Cristina Morte Landa
Although we all agree that what one seeks when going to a restaurant is to eat well, it adds a lot to feel like in “The Lord of the Rings”, to dine in a cell or to travel to China or on a safari. With the recent opening of
Voltereta Nueva Zelanda (calle La Salle, 4) the importance of a careful decoration and of living an
experience while enjoying delicious dishes has been made clear. And in Zaragoza there are a good handful of
theme restaurants with experience included where you can also eat luxury.
NEW ZEALAND VOLTERETA
The latest opening of the Voltereta group and, for the moment, the only one outside Valencian lands, met the expectations of those who were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this establishment at Calle La Salle, 4. It was on Thursday, August 1st when it opened like a real trip to New Zealand. With vegetation in every corner, luminescent mushrooms, cabins like those in “The Hobbit”, a river and a waterfall, the restaurant surprises with its decoration.
As for food, they have an extensive menu that ranges from 4.5 to 20 euros, and where you can try dishes such as lamb croquettes inspired by typical New Zealand dishes, Asian dishes such as kimchi noodles (8.5 euros), a
katsu curry (Japanese curry and crispy chicken with basmati rice) for 9.5 euros, a tataki of Lima tuna (11.5 euros), some lacquered ribs with Korean-style sauce (10.5 euros), a truffle risotto (14.5 euros) or a cheek cannelloni (13.5 euros). Other suggestions are a dish of cod with miso (11.5 euros), mafaldine pasta with truffle (10.9 euros) or flame-grilled aubergine (10.5 euros).
LAME ZEBRA
From the creators of La Quebradora, Birabola and Señor Cachopo, Lame Zebra opened in Paseo La Mina 3 as a themed restaurant offering a trip to the African savannah. The entire setting of the restaurant is perfectly taken care of, from tents as tables to paintings, prints and a very African music soundtrack.
The restaurant’s exoticism is also evident in the menu, where you can enjoy dishes such as an exotic kangaroo meat barbecue , charcoal-grilled bison sirloin, crystal crab rice or lamb kefta. The desserts include “chocolate a mansalva” , a grilled French toast with creamy white chocolate and yuzu ice cream, cannoli filled with coconut and chocolate mousse with truffle crumble and zebra cheesecake with matcha tea soil and red tea ice cream.
XIALONGKAN HOT POT
There are many Asian food restaurants that have been springing up in Zaragoza in recent months. Sushi is the most popular, but the “hot pot” trend , that hot broth in which meat, mushrooms, eggs, seafood or noodles are cooked, has landed with a bang. In some, the decoration is more futuristic (with robots that deliver the food included) and in others you can be transported directly to China.
This is the case of Xialongkan Hot Pot , located at 26 Francisco de Vitoria Street, where from the façade one can already sense the type of careful decoration that will be found inside. Bright colours, reds, flags and lamps take diners away from Zaragoza to make them feel like they are in China. As for the dishes, traditional high-quality food from the country is what users value most.
FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IN GREASE AT TOMMY MEL’S
Anyone who has seen Grease or any other American film will know what a typical American restaurant is like. A restaurant that in Zaragoza could well be Tommy Mel’s, on Calle Azoque, 39.
With its sofas, black and white checkered floor , pink colour and aesthetic, you can enjoy Tommy Mel’s milkshakes and hamburgers as if you were in New York. As for the menu, they are specialists, of course, in hamburgers, although they also have a “Best in USA” section with their legendary Chicken&Waffless (waffles and fried chicken) or the Texas BBQ Ribs.
MR. CACHOPO
A restaurant with an experience worthy of Peaky Blinders. Located on Andrés Piquer street 8, Sr Cachopo looks like a tiny collector’s shop full of old radios, telephones, jukeboxes in rustic wooden boxes or the oldest Olivetti typewriters. After a few minutes of waiting, all these old objects show their true face as “props” and a secret door opens in the middle of a shelf to give way to a hidden room.
Dim, warm lights flood what looks like an old prison converted into a rustic restaurant. Next, an old cell with graffiti on the walls and a fake latrine is transformed into a banquet table behind bars, giving the experience of, indeed, dining behind bars. In addition to that, Mr. Cachopo has precisely one of the best cachopos in Zaragoza for lovers of this typical Asturian dish, as well as other delicious dishes.
SELVATIK
One of the most innovative concepts in terms of restaurants is Selvatik, the establishment on Avenida Alcalde Ramón Sainz de Varanda, 18, which has a children’s park (for children between 3 and 12 years old) where they can enjoy themselves among mats, slides, football and basketball courts and circuits for electric motorcycles and cars. In fact, it is the largest indoor park in Zaragoza.
The entire atmosphere of the restaurant is based, as its name suggests, on a large jungle with leaves, vines and wild animals in every corner. In addition to the fun part, the gastronomic part is not far behind with a themed restaurant with careful decoration with options that always succeed such as hamburgers, pizzas, sandwiches, salads or dishes such as Iberian pork, ribs or grilled octopus.
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