Mauro Restaurant
You are going to come to Galicia, so you have heard a hundred times about how well you eat here, the quality of the product and so on. You have already located the trendy places, those places that have been talked about in recent months and that are attentive to trends.
You have also reviewed the gastronomic guides and you are clear about which are the essential ones, the chefs that mark an era, the great names that you may reserve for a special celebration or for the day you want to pay homage just because, because you feel like it, because you are on a trip and we all deserve a joy from time to time.
You are probably missing, however, the classics, those comfortable places, with an unquestionable product and a timeless recipe book, sometimes subjected to some updating, which tells you where you are from the first bite and they explain to you without words why Galician cuisine is as famous as it is; those restaurants that are on the fringes of trends because They have been there for years, without fail, with amazing regularity, faithful to their style.
They are places to which, pending as we are of fashions, novelties, recognitions and being the first to go to that place that everyone will talk about in a few months, we do not usually pay the attention they deserve. Places to enjoy, without further ado, without the pressure of the media spotlights, without the transience of trends.
Restaurants without which a gastronomic map of Galicia would not be complete. There are many, fortunately, scattered throughout the territory, but these are six that cannot be missed:
The classics never fail
MAURO (Coppers, Pontevedra)
From before you walk through the door, the location makes it clear to you what's going on this restaurant that in just seven years has become an essential in the south of Galicia. Overlooking the marina of San Adrián de Cobres, just over 10 minutes from the center of the city of Vigo, Mauro has his strong point in fish and shellfish.
Sea bass, sole and turbot are always on the menu, as are mussels, clams or cockles. From there, the fish market rules, in such a way that the menu changes to the rhythm of the best that arrives at the port: Norway lobsters, shrimps, barnacles, spider crabs
Of pure and hard product, without concessions, to starters such as smoked sardine toast on cornbread, rice and seafood noodles, shrimp croquettes and classic seafood stews. A complete decline of the pantry of the estuary.
**LA PENELA (A Coruña) **
La Penela is a family business with more than three decades of history which has seen openings in Madrid, Barcelona and Bogotá. The origin of all this, however, is in Coruña's Plaza de María Pita.
Regardless of the passing of the years and fashions, La Penela continues to be one of the favorites among Galician classics. And it is thanks to essentials like its almost mythical omelette, its famous roast beef and, of course, the display of seafood cuisine. Not surprisingly, the restaurant is just over 50 meters from the port.
Monkfish salad, Galician-style grouper, seafood-style clams and a long etcetera offer a tour of the most canonical version of the Coruña marine cookbook. One of those addresses that must be kept in mind to get to know timeless Galician cuisine.
**AURELIO HOUSE (Santa Comba, A Coruña) **
This restaurant is less popular than it deserves probably because it is located in Santa Comba, a town that is not at all touristy and, within it, on a street somewhat far from the center.
Even so, his kitchen has something when he manages to get customers from all over Galicia to arrive there. The explanation lies, above all, in its seasonal specialities: partridges with vegetables are probably its best-known dish, but also stewed wild boar with beans from Lourenzá or lamprey.
Among the dishes that are permanently on the menu, it is worth deciding on its grilled Galician meats or, why not, for its scallop rice, specialties that alone justify the diversion.
Aurelio House, in Santa Comba
ROSITA'S HOUSE (Cambados, Pontevedra)
Casa Rosita has been one of those names for years that people in the area recommend if you want to drink good fish and seafood in traditional preparations and far from the tourist excesses.
Located in a small family-run hotel in O Riveiro, on the outskirts of Cambados, Casa Rosita has been faithful to its strengths for decades, coming mostly from the neighboring Ría de Arousa: shrimp, small crabs, spider crabs, the famous cambados scallops (offered Galician style or with Iberian ham), sea bass and turbot. It doesn't take much more to be happy.
SABINO (Sanxenxo, Pontevedra)
A classic from one of the summer epicenters in the estuaries, Sabino has spent years making a name for himself, discreetly, among the regulars in the area.
the secret is in a successful proposal that combines the classic root with an update of the recipe book which, without masking the product, makes the restaurant a good option for those who want to explore other options in the local pantry.
In this way, what the place offers is a cozy atmosphere a stone's throw from Silgar beach in which they themselves stand out. specialties such as marinated sardines, rice with lobster or hake shells in green sauce and to which we add others such as the curly oyster –escupiña–, the clam with jalapeño and yuzu marinade, the Galician cow sirloin steak tartare or, now in season, tuna with tomato water and cherry tomatoes.
Sabino, a classic from one of the summer epicenters in the estuaries
** FIELDS (Lugo) **
An essential part of the city and the interior of Galicia, Campos opens its doors to Praza do Campo and Rúa Nova, in the very center of the walled city of Lugo.
About to turn 70, in this 18th-century mansion, the restaurant is still in top form and true to its principles: traditional cookbook, local product and attention to seasonality.
Among the strengths of his letter are Galician beef Supreme D.O. such as the loin with mille-feuille of potatoes or the sirloin with fresh foie. From the marine world, specialties such as cream of crabs, beans with seafood, rice with clams or Celeiro hake in mushroom sauce.
Quite a tour of the local pantry in one of those spaces with the solera that can only be achieved with time.