Eating in Trujillo - Restaurante La Sonata

Trying local food is one of the best experiences of travelling and arriving at your destination at lunchtime is the perfect excuse to go to a restaurant. Sightseeing can always wait! We (me, my brother and my boyfriend) arrived in Trujillo after a two-and-a-half drive from Madrid (and a massive slice of toast with Iberian ham and olive oil on the road as a mid-morning snack). After visiting the main square I thought the best thing was to have lunch and fuel up for the afternoon guided tour I had booked.

We headed straight to Restaurante La Sonata, as I checked their website before the trip and the menu looked good. I was looking for an unpretentious place with traditional dishes. And this place seemed to fit the bill.

It is located in Ballesteros street, which is right behind the main square. The place is quite small – there is a bar on the ground floor and a restaurant upstairs.

We went for the traditional menu, which consisted of 3 courses, bread and water/glass of wine for €12. This is less than what a main course costs in the UK. Being a traditional menu, loads of Iberian pork was expected, but I did not expect all main courses to be meat based, except for the beef (I guess) lasagne. None of us is a vegetarian, so it was not a problem. Being a vegetarian is extremely uncommon here and, unfortunately, the options for vegetarians or vegans are quite limited. (Remember Extremadura is not a first choice destination for foreigners). However, there are signs things are slightly improving and they recently opened a vegetarian restaurant in Cáceres. I will give it a try next time I visit Cáceres and will let you know how it is.

OK, back to Trujillo. Sorry for going a little bit off-topic… The experience of eating at Restaurante La Sonata was, in general, very positive. All food we tried was good and tasty, the environment was relaxed and quiet and the price was good. The only downside I can recall is that the service was incredibly slow. I know the courses were quite elaborate and it takes time to cook, but we spent two hours in the restaurant. Two hours! Oh, and the same music kept on playing for those two hours.

These are the courses we ordered:

Starters

Gazpacho extremeño

Extremadura-style gazpacho (tomato based soup with peppers, garlic, olive oil, breadcrumbs…). Refreshing starter.

Migas trujillanas

Trujillo-style fried breadcrumbs with red pepper and paprika. Very heavy as a starter.

Main courses

Moraga de solomillo ibérico

Iberian pork solomillo (best pork cut, located right under the loin) with potatoes. The meat is mixed with olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic and parsley and left to marinate for a few hours. It is then grilled.

Prueba de solomillo ibérico

Iberian pork meat mixed with olive oil, salt, garlic, red dry peppers and paprika and left to marinate for a few hours. The meat is then cooked with white wine.

Dessert

Natural yoghurt cheesecake flavoured ice cream with whipped cream.

Try this menu if you like pork. Try the restaurant if you are not in a rush.

If you need information about what to see check out the article about our very short, but very enjoyable trip to Trujillo.