Echaurren Tradición, in Ezcaray

Echaurren is a house in Ezcaray, in the Oja valley, combining a hotel and several restaurants on Calle Padre José García. Echaurren Tradición is the one with the Riojan cooking of old: the recipes gathered by Marisa Sánchez, the mother of the family, which the house still serves. From San Millán de la Cogolla it is about 25 minutes by car, and it is one of the few places in the area that open every day at midday and in the evening.

The mother's recipes

The menu has a section, "Los clásicos de Echaurren", with the dishes that have made the house's history: fish soup of conger eel, monkfish and clams (€21), seasonal vegetable menestra cooked separately and bound with its own juice and ham (€25), caparrones Riojan style with chorizo and its "sacramentos" (€21), pochas beans with quails (€24), grandmother's meatballs (€26), beef roast (€27) or tripe with pig's snout (€28). To start, the mother's ham croquettes (€15) and Ezcaray black pudding grilled (€15).

For a main course, hake in batter (€38), squid in its ink with rice (€29), grilled suckling lamb chops (€30) or venison loin (€40). The roast lamb (€32) is only made at weekends and on public holidays, or to order. Several vegetable dishes can be ordered in tasting size, always individual. The desserts, homemade, are between €11 and €15: egg flan, sheep's milk curd with Ezcaray heather honey, cheesecake. You order dessert at the start.

Two menus, one only on weekdays

The house menu costs €49: nibbles, tomato tartare, the pottage of the day, hake in batter or meatball, and a Cameros cheese toast. It is individual and served only from Monday to Friday, never at weekends or on public holidays. The tasting menu, a tour of the house's dishes, costs €85.

Hours, booking and card

It opens every day, from 13:30 to 15:30 for lunch and from 20:30 to 22:30 for dinner, so it is a safe option on a Sunday or a Monday. Book on its website or on 941 354 047. They ask for a card when you book, with no charge; if you cancel with less than 48 hours' notice, they charge €60 per person.

In the same house are El Portal de Echaurren, for haute cuisine, the bistro El Cuartito and a tapas bar, each with its own days; the hotel belongs to Relais & Châteaux.

From Ezcaray to San Millán

If you are sleeping in the San Millán valley, Ezcaray makes a good excursion for a day when Yuso is closed, such as Monday. With Suso open at weekends, it also fits to eat here after Suso in the morning. Closer to the monasteries, the alternative is In Vino Veritas.