How to tapas like a Compostela
** Santiago de Compostela is known gastronomically, among other things, for its free tapas.** It is something that it shares with cities such as Granada, León or Lugo with which it also has in common that all that glitters in this modality is not gold miniature kitchen.
It is true that practically everywhere they will put you a free tapa with your wine or with your beer, but it is also true that in many places it will be something without much interest.
Are there courtesy tapas that are worth it? The truth is that if. Santiago has been offering something free along with the drink for more than a century, a custom that comes from when the cattle market was held in what is now the Alameda Park and the taverns tempted the stallholders from all over Galicia with free samples of their specialities.
Abastos 2.0, tapas meeting point par excellence
In recent decades we have lost some customs, like that small portion of broth that they put you with the wine in the El Pozo tavern or all the members of that long-awaited route of the Ensanche salad –the Miami, the Royal, the Pepe’s– but there are still classics worth knowing.
And next to them, places with tapas and portions that we Compostela frequent. Not everything is free tapas in the city and sometimes it is worth paying a little more to have an authentic experience with a certain quality.
You are not going to leave your salary in the attempt and, with that little extra, everything will open up for you another world of tapas, tavern conversations and local atmosphere that does not usually appear in the guides but in which it is easy for the hours to pass and in which, sooner or later, we will surely end up meeting.
A Ostrería, a classic of the Market
FREE BUT INTERESTING
We have already talked about crocodiles (pork fillets with fried potato chips that are a downfall) and the moha omelette which, in my opinion, long ago ousted La Tita's.
essential too the tortilla skewer at mid-morning on the Mars, in front of the national police. Less well known, perhaps, is the pork ear tapa cooked with Orella paprika, another of the classic taverns on Rúa da Raiña.
Almost opposite is the Ventosela Wine Cellar , which with any of the wines from its wonderful selection by the glass offers a most appreciated plate of cold cuts.
Can be the prelude to a second wine (here you can, for example, browse among the Wines of the Land of Betanzos, very unusual in the city) and a toast of pork rinds , a local specialty of pulled pork cooked in its own fat with melted Arzúa-Ulloa cheese. With that and a good base bread, what could go wrong?
In the neighboring Rúa do Franco the Still life of Xulio It is a classic among the usual customers. It is not the place that attracts the most attention, but if you are lucky and that day they put a potatoes cooked in the water used to cook the octopus, accompanied by a couple of pieces of the animal's legs, you will give the visit for good.
The Mars omelette, essential
We leave the historic center and we have two options to continue tapas: to the north is the neighborhood of San Pedro, with two of my favorite alternatives.
At A Moa you order your drink at the bar and then, on a shelf, you have a spread of chips, nuts and usually a pot full of tripe which you can use. Although if that is not enough, or you prefer something else, here one of the essentials is the cod dumplings , already paid.
A little further up, in a pleasant square, ** A Tasquiña de San Pedro ** has managed to preserve the neighborhood atmosphere and complement it with a great selection of wines by the glass and a courtesy tapa that changes day by day.
If you are lucky you may arrive and they offer you some well-cooked lentils. On Thursdays, you can also order one of their homemade hamburgers.
A great selection of wines by the glass and a courtesy tapa that changes day by day
If you prefer to go south, you will not be short of options either. In the Ensanche, at the ** Café Venecia **, the barista Oscar de Toro In addition to serving one of the best coffees in Galicia and having won the prize for the best beer tap in Spain, he continues to offer tapas like before, two or three different things in small portions: perhaps a taco of tortilla, a little salad, maybe some chips...
Tapas from Compostela from the classical school, the kind that is hard to find. Do not say that you lack reasons to stop by at any time of the day and say hello to Óscar. That is another authentically Compostelan ritual.
The new neighborhoods also have their stops. There is the ** Artesana **, halfway between the Ensanche and Conxo, with some honest and tasty tapas of the day that you can complement with classic portions such as patatas bravas or raxo (pork loin).
Or, already in A Choupana, a step away from the University Hospital, ** O Ferro **, one of those covered places that we Compostela frequent for its good cuisine and for a simple but pleasant courtesy tapa. The empanada they offer is often among the best in town.
Abastos 2.0 never disappoints
TAPAS WORTH PAYING FOR
Beyond the free cover, no matter how long its shadow is so long that it does not allow a good part of the visitors to see beyond, there's a whole world of taverns worth exploring.
We start with one of those who have known how to bring the usual tavern into the future and which, in the process, has become **the quintessential meeting point in the city: Abastos 2.0. **
It's worth it reserve at their unique table and enjoy one of their changing menus. But if you only have a few minutes, be sure to bend over in front of one of their windows and ask, if they have any, a crib (a small bowl) of freshly cooked barnacles. Let them recommend a wine and enjoy.
Not too far, in one of the most hidden alleys of the city is A Gamela, a classic of the local tavern that changed management a year ago. The interior is today brighter and the menu is slightly larger, but the atmosphere is the same as always.
ask yourself a serving of mushrooms , or maybe some leonese sausages And, if it doesn't rain, try to get one of the tables that they put in the Saesepodes wheel (Salsipuedes alley. The name alone is worth a visit). As a Compostela experience, an appetizer here scores very high. And if you get a place on a summer night, even more so.
A Gamela, a local tavern classic
** O Gato Negro is in all the guides.** And that is why many believe that it is a stop for foreigners. And it is true that it is usually full of tourists, but this tavern founded in 1920 –the oldest in the city– She is exactly the same as when I met her in the mid-80s accompanying my parents or my uncles.
And the portions they serve are still the same as always, with honest prices and more than acceptable quality. ask if they have liver with onions, one of the classics of the city in another era.
Or opt for the octopus, the steamed cockles or the empanada of the day. And accompany them with a cunca de ribeiro blanco, as five generations of people from Santiago have done.
One step away you will find Or Celme do Caracol. The bar on the ground floor is one of the most pleasant in the area and, on its counter, you will always find a selection of toasts and other specialties perfect to accompany the drink for a contained price.
To Ostrería, in Nave 5 of the Market
We finish the route in the Market, in a Nave 5 that brings together a whole series of places that make it perfect for all tastes. At ** A Ostrería **, in addition to oysters open at the moment you can find stews of the day in tapa format –I remember some really good beans from Lourenzá with clams–.
Opposite, in ** Amoado **, they are specialized in pancakes with all kinds of savory fillings: pork rinds, foie gras, vegetables... you decide. And if you want to finish with a classic, there you have one of the usual grocery stores.
A Moa and her impressive living room overlooking the terrace
Perhaps, after all this journey, his thing is to end a coffee. If it's sunny my option is the pleasant garden of the Hotel Costa Vella, one of those places where you always want to stay a little longer.
If it rains, however, I recommend you practice one of the local sports: go to ** Bar El Muelle , in Plaza de Galicia, ** fight for one of the tables by the window (they're not an easy target, I'll tell you I say) and let the afternoon pass looking at the world between the mist and the drops on the glass, as we have been doing here since 1933.
The garden of the Costa Vella hotel, an open secret