Chris Pearrow
Best roast lamb in Burgos
Casa Ojega is an institution in Burgos and it's widely thought to have the best "lechazo" (oven-roasted lamb) in the city. The restaurant originally opened in 1912 and has been serving up hearty Castillian cuisine like roast lamb, cocido (a garbanzo stew popular in inland Spain), ox tail, and Burgos' own morcilla blood sausage ever since.
The downstairs part of the restaurant is a sprawling tapas bar where you can stop by to grab a glass of wine and a quick appetizer, but if you're interested in trying the lamb (which you should be), make sure to call a few days ahead of time and reserve a table in the historic upstairs dining room.
We got the quail pate for starters which was both savory and light and then ordered a "lechazo" and salad to split. Every morning, dozens of lamb legs are par-roasted for hours in the restaurant's traditional wood-fire ovens and then they are finished in the oven to order. They're given a light treatment with just seasoning and perhaps a little white wine so that the natural flavor of the lamb can shine through. And God is it good. The lamb was juicy and unctuous and the skin was wonderfully crisp and smoky from the oven. The side salad is a simple affair of lettuce, onions, and vinegar designed to clean your palate between bites of the fatty lamb.
One lamb leg, salad, a nice bottle of Ribera de Duero wine, and starter came out to around 75 euros, a bit on the pricey side but nothing out of this world for a hearty lunch in Burgos' most famous restaurant. I 100% recommend it!
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