Seafood safari in Galicia: Rías Baixas
We start the route in the best possible way: in a fish market . Mar Viva in Corcubión works in that ancient way that some modern restaurants choose as a way of life: you choose the fish or shellfish from their offer of the day, they weigh it, you pay accordingly and they prepare it at the moment. Crabs, razor shells and very fresh fish to taste; the difficult part is selecting what to stay with to taste it on the upper floor of the establishment.
Corcubion barnacles
Carnota has some beaches that could be the Hamptons (but available to anyone and less tacky, that is, better). In addition to the sandbanks and the famous hórreo, there are two very good restaurants that alone justify the visit: Casa Manolo and the Fontevella Barbecue , traditional places where those in charge are professionals with excellent treatment and where you choose what you choose, it is impossible to go wrong.
Casa Manolo (Caldebarcos, Carnota) specializes in wonderful scallops and rice with lobster . In Fontevella Barbecue (Caldebarcos, Carnota) you have to be advised by the experts and enjoy the views of the sea, fish and shellfish depending on the day . And as an example that it is possible to eat well at a good price even in unexpected places, leaving Carnota, in Lira, the Pensión Cachiño, serves good products in a roadside hostel identifiable by its white galleries.
Scallops from Carnota
The -no longer so humble- clams in Galicia immediately lead to think of Lane, and immediately in the classic Lolina . In addition to bivalves, Rice dishes and monkfish are famous.
A contemporary proposal that looks at the traditional (but probably a Galician grandmother would look skeptically because the size of the portions do not leave you bursting) is the Loxe Mareiro 2.0, (this lace So from Garbage's album in 1998 points out the shadow of Abastos 2.0, the restaurant that has been leading avant-garde Galician cuisine -without fear of reinventing itself- in the middle of Plaza de Santiago) , also in rail . A place with a very simple design that at the same time exudes coolness, an expert in recovering canned dishes, the “village” concept, the idea of eating at home (your own, a friend's, something so on the rise these days), back to the origins , to simplicity and to cook with what you have in front of you at that moment. Of course, it may be that you go and that day there is no seafood. But you won't regret it.
Rail Seafood
In O Grove, seafood is a big word . It is worth making an effort to coincide with the fair (in Galicia gastronomic fairs are an institution) of the shellfish in October or the spider crab fair in December ; the experience -despite the crowds and noisy- will be one that is not forgotten and will demonstrate that seafood can be eaten in a popular, massive and informal way without losing an iota of quality. The product is the product, it can never be repeated enough.
If the visit does not coincide with any of these events or if you prefer to eat with a tablecloth and away from the crowds, D'Berto is the answer . Unparalleled product with a look (attention to size) and taste to marvel at one of the best restaurants in Galicia (there is nothing).
In the very touristy Sanxenxo the success of the seafood restaurant Marlima is shown in its two locations a stone's throw from the beach where they serve its legendary rice with lobster . Between the two places is the marina with its Nautical Tavern , with a privileged location and an enviable terrace with unique views of the town, the beaches and the yachts.
Sea. Galicia. Homesickness.
**Going further into the Pontevedra estuary, A Nova Cepa in Poio ** has magnificent views of the estuary, some exceptional scallops, treatment that should appear in the definition of "as it should be" and pancakes for dessert capable of overshadowing the rest of the meal.
The Ría de Pontevedra and its marine product
In the Morrazo area stands out Bueu , one of those towns still unscathed by mass tourism in which there is life all year round and people continue to live, largely, from the sea. Boats leave from its port to go to Ons, the island that is famous for being the place in Galicia where the best octopus is fished (the place where it is cooked is, by a mysterious chance, Carballiño, in Ourense, well away from the coast).
One step away from the fish market is El Pescador, a guarantee of a quality product specializing in rice with lobster or cocochas with clams, the same specialties offered by its neighbor, the classic Estrella (both A Xan Carballeira street, Bueu). With a humbler point but possessing a very pleasant landscaped terrace, Or Chouzo specializes in equally fresh and tempting seafood casseroles.
