La Casa Del Carmen - Menú

"We came to Toledo for a relaxing weekend and wanted to find somewhere nice for dinner. Having eating in our hotel the previous night and been a little underwhelmed, I searched online to find out if there were any Michelin Star rated restaurants nearby and...was pleasantly surprised when this one popped up, just five miles from the hotel. The restaurant is in an odd location, situated right beside the autoroute, looking almost like a motorway cafe. I'll be honest, we were a but dubious about going in, but once inside, we went straight to the courtyard and found it to be very pleasant and nicely lit. The restaurant was fairly quiet when we arrived, so, with plenty waiting staff on hand, we were shown immediately to our table, offered a bottle of water and presented with the menus. Which were in Spanish! Unfortunately none of the waiting staff spoke any English, so it was looking like it could be a very tricky night! We had pretty much made up our minds to leave, when the chef came down the stairs to the courtyard and over to our table. It turns out he spent a couple of years training in London and spoke very good English, despite his apologies to the contrary! While I am happy to eat most things, my girlfriend is very fussy when it comes to food and is quite limited in what she will eat. I explained this as best I could to the chef and told him what she liked. He honestly could not have been more helpful, listening carefully to what we said and making some suitable and delicious sounding suggestions! When it came to me, I mentioned that I would really like to try the tasting menu, but understood if this was going to be impractical for one, but no, he said it wouldn't be a problem! Not only that, but when I asked if I should have the shorter (and considerably cheaper) menu or the more comprehensive one, he not only recommended going for the cheaper option, as the other menu took a long time to get through, but he also explained the courses from both menus, asked what I liked most and tailored the menu to suit, choosing options from both menus. Such incredible service! I had no idea what specifically had been chosen, so I was looking forward to being surprised. With the food order out of the way and the chef back in the kitchen, we turned our attention to wine. Ordering was a very informal affair; the waiter asked what we liked, I searched Google to find the words I wanted and they brought over a couple of bottles and poured them at our table. No discussion of price or whether we wanted bottles or just glasses. We were a bit confused by the whole affair, but went with it anyway, assuming we would somehow regret it when the bill came.I have no idea what the wine was, but it was delicious! We were served bread with olive oils and salts while we waiting, which was very tasty, and shortly after we received a lavish prestarter, which included tomato lollipops and various other nibbles, as well as a very refreshing tomato water. Once our plates were cleared away our real starters arrived and they were absolutely delicious, as was every plate after! The food just kept on coming and every plate was better than the last. My girlfriend started with a dish of vegetables in an egg based sauce that she just couldn't get enough of, followed by a perfectly baked Hake in a coconut based consume, with a hint of ginger. I don't really know what my starter was, but it was very nice and was followed by a perfectly cooked piece of steak with mashed potatoes, asparagus tips and a rich sauce. I then had another meat dish that was equally delicious! After the mains, we were served two desserts and what was nice is that they brought all our courses together and served my girlfriend the same delicious desserts as I had from the tasting menu. The first was a creamy mousse on some sweet sauces and the second was a chocolate ice cream dish. I just couldn't get enough of them! Dessert was followed by coffee and some very enjoyable, home made petit fours. At this point, with the wine still flowing and no idea what to expect, we requested the bill. Now, I've said already the food was amazing, and the wine kept coming all night. The service was also excellent; always attentive, never intrusive, although the language barrier was a bit of an issue, but hey, I can hardly criticise people in Spain for speaking Spanish, right!? Anyway, having totalled things up in our minds, we were expecting a bill of around 200300 Euros. Now, we live in London, so we're used to being ripped off, but I am Scottish, so have a reputation for being tight, although I prefer to think of it as appreciating good value :) Anyway, the bill came in its own, fancy little box, which didn't bode well, so, expecting the worst, I opened it and was quite literally shocked. 80 Euros. Seriously, 80 Euros! Turns out the wine was included and, despite the deviations from the menu, I was only charged the standard 30 Euro price for the Menu, which was ridiculously good value for the five courses I had just eaten, and for any restaurant boasting a Michelin Star! My girlfriend was charged separately for her starter and main, but was not charged at all for the desserts. I asked them to confirm it was correct, and they did, so we paid, said thank you to everyone for what turned out to be one of our most enjoyable meals in a long time and left. Honestly, two hours later and I'm still in shock. That was one of the tastiest, and certainly best value, meals I've enjoyed in a long time and I would have no hesitation in recommending this restaurant. The current chef is just 28 and inherited the Michelin Star from the previous chef, but, based on his excellent culinary skills, he absolutely deserves to keep it. He is definitely a rising star..."