Restaurant Reviews in Rioja...

From traditional family restaurants to modernist Michelin-stared establishments, Rioja provides a range of cuisine to inspire and seduce the most demanding of palates.

The Darien Winery

The Darien winery, a stark white modern building outside Logrono designed by local architect Jesus Marino Pascual was opened in 2007. The slick restaurant serves traditional Riojan food alongside a range of Darien’s fruity modern wines:

The tasting menu offers great value for money and combines traditional dishes such as Rioja style beans with chorizo and roast lamb with modern touches such as a starter of roasted artichoke and a palate cleanser of Rioja red wine sorbet. Don’t be tempted into eating too much of the delicious fresh bread though – the portions are huge!

Darien (with restaurant), Ctra. Logroño-Zaragoza Km. 7, 26006 LOGROÑO (La Rioja), Tel: 941.25.81.30, www.darien.es.

Dinastia Vivanco

Dinastia Vivanco is an amazing complex combining a museum, winery and fantastic circular restaurant with views of the mountains and vineyards where you can enjoy meat and fish fresh from the charcoal grill. They serve a creative tasting menu for 58€ a head including white and red Rioja wines, with creative dishes such as deboned pig’s trotter with pancetta and tarragon ravioli and roasted apricot puree.

Start your meal with bread dipped in what must be one of the world’s fruitiest, richest olive oils then an amuse-bouche of chilled asparagus soup and crisp sesame sticks and finish with a rich, luxurious chocolate pudding and ice cream made in the kitchen from local, seasonal fresh fruit.

Dinestia Vivanco, Tel: 941.32.23.23, www.dinastiavivanco.com.

La Chatilla de San Agustin

La Chatilla specialises in traditional Riojan cooking made from fresh local ingredients. You could start with a revuelto (scrambled eggs) with fresh vegetables or a langoustine salad, followed by a dish of lentils with chorizo and then a steak served on a sizzling hot stone to cook to your liking at the table.

Staff can advise you on choosing the perfect bottle from the exclusively-Rioja wine list, which features white, red and rosé wines from all over the region, including both big names and some new discoveries.

La Chatilla de San Agustín, San Agustín 6, 26001 - Logroño La Rioja (España), Tel: 941204545.