Please note that this Restaurant is no longer trading.
It is closed. Please check out Alvaro Arriaga Restaurant on Avda de las Ciencias 2
Caradura Bistrot is a shiny new bar in Granada. I suppose you could say it´s the younger brother of Restaurante Arriaga.
If you are not already familiar with Restaurante Arriaga, it is one of the most prestigious eateries in Granada. The sophisticated space is part of the Caja Granada Museo Cultural. (It´s opposite Science Park Museum) From a table up on the seventh floor, you will enjoy a vast panoramic view. The double window allows you to see all the city and the snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains.
The man behind this efficiently run business is Alvaro Arriaga. A well known chef from Northern Spain with a keen eye for detail. If you have ever been to his restaurant you will already have noticed this borderline perfectionism.
He makes every single decision. Once I went to visit just before opening time. He was deliberating over which spoons to buy for the coffee service. This was something he was taking great care over and spent a while considering. Each day in the restaurant he greets the diners at each service. The attention and care invested in each meal is exquisite.
Anyway I digress, on the 7th March 2014 he began a new venture. Caradura Bistrot.
This new Bistrot is past Hipercor, right at the top of Camino de Ronda. The bar is set inside a large Coviran supermarket.
The gaudy green logo of the Coviran chain and bulky concrete entrance didn´t wow me. This confused me. Then I began to notice the black polished interior inside the main window. Once we walked through the door, I realised I was in the right place.
The carefully selected interiors and beautiful illumination seemed to welcome us into the space. I walked in observing smooth distressed wooden beams along the walls and retro style tin adverts from the 1950s here and there. It was lunchtime, there was already a bustling atmosphere.
Futher inside as I sit at the table I notice the combination of black Industrial ceiling and visible iron girders. Below me are old grey floor tiles, looking as they had left just as they found them, giving a vintage feel. Above the clear glass lightbulbs catch my eye. They hang down from varied heights. This place had impressed me and we hadn’t even ordered yet.
It was immediately clear to me that this was Alvaro Arriaga’s playground. Somewhere to capture his mischievious creative side. His grown up restaurant is his professional calling card. A slick, polished, minimalist and high quality set up. Yet here I get the feeling that we are going to have fun. Laugh and socialise while eating hearty comfort food.
The friendly waiter came along to take our order. As we drank our cold beers I noticed the bread, which they serve in white crumpled sacks to the tables next to me. For starters to share we ordered a Ceasar salad (9 euros) and a dish of Patatas Bravas. After much deliberating we chose main courses of Chicken churritos (10 euros) and fried squid.
When the salad and the bravas arrived we tucked in hastily. All good honest bar food. The service was good and attentive. The place was almost full. To say that this has only been open for a month and isn´t in town it is already popular. I noticed quite a few tables with Young children. The families were enjoying this new space.
For me the highlight of the meal were the patatas bravas. Off the scale good. The potato quarters came in their skins and the brava sauce was clearly some secret recipe. Delicious. I must also give full marks for the Dulce de leche dessert. This creamy toffee ice cream came with chantilly cream and sliced banana. Simple but effective.
I´m already wanting to get back to try a few more items on the menu.
Maybe I´ll have a good excuse when they open the outdoor rooftop terrace. That will be a casual dining barbeque area.
Sounds perfect for hot Summer nights in Granada.
This is a place we must visit when we next come to Granada, its just a matter of timing.