Last night I found myself dining out in Chelsea’s Cambio de Tercio. I’d been to the restaurant as a child and the memory of that salty jamon iberico had lingered many a year later, so it was with great delight that I revisited London’s most successful Iberican restaurant.
And I wasn’t disappointed. The fare was the tastiest and most memorable I’ve had in several years, paying homage to traditional Spanish methods with nods to that most tantalising of culinary techniques; molecular gastronomy. We started with a dainty portion of delicately spiced salmon tartar topped with a tiny portion of smoked ice cream! When the two combine, the authentic flavour of smoked salmon is the final result – and ludicrously tasty at that. Paying homage to the more conventional Spanish menu, we were then presented with patatas bravas and jamon croquettes, both of which melted in the mouth and were just the right size to excite the appetite for the following guinea fowl and monkfish courses. We finished with a white chocolate mousse with passion fruit and home made petit-fours.
I insist that proprietor, Abel Lusa, join us for pudding. Complementing him on a menu perfectly balanced between tradition and creative flair, he tells me that one in ten customers turn their nose up at the smoked salmon. “It’s too much for them”, he says, “but I would rather risk it for the sake of that remaining nine. There’s no fun in going to a restaurant and paying to have the same old steak and chips every time.”
Whether it was the wine, or the familial atmosphere, I found myself kissing the owner on both cheeks as we left.
For more information, please visit www.cambiodetercio.co.uk.
