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From the humblest of cafeterias to the hautest of dining rooms, chefs in Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria emphasize the use of fresh, local ingredients. Excellent, cheap meals can be found at smaller, family-run eateries, which usually stick to traditional foods and tend to draw mostly local crowds. Restaurants that stray from the culinary norm—and which also offer top-notch service and elegant surroundings—usually also include a higher price tag.
"From market to plate" is this nueva cocina restaurant's philosophy: chefs start and finish the day with an empty larder and a blank menu. The freshest fish and produce are handpicked at the neighboring Mercado de Abastos and coaxed into exciting dishes that defy tradition. Be sure to book ahead as the industrial-chic dining room and terrace fill up fast.
Fusing traditional Galician cuisine with Japanese, Mexican, and Peruvian, among others, Casa Marcelo whips up creatively plated dishes in an open-plan kitchen. The jovial dining area—always full and always loud—seats guests at long communal tables, a nod to the fact that the dishes are meant to be shared.
The two exquisite tasting menus at this tranquil Michelin-star establishment offer a whirlwind tour of modern Cantabrian cooking at a good value. Request a table in the romantically lit brick wine cellar, and savor such delicacies as roast partridge with celery-root puree, griddled tiger prawns, and ultra-creamy rice pudding.
Although the eggplant-colored walls, crystal chandeliers, and carefully chosen antique furniture evoke a traditional French dining room, the food at this restaurant—attached to the A Quinta da Auga hotel—is unmistakably Galician. Try delicacies such as chestnut cream soup, fresh-caught hake, and bay scallops roasted in their shells with garlic-parsley oil. The weekday lunch prix fixe is a steal at €29.
The chef, Yayo Daporta, for whom the restaurant is named, is something of a local celebrity and a true food artist who produces gastronomic masterpieces, such as a cocktail glass filled with cauliflower mousse and fresh-caught local clams with a drizzle of basil-infused olive oil and coffee vinaigrette. Inventive dishes include scallop carpaccio and tempura clam on an algae crisp with clam foam and greens. Reservations are recommended.
This upscale restaurant by one of the region's most promising chefs serves elevated Galician cuisine in a bright, modern dining room with exposed stone walls. Menus feature a plethora of hyperlocal ingredients that have "first and last names," as the chef likes to say: Cambados oysters, Fisterra razor clams, Cachena beef, etc.
Appropriately named, A Viaxe (a journey) takes diners through the edible landscape of Peru and South America, with especially bright renditions on Peruvian dishes using Galician ingredients. A coveted spot at the bar includes views of the open kitchen and detailed presentations straight from the chef himself.
This award-winning, modern Asturian restaurant in the old town is adorned with rustic stone walls and a hand-painted mural. There are also inventive tapas and tasting menus (starting at €65). Notable dishes include creamy rice with tiger prawns and squid, Xaldu lamb royale with mushrooms, and warm chocolate cake with ice cream.
Seafood lovers: look no further. This minimalist but elegant marisquería (seafood restaurant) has a view of the port and only serves fish caught the same day. Try the centolla de la ría (fresh-caught river crab), bacalao gratinado con alioli de azafran (cod gratin with alioli and saffron), or arroz con pulpo (octopus paella).
This casual seafood spot around the corner from the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos specializes in shellfish ranging from melt-in-your-mouth battered mini-scallops to a take-no-prisoners variado de mariscos platter with langoustines, king prawns, crab, and percebes (barnacles, a local delicacy).
Skylights, plants, and an air of modernity belie the age of this sophisticated restaurant, which opened in 1924 and is now in its fourth generation. The nueva cocina menu changes seasonally, and there is also a tasting menu. Dishes might include artichokes in spicy afuega'l pitu cheese sauce, langoustine tiradito, or apple cake with cinnamon ice cream.
Book a table at this terrace garden restaurant 2 km (1 mile) outside of town toward O Grove for a fine-dining culinary tour of the region. Local mackerel, chorizo, hake, and beef are mainstays here, as are traditional Galician cheeses and wines. Though the ingredients are primarily local, they're enlivened with international, nueva cocina touches (think king crab fajitas and scallop aguachile).
A restaurant housed inside the Llanes fish market and right on the water means you’ll get the freshest catch in town. Watch your next meal come into the port on small fishing boats and enjoy simple preparations that highlight the natural quality of each fish, mollusk, and crustacean on the menu.
Signed photos from the likes of King Juan Carlos and Julio Iglesias cover the walls of this elegant stone-wall restaurant opened in 1928. Specialties include lenguado a la plancha (grilled sole) and navajas (razor clams). The tocinillo de cielo, a double-rich caramel flan, is heavenly, as the name implies. The restaurant's name refers to an era when wine arrived in wooden barrels: if mosquitoes gathered at the barrel's mouth, it held good wine.
Five blocks from the marina, this white-tablecloth dining room with blue walls and hardwood floors pulls out all the stops: Order the tasting menu, for instance, and you'll sample no fewer than five varieties of olive oil. Mains hinge on Cantabrian seafood and run the gamut from cod al pil pil (with an emulsified garlic-oil sauce) to flambéed suckling pig to scallop tartare.
Head to this renowned white-tablecloth restaurant and meeting spot on one of Oviedo’s main thoroughfares for cachopo, a heart-stopping fried veal cutlet stuffed with ham and cheese—an Asturian speciality. If you prefer something a bit lighter, there are salads, fresh fish, and meat dishes. The bar on the ground floor does a roaring trade all day long in sandwiches and light snacks.
With a focus on top-notch sourcing and modern takes on traditional Galician fare, this eatery offers creative, seasonal dishes in a contemporary setting. À la carte options are available, but the superb (€65) tasting menu is definitely worthwhile.
This upscale, glass-enclosed dining room, housed in what was once Gijón's fish market, overlooks the harbor and serves imaginative seafood and meat dishes. Expect a variety of raw, grilled, smoked, foamed, and roasted options, all plated with panache. Tasting menus (€90) are a good value.
Steps away from the parador, this innovative kitchen artfully prepares Galician fare with both Basque touches and global fusion. You can order a-la-carte, but the tasting menus are affordable and abundant.
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