Salamanca is a city like no other. Its size allows for tourists to easily walk around the entire city, losing themselves in the city only to find themselves once again in the deepest corners of the golden city.
My friends and I found ourselves extremely tired after an intense four-hour tour of the city which ended in the beautiful Plaza Mayor. Before leaving, we thought it would be the best idea in the world to ask our guide (who is from Salamanca) where she would recommend eating. Of course, there can be nobody better to ask since she's a certified guide and a lover of the "pure" Spanish (the one from Salamanca).
Her recommendation suited us like a ring does a finger, and even though we'll never see her again we will be forever thankful for her to send us to what has been so far my favorite restaurant in all pf Spain. One of the things I liked best was the price, as well as the dishes we received (that were high quality) and the location of the restaurant (touristic area), where we would have been charged 30 euros or more in other restaurants and we paid less than half of this (and of course you are welcome to pay with credit cards). Being from Mexico, the food seems a bit expensive in Spain but this restaurant seemed to be cheap for the area in which it was located.
Decoration
Mandela did it's name and decoration honor. It's a place that is exceedingly dynamic (it caught my attention that it was attended solely by women) and its decoration is unique, you can observe many colors, many slopes, colorful hanging lamps, chairs and tables that allude to the name and everything that comes with it. Even the tablecloths that they gave us had a drawing of an incomplete "mandala" so that you can draw the other half or something else while waiting for your food, and they even gave you colors so that you can color the drawing once done drawing it (this was enjoyed more by the children present).
For those of you who don't know what a mandala is, they are drawing carrying a heavy spiritual significance used in Buddhism and in Hinduism. Today they are sold in coloring books that promote internal peace, getting to know oneself and relaxation.
Upon entering, it's love at first site (if you're hungry it's better you remain outside) because the bar at the entrance features all of the already-prepared dishes, tapas and a wide variety of desserts and cakes that only succeed in making you even hungrier and opening up your appetite even further.
The personnel is very quick and looks to serve you with the best smiles. The hospitality is felt upon entering, and they even offered to charge my cell phone whose battery had died.
How does the menu work?
There are many options, you can pick the menu of the day or you can order sandwiches, pies, teas, coffees, smoothies and stuff from the bar. What they ask in this situation is that what you order is in the menu of the day, which costs 10 euros from Monday to Friday and 12. 50 euros (due to the increased tourism) on weekends. I would consider the menu of the day the thing I would recommend most, seeing as the food is already prepared and gets served quickly and the quality is so high that it seems as if it were made by a professional chef.
The menu consists of appetizer, entrée and dessert, (which can be replaced by a coffee). To drink you can order water or red wine and they always serve you some bread that it wouldn't surprise me if it were freshly baked because it certainly seems so. Even if you're vegetarian this restaurant could convene you, seeing as out of the ten different appetizer/entrée combinations you can choose from, more than half of them are vegetarian, served in decent-sized portions and are filled enough to satisfy the hungriest of customers.
These are some of the dishes that we liked the best:
Moussaka with meat (Entrée):
Grilled lamb fillet with potatoes (Entrée):
Noodles with mushrooms and caramelized onions (Appetizer):
And these were the desserts:
Chocolate cake:
I believe a picture is worth a thousand words... from the bottom of my heart I recommend this restaurant. It's got so much life, so much beauty and the food is just delicious. I promise you will not regret it!
