Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Jamonera Review

This is part of a series of posts related to Chef Marcie Turney including: VerdeLolitathe Midtown Village FestivalJamoneraLittle Nonna's, and Barbuzzo.

Back when it was a thing in the kingdom of Chef Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, Bindi was one of our favorite places to eat. A few years back, Jamonera took its place, an ode to Spanish tapas and wine bar.


 As with most of Chef Turney's restaurants, the two-tops can be crammed, but overall Jamonera boasts a warm space, with lots of red.


Sangria Blanca [$9]
Spanish white wine, citrus, gingery syrup  



The GF started off with some white sangria. The ginger was really pronounced, which mellowed out any overt citrus and sweetness. Nice.

Pedro's Garden [$12]
Bourbon, El Maestro Sierra PX, balsamic, ginger, basil
 

Even better was this Bulleit bourbon-based tipple. The sherry imparted a nice mix of spices on the nose, with the caramel undertones supporting the subtly sweet bourbon. As a countervailing element, the balsamic provided some tartness with the basil and ginger coming through on the end.

Crispy Cana de Cabra [$9]
Fried goat cheese, roasted beets, spinach, grapefruit, pickled fig jam


Here's your prototypical beet salad, served up with a huge disc of goat cheese. While the fig jam wasn't apparent, the grapefruit was a nice tart marriage with the sweet beets. 


Butternut Squash Croquettas [$8]
Urgelia cheese, brown butter-marcona almond sauce, brussel leaf-apple salad
  

The croquettas were crisp and light, with the brown butter marcona almond sauce bringing deeper flavors than expected. The apple brought some fresh tartness to each bite, with the cheese providing some salt.

Papa Frita [$6]
Crispy skin potato, wood smoked garlic aioli, brava salt, house made sherry vinegar-hot sauce 


Pretty much a must-order at Jamonera, it's no surprise why it's often featured at the Midtown Village Festival at the Jamonera booth. Crispy and well-fried, these potatoes are served with a garlic aioli on top and some house-made sherry-vinegar hot sauce that should be bottled and sold in a store near you.

Seared Scallops [$17]
Celery root puree, pork belly, scarlet baby turnip, warm chorizo-sherry vinaigrette  


The quartet of scallops had a nice salty sear, with the crisp pork belly and chorizo-sherry vinaigrette providing heft to each bite. The roasted red peppers balanced it all with some sweetness.

Pan Seared Hangar Steak [$17]
Romesco, manchego, mushroom escabeche, salt roasted potatoes 



The seasoning on the charred medium-rare steak was spot on. The escabeche provided a nice vinegary brightness for each bite, with crispy salt-roasted potatoes accompanying this dish. 

Berenjenas [$7]
Crispy eggplant fries, smoked tomato salmorejo, truffle honey, zamarano cheese
  

The crispy eggplant fries were really nice, with some sweet cinnamon coming through, along with the truffle honey. The creamy eggplant simply melted in your mouth, with the light tempura batter providing some texture. The salmorejo puree added some acidity to each bite.


In typical Turney-Safran fashion, Jamonera shines another bright light on 13th Street and their Midtown Village kingdom. There are a variety of offerings for all of your tapas needs and you could easily get full on 3-4 plates between two people. But why would you want to stop there?


Click to add a blog post for Jamonera on Zomato
www.jamonerarestaurant.com  

2 comments:

  1. WE ORDEDED A PAELLA FOR THREE. THE QUANTITY WAS SMALL. FOOD WAS BLAND. WE WERE SEATED AT THE BAR I GUESS THAT WAS WHY WE DIDN'T GET MUCH SERVICE OTHER THAN THE SERVER PUTTING THE FOOD IN FRONT OF US. IT WAS NOT WORTH THE PRICE. WILL NOT GO BACK.

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    Replies
    1. @Anon - that's unfortunate! In terms of quantity, Jamonera is tapas so I would expect smaller portions, but not much can be said if the food wasn't seasoned properly.

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