La Skara Restaurant Bansko: Where The BBQ Comes You
La Skara: steak you choose and you cook
La Skara restaurant is almost an institution in Bansko having been located just 100 metres from the gondola lift traffic lights on Hayden Gerov for many years. It’s a place that I was keen to try again and one where I was pleasantly surprised on many levels.
La Skara: Salivating at the food cooking before our eyes
Full Disclosure: La Skara can be booked in banskoblog.com / App and are a supporting Bansko venue. However I never recommend anything I don’t like.
On arriving at La Skara we received a very friendly welcome and quickly started talking about how clever it is that the coals under the grill top in the middle of the table are bought back to hotness by the server scanning back the coal dust and exposing them to air.
La Skara:21 day aged Tomahawk is a good choice.
The the grill is then seasoned with lemon before it gets super hot.
La Skara: Steak and pork ready to remove from the heat
First to go on the centre grill plate are the red and green peppers, aubergines, courgettes mushrooms and the halloumi cheese. Whilst all this was cooking away a very appetising spinach salad arrived. In so many ways you can judge what is about to come by the quality of the salad and this one was one of the best I have tried so far this winter. Then shortly afterwards came the impressive parlenka bread. Homemade; straight out of the oven.
La Skara: wine is aerated in the decanter before serving
The thing I like about La Skara is the ability to choose your own meat. We chose a large Irish T bone steak and a large, thick, deep red rid eye steak. Both 21 day aged. The tomahawk steak will have to wait for another time. But we chose some succulent pork neck which they threaded on skewers and placed on the grill. Now this is the bit I like, I could cook the perfect medium rare I liked. And then leave some on the grill longer for one member of our group who preferred it more well done (shame on them).
La Skara chocolate bomb
And how could I forget the Bulgarian red wine nicely decanted. And this cabernet sauvignon blend worked its magic and brought out the rich and mature steak flavours.. At this point I must add that the small details impress me and are not always right in Bansko’s venues. So here I appreciated the sparkling clean, clear and odour free wine glasses. And then the smiling server came over and cut the steak on a wooden board so it was easy to share amongst us.
We were all very impressed with the flavours — first the Halloumi cheese and vegetables and then the steaks. Opinion was divided between the group on people’s favourite steak. Whilst I found the T bone steak had a a slightly deeper flavour than the ribeye, it was close and the opinion was split evenly on the table.
La Skara desserts - not to be missed
After arriving hungry we were well and truly satiated. But when the desserts arrived, it was almost like magic that the three desserts were all eaten up by the four of us.
A chocolate bomb with ice ream was exquisite. Perfect balance and not overly cloyingly sweet. A cake that delivered a fruitless that found it’s advocates around the table. But the biggest surprise was the cheesecake. A totally natural homemade affair with a soft based and a lightness of topping and fruit compote that putas it up there as a must try when visiting La Skara.
In the evening, expect live music and, if meat is not your thing, then La Skara do pizzas and various pasta dishes. Vegetarians are well catered for.
Book your table in the Bansko Blog App for an evening to remember.
