SEGOVIA - RESTAURANTE JOSÉ MARÍA

Sep 14

3 min read

SEGOVIA - RESTAURANTE JOSÉ MARÍA Michelin Basic Guide

If you are looking for a traditional Segovian food experience, Restaurante José María, just off the Plaza Mayor, is one of the city’s classic places to visit. Founded by José María Ruiz Benito in 1982, it has become one of Segovia’s best-known restaurants.

Walk into the busy bar, and you will find it filled with a mix of locals, from those taking a break at the end of the day to families who wheel their baby prams into the bar to catch up with friends and family and enjoy a drink or tapa.

This boisterous place oozes local charm and offers everything from a simple tapa to Chef José María’s menu in the restaurant area. The restaurant has grown from its original bar and single dining room to eight dining rooms plus the bar,

They have an extensive wine selection, featuring wines mainly from Ribera del Duero and Rioja.

We started with a free appetiser.

Followed by revuelto de temporada con calabacín, cebolla pochada y gambas (scrambled eggs with courgette, softened onion and prawns).

Judiones del Real Sitio con chorizo (giant white beans from the Real Sitio de San Ildefonso with chorizo).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D29THpe4sDM

These enormous white beans are a Segovia speciality. Despite their size, they become beautifully soft and creamy when cooked, almost melting in the mouth.

The star of the show and the main reason for our visit was José María’s famous roast suckling pig. The piglets now come from its own Agrocorte Gourmet farm, which the group acquired in December 2018. The restaurant controls the breeding and rearing, and the piglets are fed only their mother’s milk and must meet the strict requirements of the Marca de Garantía “Cochinillo de Segovia.”

José María Ruiz was also involved in creating PROCOSE and the Marca de Garantía “Cochinillo de Segovia”, which was officially established in 2002. The official Marca de Garantía specifies a maximum age of three weeks, a live weight of 5.2–7.3 kg, and a carcass weight of 4–5.8 kg.

The Segovian recipe relies on the outstanding product itself, with just the added water and salt. With this unique preparation, it is easy to assume that the gastronomic success of the suckling pig here must depend primarily on the raw material.

Cochinillo de Segovia Asado (suckling pig with the guarantee mark, roasted in the traditional oven).

The cooked cochinillo is traditionally portioned using the edge of a plate, demonstrating just how tender it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxkDM_Akk78

The piglet was roasted perfectly, with superbly crisp crackling and wonderfully tender meat.

It was served with a light gravy and patatas a lo pobre (literally poor man's potatoes).

With the piglet, we chose a bottle of the house red, José María Pago de Carraovejas 2018.

We shared various desserts, starting with La tarta de quesos castellanos con helado de frambuesa (Castilian cheesecake with raspberry ice cream).

Tiramisú con helado de café (Tiramisu with coffee ice cream and chocolate dust).

Raviolis de chocolate caliente con crema de vainilla helada (hot chocolate ravioli with vanilla ice cream).

Flan de vainilla y caramelo con nata y nueces de Castroserna (vanilla crème caramel with whipped cream and local nuts). I asked for no whipped cream, but it seems the nuts went missing as well.