Asador Terete

Terete opened in 1877, when Alberto Andrés Alonso set up a roasting oven in Haro that was at once restaurant, butcher's and wine shop. Today it is run by the fifth and sixth generations of the family, on Calle Lucrecia Arana, a few minutes' walk from Plaza de la Paz. It is an asador in the old sense: you come to eat lamb roasted in a wood-fired oven, with the menestra in front of you.

The lamb and the menestra

The lamb is Riojan suckling lamb, no more than 25 days old, roasted slowly in the old wood-fired oven. On the menu, a portion of roast lamb costs €33.50 and the little chops €29.50; there is also roast lamb's head (€8) and lamb's trotters (€23.50).

The menestra (€18) is the house starter: artichoke from the Calahorra area, chard, green beans, peas and mushrooms from the Haro kitchen gardens, with a home-made sauce. Before or alongside, order home-made roast peppers (€10.50), roast black pudding or boiled chorizo (€9.50), asparagus with oil and vinegar or with mayonnaise (€15) and a spoon dish (€13). Those who do not want lamb have roast chicken, sirloin, hake or stuffed peppers. The desserts are home-made, from €6.90 to €9.20: cuajada, French toast, cheesecake, coffee cake or Cameros cheese. The bread service is charged at €2.50. À la carte, the house estimates between €55 and €70.

The Menú Tradición

It is the simplest way to eat here without thinking: black pudding, roast peppers, menestra, roast lamb with salad, dessert, water, coffee and house wine. It costs €56.70 with the reserva and €67 with the gran reserva, VAT included. Unlike menus 1 to 6, which are for groups of 15 or more and ask for the full table, this one can be ordered without the whole table taking it.

Viña Cristina and the cave winery

Terete has its own winery, registered in the D.O.Ca. Rioja, in Haro's cave district, where it has been since the late 19th century. It makes three wines: Viña Cristina (€19.80 a bottle in the dining room), Terete Reserva Especial (€28) and Terete Gran Reserva (€38), and there is a glass of wine for €5.70. It sells wine, lamb and asparagus online.

Midday every day, dinners on weekdays

Monday to Friday it opens from 13:15 to 16:00 and from 20:30 to 23:00. Saturday and Sunday, midday only, from 13:15 to 16:00. Bookings are by phone only, on 941 310 023, and the table is held until the agreed time: after that, the restaurant may give it away.

Terete is the lunch of the Sunday in Haro, between the wineries of the Barrio de la Estación in the morning and the walk to Briñas in the afternoon, which is 3 km away.