ASTURIAS
CASA MARCIAL
Nacho Manzano is a great chef with a singular vision. Prior to Covid I wrote a long review of Casa Marcial here and lauded his success in elevating regionally inspired dishes to culinary highs without compromising their rusticity. Manzano blends rich and gelatinous textures in many of his dishes. They appeal first to the taste buds and then to the brain. For example, aptly labelled, “chuleton del mar Cantabrico”, consists of bone marrow, anchoa, sardines, hake eggs with orange-anchoa butter (colatura de alici) and is topped with a crisp biscuit. It is a great dish.



At the same time, in our last visit, I sensed a shift away from cooked and towards composed dishes. A dish like “champinon levadura y basque”, featuring mushroom broth and yeast, raw almond slivers and dried apple slices, seems destined to please trendy palates, rather than more gourmet taste buds. Presently, one can find these two styles in the Casa Marcial tasting menu. Let’s hope that Nacho goes back towards his authentic style that titillated our taste buds in the past.
Jose Luis is a wonderful sommelier who adds value to Casa Marcial.
EVALUATION: 17.5/20
GÜEYU MAR
I love and value Abel. But since he launched his business of marketing canned seafood (they are excellent), I can’t help but notice that Güeyu Mar slipped one notch. Yes, one can still eat well there, and his grilled Rey fish, when you get the right fatty cut, is the seafood version of A5 Wagyu. His grilled fatty anchoas are also amazing.

But occasionally he makes mistakes, such as adding a new and almost inedible species of sea urchin (new in Europe and a product of global warming) to his grilled oyster. He also seemed to be cutting down a little bit on the number and portion size of his shellfish and fish offerings. On the other hand, his breads are excellent and his wine list contains some gems which are fairly priced.
EVALUATION: 17/20
GALICIA
D’BERTO
This is an amazing product restaurant. It is also somehow frustrating in the sense that Alberto serves only the very best, and he does not purchase a product, such as cigalas, when they don’t conform to his incredibly high standards.


So don’t expect to find possibly the world’s best Galician slippy lobsters-cigalas, but be prepared to sample some amazing quality clams, razor clams, camarones, wild baby scallops (zamburinas), berberechos, necoras or centollo (depending on the season) and maybe percebes. I like their fried lobster too, but I am not crazy about the way they cook fish. Don’t miss the cheesecake though, from local cheese.
EVALUATION: 18/20
CASA MIRANDA
You should make a trip here, to Betanzos, for amazing tortillas. The big question is: with or without onions? The classic one is only with potatoes, but we ordered one of each. The verdict? I have a preference, but will not tell you because the onion issue is so polarizing that it is worse than cheering for rival football teams!

ASADOR O’PAZO
This is a very sophisticated and excellent restaurant. They age their big fish, such as Mero or Rey fish, with excellent results. The nine days aged Mero, grilled and served with fermented cabbage, was the best fish we had in Galicia. Anchoas San Filippo and red, big, and succulent Carabineros with an emulsion of their coral were also very good. We also tried their chuleton de vaca from the blond Gallego breed. We liked it, but less, compared to the fish.

EVALUATION: 17.5/20
MUINO DO VENTO
We had excellent quality percebes and almejas here. Cigalas were cooked whole a la plancha. They were good, but not on par with d’Berto, when Berto offers them. Lenguado or sole fish was pretty good, but the caramelized lamb chops with excellent French fries were better. They are true lollipops for grownups. The 2015 Emilio Rojo was a remarkable wine too with considerable finesse and nuance.

EVALUATION: 16/20