La Sartén de La Coruña – La Coruña, Galicia

When traveling near or far, it is always wise to ask locals where they eat. We were first heard about La Sartén from a local friend, Fran (of FranFret Guitars), and were really pleased to finally be able to visit during our most recent trip to Galicia in October, 2017.

La Sartén is a classic Galician restaurant in the old town of La Coruña that is known for quality Galician seafood, beautiful traditional preparations, and warm service from the friendly polished staff. Located just up from Plaza María Pita, it is one of several quality restaurants located along the Plaza de España, along with other well regarded establishments such as Miga, and A Pulpería de Melide.

After being warmly welcomed upon entering the restaurant, we were shown to a nice table in the dining room and quickly got to looking over the wine menu. From a nicely representative list of Galician wines, we selected a Ribeiro from Casal de Armán. Their Finca Misenhora is a limited edition of only 3415 bottles made of mostly Treixadura with about 5% each Godello, and Albariño grapes. Clean, crisp, yet soft in the mouth, this lovely white went extremely well with the seafood we selected from the menu.

 

Perusing La Sartén’s ample menu which features a wide variety of preparations of local Galician shellfish, seafood, salads, and rice dishes:

 

A delicious taste of pastel de marsico (savory seafood pudding) in puff pastry from the kitchen

In the mood for classic Galician fare, zamburiñas (variegated scallops) seemed like the logical place to start. These small scallops, cooked very simply with a slight hint of tart citrus and crispy crumbles of jamón ibérico, were so delicious. Scallops, particularly these small ones, are almost always served in Galicia with their delicious half-moons of roe still attached.

Zamburiñas a la plancha con zumo de cítricos y polvo de jamón ibérico – Grilled variegated scallops with citrus juice and Iberian ham crumbles

La Sartén serves a fine quality Galician bread that is perfect for sopping up all of the flavorful oil on the plate. There’s even a specific word for sopping up: sopetear!

We savored every morsel of this stellar salpicón de bogavonte y centolla (cold lobster and crab salad). Pictured below is just half of the dish, there were two portions of this light and refreshing salad loaded with tender chunks of flavorful lobster and spider crab, decorated with grated hard-boiled egg.

Nuestro salpicón de bogavonte y centolla – house cold lobster and crab salad

With several different octopus options on the menu, we opted for the pulpo a la plancha con cama de patatas cocidas y cebolla (grilled octopus on a bed of boiled potatoes and onion). Octopus tentacles, cut longways and griddled on a flat top, were perfectly tender with a lovely char from the griddle. The boiled Galician potatoes, delicious in their simplicity, were merely drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with paprika. Red onions are not necessarily traditional, but the sweetness they added to this dish was inspired. This was another plate that you definitely want to sopetear with that wonderful Galician bread!

Pulpo a la plancha con cama de patatas cocidas y cebolla – grilled octopus on a bed of boiled potatoes and onion

For dessert we took the advice of our friendly waiter and ordered the tarta de queso fria con galletas y moras (cold cheesecake with cookie crust and blackberries). Also drizzled with caramel sauce, this dessert made in house was light, creamy, and delicious.

Tarta de queso fria con galletas y moras – cold cheesecake with cookie crust and blackberries

After thoroughly enjoying another afternoon of fine Galician wine and exceptional quality seafood, we will be sure to ask local friends for more recommendations in future visits to A Coruña!

Date of Visit: October 19, 2017

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Restaurante La Sartén de Coruña
Plaza de España, 11, 15001 A Coruña (map)
+34 981 919 313

Website: www.restaurantelasarten.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/lasartenc
English spoken: YES

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2015 Festa do Marisco – O Grove, Galicia

Date of Visit: October 2015

O Grove is located on the western coast of Galicia, about 45 minutes by car from Santiago de Compostela and 1.5 hours from A Coruña.

For those who don’t know, the weekends in Galicia are full of festivals. Seriously, so many festivals all throughout the year. Every city or town, large or small, has at least one festival during the year. O Grove, Galicia, is no exception to this rule.  Known as the “paraíso marisco” (shellfish paradise), O Grove has celebrated the annual Festa do Marsico (Shellfish Festival) for two weeks every October since 1963.  Each fall, for more than 50 years now, O Grove becomes a hub of activity and a gathering point for people from all over Galicia, Spain, Portugal, and the rest of the world in exaltation of the local bounty of shellfish and seafood that are abundant there.

