Running errands brought us to Chamberí and when life brings you to Chamberí you utilise that opportunity to eat delicious food. Sala de Despiece surprised me in more ways than I expected it to. What a culinary joy having lunch at SDD was!

Sala de Despiece, calle de Ponzano, 11, 28010

Initially, I was not really sure what Sala de Despiece was about but when I checked where our errand was, I noticed there was a restaurant that I had previously marked as to-go and I immediately went to book it. Well, it was fully booked! At that point I had to muster all of my introverted willpower and call them to see if they can squeeze us in. To my utter delight the person spoke English and not only that but she said there was a cancellation and we can come for lunch the next day!

Sala de Despiece looks like a cooling fridge or a transport container from the outside and, well, it looks the same from the inside too. I have nothing against industrial design, especially one looking as sleek as SDD looks. Matas actually made a very astute observation that the interior looked like an upturned cooler box/butcher fridge. Sounds worse than it is? I do not know, I kind of dig the whole fridge esthetic.

We let our waiter suggest the wines for us and both of them were excellent. two truly great glasses of wine, not just decent. Matas had a glass of San Cobate (€4.60) and I had Primer Beso (€3.90) both tempranillo from Ribera del Duero. Mine was lighted while the one Matas had was more tannic and for once I actually preferred his choice! It felt a little bit richer and had more complexity while mine felt a little bit too light with the food we ate.

OMG we have to talk about these olives! These were so GOOD! They came in macerated in a warm liquid and were topped with a rich umami dusting of what I have no clue but it was super delicious. I probably should have asked the waiter what it was in English but on my quest to speak more Spanish I forgot (I also do not know how yet, ha!).

Look at this seafood counter! Is it not amazing? I saw that octopus and I knew I will have me some even though we had octopus not too long ago. So, before we were even given the menu, I knew I wanted this and also one other thing that I saw in the pictures when I looked the restaurant up. The rest we actually left in the hands of our waiter as he was very adamant we had to try the trio of SDD’s signature appetisers since it was our first time here.

The first of the appetisers was called chuléton cenital (€10.50 for three pieces) and it is a sort of beef carpaccio roll with smashed tomato, olive oil and truffle roll. This dish is brought over to be finished at the table: three thin ribeye ribbons are placed on the tray and then the tomato and olive oil paste is smothered all over it. It is then rolled into bite size rolls and topped with a little bit of the truffle. It was so delicious! The meat was tender, the tomato and olive oil had a note of that acidic creaminess and the truffle rounded everything up.

On the same tray came something that SDD calls a Rolex (€7.50 per serving). It is a long strip of ibérico pancetta with foie gras, truffles and an egg yolk cured in Sauternes. First of all it is slightly grilled with a kitchen torch to render some of that fat out and then it is rolled into a tight ball and torched some more to further render the far. It was cut in half for us so we could share one. It was rich and decadent: the cured egg yolk and foie gras combo was so over the top, yet I would have liked it torched a little bit more since for both of us the pork belly was a little bit too fatty still. That egg yolk though. What a creamy and rich mouthful.

The third and last of their famous appetisers is alcachofa (€12.50 per piece) or artichoke. This artichoke is either deep fried and/or confit, then it is dotted with avocado and lemon crema, topped with a dollop of caviar and dusted with something sweet and sour and delicious. I am so glad we got one piece each because I would have fought Matas then and there to have it all for myself. It was so so light to the touch, it just looked and felt so fragile and delicate. One bite and I was in a little heaven of my own. That bite was just so delightful. The artichoke is sweet and crunchy. And I did not even dislike the caviar as I felt it added another level of decadence where it worked and was needed. I could have had five of these and called it a day but we still had other things to come.

I believe that this country just might make a tomato person out of me. This confit tomato (€12.50) came with fried basil leaves that were done the right way: they were crispy, crunchy and flavouful, and complimented the tomato so well. In order to sop up all of that tomato and olive juice mix a small loaf of bread made in-house was brought. I have to say, the bread was not the best but it was homemade and that is something I can appreciate. Both Matas and I thought that the crust was a little bit too thick for our liking but the inside was fluffy enough to be used as a vehicle for all that juicy goodness left on the plate.

Pulpo (€19.50) came next and it was the juiciest and most tender octopus I have had in a long while. I was taken aback by my first bite of that thick separate piece that was on the plate as that bit was rather tough but then we cut into the leg proper and all was great again. Octopus came with this amazing rich and spicy muhammara sauce (a dip made from walnuts, red bell peppers, pomegranate molasses and breadcrumbs). The lesson learnt is, basically, if you eat your pulpo from the right end, you will be fine.

The waiter recommended us to have atún rojo (€22.50) that came with spring onion bulbs, balsamic sauce and lemon jam. Maybe I am just not a tuna fan? Or maybe I am not a tuna fan in Spain? To be honest, I would have preferred the pieces to be fully raw as the seared sides had more of a fishy taste while the red inside had none. The lemon jam sauce was so good though! Zesty, zappy, zingy, yet soft and sweet at the same time. Yummy!

The service from the beginning until almost the end was exceptionally good. We started our lunch at 13:30 and we were almost the first people in and by the time we finished our lunch an hour later, Sala de Despiece was filled to the brim. Hence, we needed to wait for our check a little longer. Despite that, everything from entrance to exist was truly top notch.

Ieva’s seal of approval granted! 5/5 would come back. I cannot wait to bring more people with me to try more of their other stuff from the menu and the specials. Yes, yes please.