There’s a lot to fall in love about Northern Spain’s Basque region. Stretches of verdant mountainous scenery. Golden sands lapped by some of Europe’s very best surfing waters. And the food – oh the food. Whether a rustic torn piece of bread doused in crushed tomatoes, salt and oil, a skewer of briny anchovy, olive and pepper, or a more extravagant affair furnished with gastronomic ingenuity – pintxos culture is king, and you will eat very very well indeed. Not forgetting to wash down your barside pickings with the local cider, poured haphazardly from a seemingly impossible height that more often than not splashes you on the shoulder – it's all part of the experience.
Pintxos and tapas are now so firmly ingrained in the UK dining scene that you’re more likely to find chicharrónes (their puffy answer to our pork scratchings) in bougie British bars than Scampi Fries and dry-roasted peanuts these days. We’ve come a long way since the La Tasca era, guys.
Basque country is also famed for the spectacle of its asadors. Restaurants (often proudly family-owned) where the proposition is simple. A few bites, some palate-revving aperitifs, and loud chatter, built around the spectacle of live fire cooking – caveman-sized hunks of beef on the bone, suckling pig, whole sides of fish – grilled and served without fanfare to waiting diners with little, if any, accompaniment. A little bread, perhaps. Or some vegetables or sliced roasted potatoes. The star of the show is undoubtedly the meat.
Don Txoko - a dinky neighbourhood restaurant, perched on St Benedict’s Street in the eclectic, vibrant, buzzing Norwich Lanes - attempts to recreate the asador experience – albeit on a slightly smaller scale.
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Dioni (front of house) and partner José took the business on from the previous owners just over a year ago, with a dream to offer diners an authentic window into Northern Spanish cooking. Excellent ingredients sourced from producers who really care, prepared in an unfussy manner that lets the main ingredient shine.
It’s about taking time to slow down, Dioni says. There’s no frantic turning of tables at Don Txoko. They want you to really relax and sink into the afternoon or evening.
There's no frippery or Instagram-buzzy set-ups in the restaurant. Just a few tables, all pointing towards the beaming red light of the dry ager, where some of the very best pasture reared Spanish Rubia Gallega beef hangs.
Nibble on salty teardrops of fried Marcona almonds as you whet your appetite with a pre-dinner drink. White vermouth, perhaps? Or a Manzanilla sherry, Galician G&T, or spiky Marg muddled with mezcal, Cointreau, lime and smoked salt.
Steak (or the fish of the day if you prefer) is sold by weight, and brought to the table for you to see in all its glory, before it’s delivered to the kitchen where Josè to carefully tends each cut over the flames.
Larger, bone-in steaks require a great deal of attention, and longer cooking time than your typical rump or loin, so there are small bites. Designed to be ordered and shared by the whole table, satisfying the inevitable hunger pangs generated by wafts of searing beef fat that whoosh through the dining room every time the kitchen door opens.
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Morcilla de Burgos (where the mix includes rice and a blend of secret spices) lands cut thickly, bound in a gossamer thin tempura batter, with a carrot puree so spoon-lickingly incredible I asked for the recipe. It’s crowned with the rarely-seen-in-Britain Idiazabal sheep’s cheese and a tangle of sweet peppers. I, unashamedly, sweep my finger across the plate to lap up every last morsel.
Beef and mustard croquetas (the mustard paying homage to Norwich’s connection to the hot condiment) are a canny way for José to use up beef trimmings. The perfect croqueta takes practice, and sadly on our shores good versions are few and far between. Many chefs overcook the roux, resulting in a lump of deep-fried stodge. Here, though, they collapse on impact, melting beautifully in the mouth, like a crisp-edged hug.
We were so happy to see chef keep it super super simple working with sprouting broccoli from Attleborough (just a short drive away). Cooking the veg over fire unleashed its sweet, nutty taste, dialling up the flavour. Even the bold accompaniments of aged Manchego, pickled shallot and romesco sauce didn’t overpower the fronds.
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At this stage, our taste buds were doing a little dance of joy in anticipation for the main event. And it was oh so worth it. The beef cuts are served expertly seasoned, all gnarly and sticky at the edges, and pink within. They arrive on a hot stone so anyone with an aversion to rarer slices can give their cut an extra little sear.
When you’ve had great steak, there’s no going back. And this IS great steak. Dry ageing intensifies the meat's (forgive me) beefiness, bringing forward herbaceous, irresistibly savoury, Marmitey notes that you simply cannot achieve with the average cut.
Do pick up the bone and gnaw at it – that's where you’ll find all those mega flavour bombs. Where the dripping and juices have caught and slowly formed a gravy-esque crust.
To Brits, the side dish of a plate of grilled red peppers might seem an odd choice, but stick with it. Dried in the oven slowly, they have an almost sun-ripened essence about them. So so sweet, but with a very rich savoury finish. They’re addictive.
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Puddings in Spain are heavily weighted either to fruit, or something light and custardy. And that tradition is one carried on at Don Txoko. The Basque cheesecake is as good as any we’ve eaten on the Continent – bursting with vanilla and just a whisper of lemon, with a smooth, almost moussy finish. It’s served with a seasonal compote – on our visit, strawberries and rhubarb.
Then there was something we’ve never had before, despite loads of trips to Catalonia between us. Xuixo (shoo-sho) is the invention of a pastry chef from Girona originally, and holds a special place in José’s heart, reminding him of childhood.
Think of it almost like a cross between flaky spring roll pastry, croissant and churros dough, somehow. Usually it’s filled with a custard, but here it burst with a delicate pistachio paste, and was rolled (as tradition dictates) in cinnamon and sugar. I was in love and I want more.
We finished with a parting digestif of acorn liqueur from Spain’s Extremadura region. A wildly good, viscous, sweet spirit that tastes somewhere between walnut and hazelnut, with a hint of coffee. A warming end, to a warming meal.
Dioni and José are onto something special here. Their service-forward, ingredient-first approach is really working. If we closed our eyes we could have sworn we were on holiday.
Find out more and book here.
Where to stay in Norwich
Norwich is a gem of a city, with more to explore than you could ever fit into just one night – especially when it comes to food and drink.
We recommend immersing yourself in the Bridgerton-esque elegance of The Assembly House, where the staff are gorgeously attentive and friendly, the surroundings are grandiose but unstuffy, and the food and drink offering is truly remarkable.
Pretty in pink Room 16 is a delightful candy-coloured surprise, with oodles of room to lounge about in your slippers and robe with a hot choccie and one of the kitchen’s homemade cookies.
Speaking of the kitchen. The Assembly House doesn’t do dinner, but it DOES have some of the very very best breakfast, lunch and tea offerings in the whole of Britain.
Where else will you find a full English and eggs Benny sitting alongside the likes of a chonky rarebit, kedgeree or twice-baked cheese souffle?
Breakfast can be upgraded to a Beforenoon tea, where the price includes a hot dish (you MUST, simply MUST have the souffle, it is a dream), and a multi-tiered feast that includes filled croissants, rice cereal caramel squares, cornflake tarts, cheese toasties, cruffin cinnamon whirls and much more.
Then there are the exquisite themed afternoon teas, cheese afternoon teas, seafood afternoon teas and a delicious array of scones, cakes and lunch bites, presided over by talented pastry chef and kitchen don Mark Mitson. This is one for your foodie bucket list!
Find out more here.