In addition to the culinary activities, including cooking demonstrations, various cooking contests, and the tents set up for sampling all of the wonderful seafood, the fortnight’s schedule is packed with concerts nearly every night, folk dancing, traditional music, informative lectures, arts and crafts expositions, and many other family friendly activities.

Which way should we go?  The festival is very organized with clear directions to the various tents.

These beautiful ladies proudly showing off their traditional dress before their folk dancing performance. Traditional music and folk dancing under one of the tents being broadcast on local Galician television.

The 52nd annual Shellfish Festival in O Grove, Galicia.  October 1-12, 2015

Festa do Mariscos – highly organized with informative maps provided.

2015 Price List – Festa do Marisco

Price List – 2015 Festa do Marisco

Gallego – Spanish – English Menu
Ameixas – Almejas – Clams
Berberechos – Berberechos – Cockels
Camarón – Camarón – Shrimp
Cigalas – Cigalas – Langoustine (Norway lobster)
Croquetas – Croquetas – Croquettes
Marisco – Marisco – Shellfish
Mexillóns – Mejillones – Mussels
Navallas – Navajas – Razor Clams
Nécora – Nécora – Velvet Crab
Ostra – Ostra – Oysters
Pan – Pan – Bread
Percebes – Percebes – Goose Barnacles
Polbo – Pulpo – Octopus
Rodaballo – Rodaballo – Turbot
Vieira – Vieira – Sea Scallop
Zamburiñas – Zamburiñas – Bay (Variegated) Scallop
Filloas – Crepas – Crepes
Torta de Santiago – Tarta de Santiago – Santiago Cake (almond cake)

The main tent is set up next to the actual lonxa (fish market) of O Grove. The stalls that normally sell seafood as an open market during the rest of the year are transformed into one big gathering hall during these two weeks in October, where people come from all over to enjoy the seafood, shellfish, local wine, and social time with friends. The whole thing is extremely organized. Signs in Spanish and English indicate where each stand is located. Long tables line up along the entire length of the tents where friends and families gather to enjoy the culinary delights.

Finally! Seafood! Zamburiñas (variegated scallops – left) and Pulpo a Feria (fair style octopus – right). The embossed wooden pulpo plate made for a wonderful souvenier to bring home.

This blogger was VERY happy to be enjoying the Festa do Marisco.  I hope everyone attending the 2016 Festa has as much fun as we did last year!

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The 53rd annual Festa do Marisco takes place in O Grove, Galicia, October 6-16, 2016

Festa do Marsico website (link)

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A Mundiña – A Coruña, Galicia

UPDATE: In June 2018 the restaurant moved to a new location just a few blocks away at Rúa Real 77 (map). The new restaurant location is a special one, with access from either side of the building; the main pedestrian street in this part of the city (Calle/Rúa Real) and also from the Marina side, over which the dining room has splendid views from the expanse of floor-to-cieling second floor ‘galerias’ windows.

For those who always enjoyed the convivial atmosphere in the location on Calle/Rúa Estrella, there is good news! Taberna A Mundiña opened in September 2018 in the original location as a ‘taberna’, serving a smaller menu than the restaurant with options to have a more casual bite to eat (think octopus, croquetas, shellfish, ham, tortilla, other local specialties and a variety of cheeses and desserts) to accompany their nice selection of wines by the glass.

Originally published post below:

Date of Visit: Tuesday, May 31, 2016

The old part of the city of A Coruña is full of narrow pedestrian streets and alleys lined with bars and restaurants. Every evening is a lively scene, with people spilling out into the streets enjoying themselves until all hours. In May of this year we had the pleasure of taking a cruise out of London with stops in Asturias (Gijón), Galicia (Vigo & A Coruña), and Portugal (Lisbon). After the cruise, we spent an additional day in London then returned to Coruña for a few days.

The flight from London Heathrow to A Coruña on Vueling Airlines lands at 8:40 p.m., which gives a person enough time to exit the airport, get into town, check into a hotel and still catch an amazing sunset like this one we saw on the way to dinner.

Sunset from the shore of Orzán Beach. Photo taken at 10:21 p.m.

I had noticed A Mundiña on my very first visit to A Coruña in 2014. It is located on Calle de la Estrella, one of the aforementioned pedestrian streets lined with bars and restaurants in the old part of the city. My favorite hotels in Coruña are located near here so I had passed by and noticed their refined logo on the awning over the outdoor seating area, filled always with well-heeled diners, many times. Everything I had read about this place indicated it is one of the best restaurants in Coruña for quality seafood with a focus on the freshest product from the market, prepared in a traditional manner. This year (2016), the restaurant is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

 

The menu (above) is comprised of classic Galician seafood and marisco dishes.

