El Blasón

Description:

• The tab, with wine, rarely exceeds 30€ ($48) at El Blasón, a restaurant in a relatively modern building near the Gran Teatro. You'll dine in any of four separate rooms, each evoking the mid-19th century, thanks to formal crystal chandeliers and a scattering of antiques. Especially appealing is an enclosed patio where ivy creeps up walls and the noises from the city outside are muffled. The cuisine is well prepared and in some cases described in terms that verge on the poetic. Examples are salmon with oranges from the mosque, and goose thigh in fruited wine. Braised oxtail is always a good bet, as are any of the roasted lamb dishes redolent with the scent of olive oil and herbs.

• © Frommer's 2013