Tapas For Dinner At Ambiente, Goodramgate, York
Published On Thursday 5 Jan 2023 by Sticky Beak
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A couple of months ago Mummy Bird was reminiscing about the times her and Daddy Bird had had in the historic city of York and was saying how much she’d like to return. Not ones to clip her wings, The Man Bird and I got on t’interweb and booked rooms at DoubleTree by Hilton; her wish is our command! Fledge stayed back at the nest to look after everything, so we didn’t have to get a house-sitter or someone to care for poochy.
Having got settled in to our accommodation and had a freshen up, we pootled the couple of hundred metres to our chosen restaurant, Ambiente Tapas on Goodramgate. Mummy Bird has currently got some mobility issues so when our server saw us she quickly changed our table from one upstairs to one in the rear of the venue, without us uttering a word; now that’s top-notch customer service, wouldn’t you agree?
Unsurprisingly, given the age of the city, a lot of the buildings are quirky in size and layout, and Ambiente is no different. The character of the building has been respected whilst the team have added their own warm, Andalucian charm into the mix. We ordered a bottle of wine and some bread with Olive Oil and Balsamic (£3.75) to graze on whilst we looked through the menu to see what we fancied.
Ambiente do a range of Paellas, cooked freshly to order (taking at least 25 minutes) so we ordered the Chicken and Chorizo variety (£29.95) to share between the three of us, and a selection of Tapas to keep us occupied in the meantime! His Nibs can’t have Tapas without ordering Patatas Bravas (£5.50), so that was the first thing to be ordered – followed by Empanadas (£6.95), Albondigas (£5.95), Pastel de Alcachofas (£6.95), Queso de Cabra (£5.95) and Carillada de Cerdo (£8.50).
The beauty of Tapas is that there is a steady stream of food to pick at; each dish is brought from the kitchen as and when it is cooked. Our selection contained a great balance of cheese, vegetable and meat dishes and, again, this is one advantage that Tapas affords to groups of diners: there is something in there for every member of the group.
There were plenty of cubes of triple cooked Sagitta potatoes in the Tapas bowl, all cosily covered in a rich, gorgeously spicy Tomato sauce, and The Man wasted no time at all in filling his mouth with their sumptuous flavour! Mummy Bird just had a couple of cubes of the Patatas Bravas as she found them a little too hot for her palate, and so it fell to me to dive in and scoff the rest . I managed to snare most of the pungent Aioli too, so it was a very successful endeavour on my part, I felt! Mummy Bird and I ate the majority of the lightly battered Goats Cheese, revelling in its characteristic muskiness. The braised Fennel in this dish (Queso de Cabra) partnered the cheese perfectly, its sweet, gently anise taste and the earthy Beetroot crisps’ flavour tempering the more savoury notes in the mouth. This was also a beautiful dish to look at thanks to the contrasting gold of the batter, the creamy cheese and the rich jewel colour of the Beetroot.
The Tomato theme continued in the Albondigas (Beef and Pork Meatballs); the intense meaty elements were matched by a superbly confident Chorizo and Tomato stew that had our taste buds reeling in delight. At first glance we didn’t think that the trio of meatballs would be much of a meal, but each one was incredibly dense in texture so the satiety score was very high.
In contrast to the relatively smooth texture of this dish was the uber-crispness of the pastry that surrounded the slow-braised Beef Cheek that comprised the Empanadas. I think every table in the restaurant heard the crunch when we bit into them! Having been (not literally!) burned by spice earlier in the meal, Mummy Bird opted out of dipping her Empanada in the Sweet Chilli sauce; this turned out to be the right decision because there was a definite twang from the Chilli to be had here!
Sometimes I like to go a little left-field with my food choices and on this occasion it came in the guise of the Artichoke Puff Pastry Tart (Pastel de Alcachofas).Whilst it may not have been the forerunner in the ‘Tapas Beauty’ stakes, it certainly was up there in terms of flavour – even His Nibs said it was yummy! The delicate notes from the softened vegetable and the buttery tones of the crisp pastry were lifted very elegantly by the subtly liquorice taste of the Tarragon Vinaigrette, making this a very pleasing, multi sensory Tapas dish.
The Pata Negra pig is found in Spain’s Iberian Peninsula, spending its days gorging on the rich, abundant Acorns that drop from the Oak trees in this region. These piggies greed imparts a superb nuttiness to their flesh, which my Flock were enjoying immensely! PX (Pedro Ximenez) Sherry added a sublime sweetness to this delicious morsel, and the velvet texture of the pigs’ cheek contrasted brilliantly against the crunch of the Hispi Cabbage quarter and crispy Onions that it was served with. Needless to say, none of this went begging!!
At the start of the evening in Ambiente it had seemed a great idea to order Paella and a half dozen Tapas dishes; now, with our tummies being ¾ full and the massive Paella dish being placed before us, not so much! However, we don’t shy away from a challenge so we all pulled our shoulders back and began to chow down on the colourful contents of the metal pan.
The rice was cooked perfectly and I dug down to get that gloriously charred, sticky layer of rice at the bottom of the pan (called Socarrat), keen to get the lion’s share of this beautifully toasty-tasting bit of the dish.Thankfully, Mummy Bird and His Nibs were intent on biting into the succulent Chicken thighs that topped the Paella so they didn’t catch on to my antics! All the vegetables were softened nicely without being soggy and the Chorizo and poultry juices had seeped into the rice grains, making this a very, very tasty dish – next time, we’re just going to order Paella!!!
Our tummies were so full that we couldn’t contemplate dessert, which is not like us at all. We couldn’t even manage our customary black coffees – so you can imagine how stuffed we were! We did all say though, that we’d enjoyed every single mouthful, so our gluttony had been worth it.
Hot Wings happily awarded to this fantastic York team. If you want to sample the food and drink at Ambiente for yourselves when you visit this beautiful city, you have the choice of the Goodramgate site (where we visited, which is open 11.30am – 9.30pm every day) or the Fossgate venue. To get in touch, you can email: enquiries@ambiente-tapas.co.uk or telephone 01904 689784 (the Goodramgate site).
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