This is the tastiest bowl of Caldo Gallego (Galician Stew) I’ve had in all four trips to Galicia, and it was served as a complimentary amuse here. This version was really hearty with all of the traditional ingredients (potato, salt pork, white beans, and turnip greens) working in harmony to create an intensely flavorful broth.

We selected this nice bottle of Albariño from Bodega Santiago Ruiz (located in the Rias Baixas wine region) to accompany this seafood feast.

Cigalas! Langoustines en route from the display case to the kitchen where they had a date with the plancha (grill).

The same cigalas fresh off of the grill a few minutes later and finished simply with a luxurious drizzle of olive oil. Absolutely perfect. A chuparse los dedos! (Finger licking good!)

A plate of octopus was in order for our first meal back in Galicia. Pulpo á feira con cachelos (Octopus over boiled potatoes) is about as simple as it gets, and as delicious as ever.

When inquiring about the specialty of the house we were directed without hesitation to this dish, La Caldeirada (fish stew). Boiled potatoes under a huge portion of whatever fish happens to be fresh at the market (this day it was merluza – hake fish) with   fresh peas in a paprika garlic sauce. Another simple, hearty, and wholly Galician dish; it was so satisfying, we were left with no room for dessert.

Well, no dessert, yet we welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed these simple dark chocolate petit fours with crumbled pistachios presented with the bill.

The close of another wonderful meal. The food was fabulous and the service so exceptionally friendly and welcoming, we didn’t want to leave … even as we were the last people out the door at nearly 1 a.m. on a Tuesday night!

 

Lucas Pérez! Screen capture of a post from A Mundiña’s Facebook page (9/1/16).

In addition to the restaurant we visited in the old town of A Coruña, A Mundiña has a secondary location just 8 km (5 miles) away in Oleiros called Pazo do Rio (Manor House on the River) where special events and celebrations are held. Just as I was preparing to finalize this post, I saw that they had a very special celebration there just today – a despedida (going away party) for Deportivo La Coruña soccer player and local hometown hero Lucas Pérez, who is leaving Coruña for London to play for the Arsenal soccer team. I think this speaks volumes for how well-regarded the restaurant is, due in equal measure to the quality of their food and the warmth with which it is served.

 

 

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A Mundiña
Taberna: Calle de la Estrella 10, A Coruña , Spain (map)
Restaurante: Calle Real 77, A Coruña , Spain (map)
+34 881 89 93 27

A Mundiña Website:  link
A Mundiña Facebook: link
A Mundiña Twitter: link
A Mundiña YouTube: link

Bodega Santiago Ruiz Website: link
Bodega Santiago Ruiz Instagram: link

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A Horta do Obradoiro – Santiago de Compostela, Galicia

Thursday, May 28, 2015

An excellent strategy for learning or improving foreign language skills is to immerse oneself in media of the target language. Newspapers, television shows, blogs, YouTube,  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope, Snapchat, the list of resources available online goes on and on. In my case, I’ve been working to improve my Spanish language skills and begin to learn the Galician language, so I’ve been utilizing all of the above to improve my fluency and at the same time learn a bit more about Galicia.

Come e Fala (Eat and Talk) is a culinary themed weekly talk radio show on Radio Galega, based out of Santiago de Compostela, that I first discovered via Twitter. It airs from 1 – 2 p.m. on Sundays in Galicia, which is 4 – 5 a.m. Arizona time. Due to that early hour, I have never actually listened to it live (except when in Galicia), but rather listen to it later in the day or week as an online podcast. Last April, the two chefs that opened A Horta do Obradoiro appeared on Come e Fala and it just sounded like a place that I would like. The show’s host, José Manuel García, then made this great video introducing the place:
A Horta do Obradoiro  on YouTube: Comer e Falar con José Manuel García en A Horta do Obradoiro

So, the night before I was about to complete my second Camino (the Portuguese Route of the Camino de Santiago), I was staying in a hotel with about 8 kilometers left to walk to the Cathedral (the Camino’s end point). I needed to go into Santiago to find a pharmacy for some supplies for the wounded toe, so thought I might as well enjoy a nice meal. Surely nobody could find fault with this logic! And I knew just the place.