Fisherman's rice with lobster
Perfectly visible from the dock is the beluso beach , a place belonging to the municipality of Bueu with its coarse sand (it is one of the few Galician beaches with sand that could not pass for Caribbean) it has kept the physiognomy it had a century ago practically intact , fishermen's barges included, and it is, therefore, a place full of charm to retire to. In one of the stone houses as centuries old as the restaurant itself, A Centoleira prepares magnificent rice dishes and a famous monkfish with clams that invite you to digest them while taking a siesta in the solitude of Cape Udra or Cape Home.
In the interior of the Morrazo peninsula the Hío town is famous for its stone cross carved from a single rock and among the little meals for the quality of the Doade restaurant, one of the best in the area, if not the best, with selected seafood, good treatment and a step away from some of the quietest beaches and with the most rollaco in the entire north.
Completing the curve and entering **already in the Vigo estuary**, it is mandatory a stop at Domai or to enjoy the spider crabs or Shrimp from Casa Rios , in front of the hermitage of San Benito. One step away, the cliché of "Incomparable setting" comes to your mind a lot when you visit a site that is, really, in an incomparable setting. In a fully glazed palafitte on the waters and with views of the Vigo estuary and its rafts, el Laurel, in Vilaboa, is one of those refined and exceptionally located places that are not forgotten.
Cooked spider crab from El Pescador
The vortex of the Vigo estuary is a place of pilgrimage for any lover of gastronomy in general and seafood in particular . The Arcade Oysters They are well-deservedly famous for their size, their flavor and their price, which will make the legs of the tanned aficionado in restaurants in big capitals weak with pleasure. In any of its shellfish restaurants it is possible to enjoy this miraculous product, but the classic Arcadia prevails with force (Avenida Castelao 25, Arcade).
Already in Vigo, the Mosquito is a mythical from the days of yore in which perhaps the portions are not as abundant and at such a good price as in days gone by (or maybe they were, but nostalgia deceives us) that maintains the type (Stone Square, Vigo). Very close but in a much more popular plan , very popular with the people of Vigo and in an environment that is not so well preserved, another classic of the classics is to go for oysters in the outskirts of the A Pedra market , one of those areas of Spain full of memory of the 80s, with its decadence, its smuggling, its charm and its authenticity, in which to discover true love among the dirt.
the mediaeval Villa de Baiona is, next to América beach, the traditional summer area of the city , and the Rocamar the place to enjoy a good seafood platter. Directly on the rocks, one of those places that today (fortunately) it would be impossible to build. Specializing in sea bass, sole, lobster and caldeiradas, its seafood is exceptional.
Baiona quality
If you are looking for a restaurant in its well-preserved historic center, Casa Rita is specialized in cocochas but the seafood they serve is a guarantee of freshness and flavor. They don't have a letter , so it is best to be advised and the result never disappoints.
We line up the last stop of the gastronomic itinerary in To Guard , next to the mouth of the My no and with stunning views of the ocean and Portugal. If all the Galician coast is a suitable place to eat seafood, this multiplies here , where the restaurants on the pier are specialized in lobster and practically all of them offer seafood. ** Casa Olga ** is one of those places with a particular idiosyncrasy (remember the famous Casa Pepe de Despeñaperros? That's where the shots go) that used to abound so much in the past where, depending on the day, you can be treated wonderfully or you can go out feeling insulted. Despite this, people continue to come because Lobster, the ox or the barnacles they are exceptional, out of habit and because, in the end, there are people who are pa tó. (Maltese 24, A Guarda).
Dawn (Rúa do Porto 34, A Guarda) is a guarantee of smooth delicious food , good cuisine and excellent product. After lunch, the last of this seafood safari through Galicia, it becomes peremptory climb Mount Santa Tecla and set his sights on Portugal, where an equally delicious but different gastronomic journey would begin. You have to know when a trip is over. * You may also be interested in...
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