Got a chance to visit Aca in July. It's a Japanese/Spanish fusion restaurant that's pretty popular.
The meal started off very strong. The uni gazpacho was super refreshing and balanced sweetness, umami, and acidity super well. The kohada bocadillo was brilliant — to me, it's a clear improvement over canned sardines, especially with well prepared kohada. There's so much more delicacy and depth compared to canned sardines.
The nodoguro paella tasted good, but there was no soccarat, which I chalked it to being unlucky since it was one giant paella for all guests.
The fried aji was the highlight of the meal to me. Not only was it absolutely beautiful, the chef balanced out the aji bitterness (which I'm not usually a fan of) with a sweet balsamic reduction. So good. Next was some eggplant with almond cream dish. I didn't really get it. Was okay. I guess a decent palate cleanser of sorts?
We then moved on to uncured sobrasada mixed with egg on top of bread. This reminded me a lot of the raw chorizo dish at Etxebarri you can have during spring. And unfortunately, that comparison was not a good one because I found this one to be slightly underseasoned. Next, the jamon dashi was so good and comforting.
I got to pick between two cuts for steak, and I chose the hire/chateaubriand. This was definitely one of the best steaks I've had in my experience. Perfect texture and flavor while being mostly lean (fatty meat is not my thing), and most importantly, the perfect portion size. Often times I find fine dining places give you too small of a cut and you're unsatisfied.
As with most Japanese courses, you finish with a shime/carb course and this time it's a second paella — the famous hairy crab one. This time each dining party got their own paella, and again, there was no soccarat, which was supremely disappointing. While the flavor was good, what is a paella without the soccorat?
The desserts were fine, but nothing to write home about. The wine pairing was not very good, unfortunately, but it also wasn't that expensive.
Overall a great meal with quite a few highlights, but it wouldn't be a restaurant I'd frequent (not that I could)!
by greenyuzu