  The restaurant had been open only a few weeks at the time of my visit, but the service was extremely polished and I would have never guessed.

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There are two sides to the menu: Raices (Roots) represents more traditional Galician fare and A nosa cociña (Our kitchen) is where the chefs show more of their creative side.

The specials board (above, left) titled O que o mar nos deu (that which the sea has given us), was a long list of seafood specials. I arrived at 8 p.m., the very beginning of the dinner service, hence the empty dining room (above, right). By the time I left the place was nearly full. It was a chilly evening so I sat in the dining room, but there’s a beautiful garden space outside (just on the other side of the window you see in the photo above) that would be absolutely lovely in nice weather.

Gazpacho amuse to start, compliments of the kitchen. Fresh and light!

From the specials board: Croquetas de bacallau – Salt cod croquettes. I wish I had taken a photo of the insides of these wonderful little croquetas. Perfectly creamy and so, so flavorful.

From the creative side of the menu: Listado en tempura, guacamole e tomato picante – Tuna tempura over guacamole with spicy roasted tomato. This was just excellent and it paired nicely with the Albariño wine I had with the starters.

 

From the traditional side of the menu:  Polbo a Mugardesa – Octopus Mugardos style. Mugardos is a charming coastal fishing village on the northern coast of Galicia, near Ferrol (the starting point of the English Route of the Camino de Santiago). Called Pulpo a la Mugardesa in Spanish, this regional recipe is made of octopus stewed with potatoes, onions, red and green peppers, garlic, and paprika. This dish was delicious and one day I would love to try the version as they make it in Mugardos.

 

Filloas acarameladas – Caramelized Galician crepes for dessert. This was my first time tasting this classic local specialty, but certainly not the last. These were filled with custard and then brûléed to caramelize. Fantastic!

Kike Piñeiro, Vanesa Vera Avola, and Eloy Cancela in action! It was a pleasure to watch these young talented chefs running the kitchen at full steam.

A Horta do Obradoiro is located just a few steps down from the Praza do Obradioro the main plaza which faces the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela (the ending point of the Camino de Santiago) and is right across the street and just a few doors down from the only Michelin star restaurant in Santiago de Compostela, the legendary Casa Marcelo. That’s a lot of talent on one street, and makes this area a real culinary destination in Compostela.

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A Horta do Obradoiro
Rúa Das Hortas 16, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain (map)
+34 881 03 13 75

Website: www.ahortadoobradoiro.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/ahorta.doobradoiro
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HortaDObradoiro

Kike Piñeiro Instagram: www.instagram.com/franciscokikepineiro
Kike Piñeiro Twitter: www.twitter.com/FranKikePineiro
Eloy Cancela Twitter: www.twitter.com/eloy_cv

Come e Fala – Airs every Sunday on Radio Galega with podcast available on the website.
Come e Fala Website:  www.crtvg.es/rg/programas/come-e-fala
Come e Fala Facebook: www.facebook.com/comeefala
Come e Fala Twitter: www.twitter.com/comeefala1

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A Estación, Cambre – Two Stops at the Station

EDIT: A Estación closed in March of 2017.  See Bido Restaurante in Coruña. 

Saturday, May 30, 2015

          

“Hola. I don’t have a reservation …. but I do follow you on Instagram”, is how I introduced myself to A Estación chef and co-owner of Beatriz Sotelo when I arrived without a reservation to this Michelin starred restaurant on a quiet Saturday afternoon last year.

I had completed my second Camino, walking the Portuguese Route from the Portuguese/Spanish border some 115 kilometers (72 miles) to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, just the day before so a celebration was in order. After we chatted about Instagram, social media in general, and the Camino for a few minutes, restaurant founder and co-owner Juan Crujeiras came out of the kitchen to say hello to chat a bit. After this extremely  warm welcome, we took a photo (below) and then it was time to embark on what was to be a fabulous meal.

 

Juan Crujeiras, MyLifeOnVacation, Beatriz Sotelo

A Estación is located in the former train station of the town of Cambre, Galicia (hence the name; A Estación is Galician for “The Station”), just a little past the airport outside of A Coruña. As a matter of fact, it’s situated only about 1 km from the Camino Inglés that goes from A Coruña to Santiago. Behind the bar near the front entrance is a large sign for a despacho billetes (ticket office) and the “station” theme carries into the comfortable dining room which is arranged in such a way that it actually looks and feels like the interior of a train car. Charming.

