and brandy sauce, nothing like being singled out for special attention!! Comments from around the table were all more than favourable, the chicken was so moist and tender, the sauce was amazing, the portion very plentiful and our compliment to Patriek, the chef, was to return another seven empty plates. Then after a generous rest between courses, dessert followed; a beautiful Frangipane tart with cream. Another seven empty plates went back to the kitchen. We were all extremely contented after our meals. The cost of the table d’hôte is just 20 euros per person and then with drinks and wine we had a bill of 32 euros per person, great value.

What was evident from our meal was that Patriek takes great pride in his cooking; he’s not trained professionally but just enjoys cooking for others and delights in the empty plate compliment. Bernadette looks after her guests with charm and efficiency and it’s a pleasure to spend an evening at Cortijo La Haza.

A return visit was a must and I arranged a sneaky private lunch – lucky girl – when I would have plenty of time to speak to Patriek and Bernadette. A high standard had already been set and with my tummy rumbling I was ready for some more delicious home cooking. This time I began with Gazpacho which was perfect. This was followed by a truly special Mediterranean dish, warm figs with cheese sauce (Camembert substitution for me instead of blue cheese) and walnuts, wrapped in Serano ham. I could rave about this for hours. For main course I was presented with an enormous seafood salad with crab, prawns, merluza and tuna in seafood sauce and a great salad variety including two leaf varieties, garlic stems, asparagus, tomato and egg. Perfect again but sadly I was beaten by my portion, so for the first time I couldn’t send back an empty plate. Dessert was Patriek’s signature dish of chocolate mousse with Belgian chocolate, wow, another empty plate!! That was divine.

There’s also a really good wine list, with Viña Sol as the house white, and prices ranging from 9 euros to 28.50 euros (for a Muga 2003 which I hear is amazing). We sampled the house red, a lovely Monte Ducay at 11 euros and a Rioja (Patarnina Banda Azul) at 12 euros which was equally tasty. It’s a well thought out list, there’s plenty to choose from, and Bernadette is happy to recommend for you.

I really appreciate Patriek’s cooking style, its hearty, generous portions are just what I like and it’s a taste sensation. The great thing is that when you book you will have no idea what you’ll be getting. The variety is amazing and some of the other dishes that you could be treated to are a ten vegetable soup, cauliflower with curry and coconut soup, fried Camembert with raspberry coulis, Halloumi cheese with rocket salad, rabbit with plums and apples, deep-filled fish pie and almond cake. Again, it’s easy to cater for vegetarians and Patriek will turn out something special.

So, next time you’re thinking where to go to then give Cortijo La Haza a call and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.


Ratings:
Rating
Food *****
Service *****
Value for Money *****
Recommend to others *****
Vegetarian options *****
Ambience *****
Entertainment n/a
Toilets *****

Until next time, happy eating.
Lynda Kyte