Our second day in Salamanca was more fruitful than the first. Exploring a different part of the city, we had a few nibbles in a Portuguese bar (very close to the Portuguese border here) - excellent bacalao con nata (a mini fish pie) and a salt cod fritter the name of which we 
failed to write down. Further down the street we spotted the Meson de Cochinillo - well too tempting! This was a place of extremes - incredibly tender delicious freshly roasted cochinillo (piglet) in little chunks. A media racion (half portion, half of which we'd eaten before we remembered to take a picture) was more than we could eat between us, even though we were unable to stomach the patatas alioli (re-christened by us patatas al espumante de afeitar - potatoes thickly layered with shaving foam, which although somewhat puzzling in flavour made a very effective insulator - the congealed white foam peeling back perfectly to reveal the fried patatas ,still warm, long after we had finished the pork.) Somehow our vow to lay off the meat for a bit didn't hold out...
failed to write down. Further down the street we spotted the Meson de Cochinillo - well too tempting! This was a place of extremes - incredibly tender delicious freshly roasted cochinillo (piglet) in little chunks. A media racion (half portion, half of which we'd eaten before we remembered to take a picture) was more than we could eat between us, even though we were unable to stomach the patatas alioli (re-christened by us patatas al espumante de afeitar - potatoes thickly layered with shaving foam, which although somewhat puzzling in flavour made a very effective insulator - the congealed white foam peeling back perfectly to reveal the fried patatas ,still warm, long after we had finished the pork.) Somehow our vow to lay off the meat for a bit didn't hold out...After porking out for lunch we needed a bit of a siesta, but ventured out later with a desire for something light with a modern twist. Some research on TripAdvisor turned up Vinodiario. Just one review by a local but close enough to the hotel to take a punt so off we went.
Set in a quiet plaza with tables outside, interesting modern décor inside and clearly a haunt of younger academics it looked promising. The menu was full of interesting sounding bits and pieces. We opted for some Cantabrian Anchovies and some more Bacaloa Ahumado, both of which came on a base of artisanal bread with a slick of grated fresh tomato, and a curious sounding “Hot Dog Iberico con ketchup de frutas rojas”, which turned out to be a “quartet” of deliciously meaty sausages with a strawberry, raspberry and (we suspect) white balsamic vinegar "ketchup" - deliciously interesting - watch out - we will be experimenting! We rounded off with a tabla de quesos which was disappointingly international with interlopers from France, Germany and Holland, but then I suppose even the Spanish fancy a change sometimes.
Set in a quiet plaza with tables outside, interesting modern décor inside and clearly a haunt of younger academics it looked promising. The menu was full of interesting sounding bits and pieces. We opted for some Cantabrian Anchovies and some more Bacaloa Ahumado, both of which came on a base of artisanal bread with a slick of grated fresh tomato, and a curious sounding “Hot Dog Iberico con ketchup de frutas rojas”, which turned out to be a “quartet” of deliciously meaty sausages with a strawberry, raspberry and (we suspect) white balsamic vinegar "ketchup" - deliciously interesting - watch out - we will be experimenting! We rounded off with a tabla de quesos which was disappointingly international with interlopers from France, Germany and Holland, but then I suppose even the Spanish fancy a change sometimes.
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