            

Absolutely gorgeous cheese table. Several local Galician cheeses featured, including my favorite San Simón da Costa (front center).

A Estación offers an 11 course tasting menu (with optional wine pairings available) in addition to a full menu. Many of the starters are also available in half-size (media ración) portions and items from the tasting menu can even order a la carte. Since I was dining alone and wanted to be able to try various dishes, several starters in the media ración size were chosen. All were excellent; thoughtfully prepared, perfectly executed, and among the most memorable dishes I have enjoyed in Galicia.

(left) The simple, elegant place setting. (center) What better wine to accompany this lovely Galician meal than another nice Albariño? A glass of this lovely García Caamaño from the Pazo de Rubianes winery made for a perfect pairing with the seafood dishes selected. (right) A tasty variety of snacks to start: cured local olives, seasoned popcorn, and hummus with crispy breadsticks. A second round of amuses, not pictured here, included a small piece of empanada and a cup of soup.

Vieira marinada, caviar Persé, holandesa de cítricos y margarita

Since the scallop shell is the symbol of Saint James (Santiago), and featured prominently on all of the paths of the Camino de Santiago, it seemed only appropriate that my first dish would be a media ración of marinated vieira (scallop) served elegantly over a citrus hollandaise and topped with Spanish Persé caviar, a bit of scallion, and edible flowers (yellow daisy petals, actually). An absolutely gorgeous plate with phenomenal flavor and textures.

Salmón marinado y ahumado al momento con milhojas de manzana y requeixo de A Capela

This media ración of marinated and smoked salmon with milfollas (very thin layers) of apple stuffed with requeixo da Capela (a local sweet ricotta-like creamy cheese made with raw cow’s milk) and walnuts was up next. The salmon was revealed from under the smoky dome with a flourish. Perfectly prepared and playfully presented, this salmon and its accompaniments have been stuck in my memory ever since.

Rape asado, arroz cremoso de pulpo y emulsión de ajada

Galicia is known for an abundance of high quality pulpo (octopus), so I didn’t hesitate to order this dish where octopus was featured twice and paired with monkfish. Thin slices of cooked octopus were arranged in a rectangle (or perhaps it was a thin slice of an octopus terrine?), topped with an intensely flavorful creamy Spanish rice studded with more chunks of octopus, a perfectly cooked piece of monkfish (rape), and a garlic emulsion garnishing the plate. I absolutely loved the combination of the flavors and textures of the pulpo and monkfish in this dish and the generous dollop of that garlic sauce.

Tarta de chocolate hecho al momento con helado de yogur y chocolate blanco y café

Everything on the dessert menu looked so tempting. One offering was even a “gin & tonic in cake form”. This is the exact moment when I was wishing for a dining companion so we could get two different desserts to share. Since there was only to be one dessert, I decided on this chocolate cake “hecha al momento“. Think of a rich chocolate lava cake, deliciously gooey in the middle, served with white chocolate frozen yogurt sprinkled with chocolate pop-rocks (what a delightful surprise!), atop a coffee sauce that was brushed on the plate.

Coffee service came with a nice little assortment of petit fours. The check presented in an elegant wooden box. 

In addition to the very warm welcome from the chefs, the entire staff was friendly, courteous, and went about their duties with a calm elegance during both of our visits. I wasn’t surprised to read earlier this year this insightful newspaper article about their maitre (maître d’ – head waiter) in the local newspaper. In the article he explains a bit about his role as head waiter at A Estación where he serves as the primary liaison between the guests and the kitchen, discreetly helping guests to ensure they have a nice time while enjoying their meals. Dining at A Estación was such a wonderful experience, I knew before this meal was even finished that I would be returning.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

As the title of this post indicates, I did return to A Estación again. Just a few months later my husband and I visited Galicia together so that I could introduce him to my favorite little corner of Spain. We began that trip by attending the Festa do Mariscos (Shellfish Festival) in O Grove, where I just so happened to run into Chef Crujeiras who was there judging the best mussel dish cooking competition on Saturday night. We had a friendly chat and made a plan for us to visit the restaurant later in the week.

