[Galicias Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations]

As you would know, Galician food is devoted to the product very simply cooked.

Albeit the restaurants mencioned by Victor in the Gastronomic tours around Spain thread:

Galicia: The land of shellfish and boiled turnip greens is finally jumping on the bandwagon of diversity and creativity, without renouncing its terrific raw materials. Key restaurants: Toñi Vicente, Casa Marcelo, Taberna de Rotilio, Alameda de Doña Antonia, Pepe Vieira, La Oca, Casa Alberto.

Here you have another options:

· El Refugio (Oleiros) Fastuous seafood at very high prices.

· Roberto (San Julián de Sales-Vedra) Trying to innovate in the galician traditions

· Casa Pardo (La Coruña) Very good traditional rest.

· Casa Solla (San Salvador de Poio). A classic near Pontevedra.

· El Manjar (La Coruña) A fine restaurant with a superb spanish omelette.

· La Barra (Lugo) A good option if you go to the interior.

My recos: Casa Marcelo in Santiago (Innovative food in a settled menu, there is not other choice) and La taberna de Rotilio in Sanxenxo.

And going in Febrary you have the choice to try Lamprea, a primitive fish cooked like a civet (In its own blood) very hard to find the rest of the year. Casa Pardo is a good option.

Oh, 2004 is a Xacobeo year, this mean that Santiago will be mighty crowded with hungry pilgrims, so make your reservations in advance.

[Asturian Restaurants & Food Products]

1) places to stay near Cangas de Onis and near Oviedo (preferably

in proximity to Casa Gerardo,

Do not take me wrong, but Casa Gerardo is not the closest restaurant

to Cangas de Onís or Oviedo. Actually, it is 10 km in the outside of

Gijón, the biggest city of the province, and about 40km from Oviedo

and 80km from Cangas de Onís

  2) which restaurant I should choose in the Cangas de

Onis/Ribadesella/Arriondas area?

Depending on what you are looking for, if you want innovative cuisine

rooted in the traditional dishes of the region, I strongly

suggest "El Corral del Indiano" in Arriondas (very close to Cangas de

Onís). At a definite lower level, in a very traditional style,

without the service you find in a One Michelin Star restaurant

(begging for the second star IMHO) as El Corral del Indiano, there is

a small restaurant in the outside of Cangas de Onís called "La

Palmera", in Soto de Cangas, with plenty of traditional food and a

very nice selection of wine at good prices.

I would like to stay on the coast, if possible, or at least at a

hotel with a pool. Has anyone stayed at La Estación da Luanco north

of Gijón (it is not far from Casa Gerardo) or at any hotels in

Ribadesella? Should I consider staying in Oviedo proper? Are there

any restaurants of note in Oviedo? Thanks.

If you want to stay on the coast, you would do perfectly in Gijón.

There is a nice bunch of hotels but I do not think any of them have a

swimming pool. Asturias is not a sunny province for the good and the

bad. However, you can sunbathe in the beach. A good and recently

build hotel is Hotel Tryp Rey Pelayo (4*) available at:

http://www.trypreypelayo.solmelia.com/

Quite close to the beach, in a quiet place, from Gijón you could do

short trips to Casa Gerardo, Cangas de Onís and Oviedo. A short list

of the best restaurants in Asturias might include:

- L'Alezna (20km out of Oviedo), cook Pedro Martino

- El Corral del Indiano (Arriondas), cook José Antonio Campoviejo

- Casa Marcial (La Salgar, out of Arriondas), cook Nacho Manzano

If you finally stay in Gijón (which I recommend), the most innovative

things are being done at Restaurante Paladares, really close to the

Hotel Tryp Rey Pelayo (5 minutes walking).

In Oviedo, the best restaurants are:

- Casa Conrado

- Casa Fermín

both are a bit more traditional than the previously referred

restaurants.

BTW, all the restaurants above (with the exception of La Palmera

which is in another league) are included in the 2004 Red Guide.

[Asturian Restaurants & Food Products]

Both L'Alezna and Taberna Viavélez Puerto have Michelin stars, Rogelio.

Sorry, my mistake

[Asturian Restaurants & Food Products]

As it's been said before it will be a mistake to miss all the traditional asturian food only for seeking the Michelin stars.

The recos given before are outstanding but here you have a few interesting non starred restaurants in Asturias:

- El Rompeolas in Tazones, for fab seafood.

- Casa Consuelo, in Otur, almost in Galicia. A traditional road rest.

- La Huertona in Ribadesella, renewed traditional food

- Laure in Oviedo for traditional comfort food.

- Taberna Viavelez Puerto in Viavelez.

- L'alezna in Caces, the new rest with Pedro Martino, from El Cabroncin

- El Balneario de Salinas, in Salinas.

And an interesting link: http://canales.elcomerciodigital.com/gastronomia/

Highlights for traditional food are: Fabada and all the fabes dishes (With clams, with chicken...), Arroz con leche (Traditional milk and rice dessert), all the artisan cheeses (La peral, Cabrales...) and all the superb seafood.

Enjoy