Located on a side street just off the busy Las Ramblas stretch, ‘Louro’ specializes in rustic, traditional Galician fare and is supposed to be extremely popular amongst the locals. However, words must have gotten out, because on the night of our visit. Within the quadrant of the dining room we were seated in. Out of the 5 occupied tables, only 1 spoke Spanish! The remaining 4 were all overseas visitors, including one from British Columbia! Small world!
Still relatively full from our luncheon seafood binge-eating, we decided to go easy with our a la carte dinner order. The food, prepared by staff originally from Galicia, was indeed rustic, homey, hearty and flavourful. Standouts include the Galician Stew Croquettes ( Man! So many winning croquettes! I am starting to lose count!..and we’ve only been in Spain for 5 days!! ) and the ‘packed full of crustacean umami flavor and creamy tamale’ Lobster Paella. The crunchy and flavorful rice crust, so addictively good! The suckling pig terrine was interesting…kind of like a Southern pull-pork dish with crispy covering?!
The Hake with clams dish was a bit weak, though portion of the fresh fish used was extremely generous.
However, for me, the favorite of the evening were those finger foods. The mixed collection of various pickled Olives varietals and the crunchy and juicy roasted Padron Peppers! The former, perfectly balanced…not too salty, not too tangy. The latter, an occasional spicy hot one amongst the mix. The suspense made them a delight and fun to munch on!
Once again, the Spanish desserts hit the spot and were so pleasing to eat.
Service by the English speaking staff was friendly and attentive. They even have time to smile and make jokes under the pressure of a packed-house! Bravo!