Unfortunately, I had fallen ill in O Grove on Monday night. On Wednesday evening I was still quite unwell, which tempered my excitement about returning to A Estación quite a bit. Not wanting to deprive my husband of the experience of dining here, I pulled up my bootstraps and set out to enjoy as best I could, given the circumstances. Chef Sotelo was not in the restaurant the evening of this visit but Chef Crujeiras was. It was nice to see him again and exchange a few pleasantries. After amuses that were quite similar to those received a few months earlier (and described above), we began the meal in earnest with a couple of classic appetizers.

(left) jamón Iberico (Iberian cured ham) accompanied by (center) toasted pan de molete bread and tomato jam and (left) zamburiñas (variegated scallops) with a crunchy onion topping. Two very simple, high quality dishes.

left – rape asado, arroz cremoso de berberechos, emulsión de ajo – limón
right – atun rojo a la parrilla, semillas, setas de japón y crema de apio-nabo

First to the table was the rape asado (roasted monkfish) served with a delicious creamy rice with berberechos, greens, all atop a lemon garlic cream. Next was the grilled sesame seed crusted atun (tuna) steak served with Japanese mushrooms and a creamy celery root sauce. This dish also received high marks. The sesame crust was perfectly crisp while the tuna remained rare in the middle, just as it ought to be.

For dessert – local Galician cheeses accompanied by a glass of port wine.

While not in the mood for dessert myself, my better half opted for a cheese plate. The cheese cart this evening was quite similar to the one pictured above during my first visit, and from it came a very nicely composed plate featuring three cheeses and three sweet accompaniments. Of course, I really wish I had been feeling well enough to enjoy this second visit a bit more, but I’m so happy that my husband was able to experience A Estación for himself. He was quite impressed and I’ve no doubt we will make another return visit in the future!

Since these visits in 2015, I’ve kept up with the two chefs via social media, primarily Instagram and Facebook. In addition to social media, Chef Beatriz Sotelo can also be found in the regular media, on local Galician television as the host of her own cooking competition show called Gastrópodos. In each episode, she travels around to a different part of Galicia in a refurbished 50-year-old English bus to discover a unique ingredient common to the area she’s visiting, and then has a cook-off on the bus with a different local chef each episode. Judges aboard the bus declare a winner at the end of each episode. It’s quite entertaining, and she is a natural. The second season of Gastrópodos is airing now (the fall of 2016) on the CRTVG television network.

Chef Juan Crujeiras has also been keeping busy. Among other things, he is in the process of opening a new restaurant located in the city of A Coruña. At the time of this writing, the location of the new place has been announced (near the Plaza de Vigo), but the name has not yet been revealed (although there are hints being posted on Chef Crujerias’ Instagram account). All reports indicate it will open towards the end of September 2016. I will edit this post with the information once it is known. EDIT: About a week after this post was published, the name of the restaurant was announced.  The name is BIDO, which is the Galician word for “birch”, as in the tree. One newspaper article explained that the restaurant will feature media raciones so patrons will be able to try several dishes, which is exactly my style of dining. If I’m lucky, it will be open in time for my next visit back to Galicia in September. Best of luck to Chef Crujeiras in this new venture!

The chefs at A Estación are also part of GrupoNove.  As mentioned in my earlier post about YayoDaporta Restaurante, in 2015 Grupo Nove published a book, Nove e
a Nove Cociña Galega, Cociñeiros, Paisaxes e Productos, featuring all of the various chefs in the group. Each chef is profiled in the context of the landscapes, products, and producers that are meaningful to them, personally.

In the book, Chef Crujeiras is pictured next to a stream in a mountain forest near the town where he grew up in the Coruña province of Galicia [the landscape], featuring the highest quality fresh-baked wheat, corn, and nut breads [the product] all baked by Mocho, the restaurant’s baker [the producer]. Chef Sotelo is pictured splashing in the sea near her hometown in the Pontevedra province of Galicia [the landscape], featuring the Galiña Piñeira, a native Galician breed of chicken which is prized for the quality of its meat [the product], that was saved from extinction by a local veterinarian [the producer].

Mar e montaña (sea and mountain) exemplifies Galicia itself, geographically speaking, so it seems quite appropriate that these two themes are at the heart of the cuisine at A Estación, and the soul of the restaurant itself given the provenance of the two chefs.

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A Estación
Estrada da Estación, 51, Cambre (Coruña), Spain (map)
+34 981 67 69 11

email: estaciondecambre@gmail.com
Website: link                           Menu: link

A Estación Facebook: Restaurante A Estación
A Estación Instagram: www.instagram.com/aestacion

Juan Crujeiras Instagram: www.instagram.com/crujeiras
Juan Crujeiras’ new restaurant: BIDO (scheduled to open September 2016)
Marcil  de Adalid, 2-4, A Coruña, Spain (map)

Beatriz Sotelo Instagram: www.instagram.com/beatrizsotelo
Beatriz Sotelo on Gastrópodos – CRTVG: www.crtvg.es/tvg/programas/gastropodos

 

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A Coruña, Galicia – The Adventure Continues: El Descansillo

Friday, May 15th, 2015 – Dinner at El Descansillo

It’s probably no big secret that I’m a fan of social media. If you are reading this blog you probably follow me on one form or another (Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram) already. When I started tweeting about all things Coruña / Galicia-related after my trip there in June 2014 (to walk the Camino de Santiago – English Route), I slowly started getting a few followers here and there from the area. One day, I got a new follower on Twitter, @El_descansillo, a restaurant located near Maria Pita Plaza in the old part of the city of A Coruña.  After my very first quick look at their tweets I knew immediately that this place was right up my alley, food-wise, and I pretty much decided right away that I’d be going there!

So, after a stroll through the old town, the casco viejo, on the Friday night of my arrival I made my way to the restaurant, arriving a little before 10 p.m.

El Descansillo = The Landing

Comfy and casual interior

Yes, at 10p.m. on a Friday night, I was the first to arrive for dinner!

The menu … where to even start??

Obviously, one starts with wine, especially in Galicia!

And with wine I did start. The Rías Baixas wine region in Galicia is known for their Albariño wine, so I asked if I could do a “wine flight” with a few small pours rather than full glasses. My waiter was on board with that plan. Although they were out of a couple of bottles, we still managed a small tasting to accompany my meal. The Troupe and Tabla de Sumar, both 100% Albariño, were very nice. So nice, in fact, that I circled back and did add a full glass of one to go with my entrée.

The meal began with a little amuse from the kitchen, crema de zanahoria con curry (cream of carrot with curry) with chive garnish.  It was more like espuma de zanahoria (carrot foam), and it was so delicious.  I was very happy that it was served with the tiniest little gold spoon to savor every little bit of it.

Crema de zanahoria amuse. Note tiny gold spoon and my first “tasting” glass of Albariño.

Typical bread from Galicia. It is served freshly cut in every restaurant and smells and tastes wonderful. Every time. No exceptions.

Then came my favorite starter: croquetas! These were croquetas de mejillón y erizo (mussel and sea urchin croquettes). Oh, they were so rich and creamy, y con sabor del mar (and tasted of the sea). Served with salad of mixed greens dressed with balsamic vinegar from Modena and a mixed fruit jelly.

Oooo, you can see how rich and creamy they are inside!

Galicia is known for its seafood, and sea urchin (erizo) was new on my list to eat this year, but pulpo (octopus) is ALWAYS on my list. This version was such a delight. It was pulpo sobre puré de pulpo (octopus over purée of octopus). Yes, the pulpo is so nice, they used it twice. The octopus on top was the traditional “feria” style (boiled and cut, sprinkled with paprika and olive oil), and the purée was smokey and creamy and just begged to be run through with the crusts of that delicious bread. Naturally, I was more than happy to oblige with another piece of bread. Accompanied by more Albariño, of course.

Pulpo over pulpo. So good!

The menu listed the item I selected as my main as being made with merluza (hake fish), but the waiter mentioned that they also had another local fish available, San Martiño, which sounded good to me so I ended up with San Martiño con pilpil de jamón ibérico con judías verdes y espuma de patata (fish with Iberian ham pil-pil with green beans and potato foam). In this case, the potato was way more creamy than foamy, and the amuse carrot dish was more foamy that creamy, contrary to the names. Either way, this was a fantastic presentation! San Martiño, John Dory in English, is a delicately flavored white, meaty fish that held up very nicely to the rest of the dish.  I was lucky enough to get to try this fish again a couple of times during my trip.

San Martiño – local Galician fish

… and, the bill …

Always Estrella Galicia!

What a great sign seen on the stroll back to the hotel. Yes, as a matter of fact, I would like to meet this King of the Ham.

Outside detail of El Rey del Jamón – it’s written in STONE, people!

The walk back to the hotel at midnight through the bar and restaurant lined pedestrian streets of the old town was a much more lively affair at midnight on a Friday night than it was at the 9 p.m. hour when I first strolled through. I had a big Saturday planned, so off to bed I went!

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