GALICIA 2025 questions

Regional Dining Discussions Italy, Spain, Portugal
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I’m planning a quick return to Galicia in June. There is a chance that my partner will go along but more likely is that I will travel solo.

I’ve yet to buy plane tickets but will almost certainly fly from JFK to Santiago, with change in MAD.

Hotels are booked:

Parador Santiago–three nights (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
GH La Toja–eight nights
Casa de Marcelo, Padron–two nights (Saturday, Sunday)

The inclusion of Padron came about because I needed a stop not too far of a drive from the airport in Santiago for my last night or two, and I wanted to eat at O’PAZO… The hotel connected to O’PAZO was full, as were a couple of other hotels/B&Bs near Padron, since this is a weekend and many weddings are scheduled.

I had a great visit to (rainy) Santiago last May, and have a decent idea of where to eat. I’d like to return to ABASTOS 2.0, but am open to trying places new to me on the other nights. Ideas most welcome!! I prefer a la carte to long, elaborate tasting menus and so ruled out a couple of restaurants. We loved LUME, the sibling of A TAFONA, but might want to have a new experience this year…but bar seating, half orders, all that’s great for me. But I won’t rule out anything…it will be difficult to forego another dinner at LUME.

At ABASTOS 2.0, would the common table in their bar room be a better choice for a solo diner than the dining room across the street where we had that excellent dinner last year?? (I think so…)

I’ve marked down a few more possibilities but would need to cut this list way down; the Parador should have a great breakfast so it would be difficult to fit in more than a small bite for lunch…

All these in Santiago de Compostela:

O TESTO
INDOMITO
ANACO
A HORTA DO OBRADOIRO
PAMPIN (maybe for a bite, rather than full meal; could not find an actual current carta but what I did see seems to indicate very hearty stews…??)

I plan to rent a car on leaving Santiago and drive to LA ISLA DE LA TOJA, for an eight-night relax. I was here for two nights last year and each of the two dinners was a hit: CULLER DE PAU and ASADOR D’BERTO.

This year I plan to return to D’BERTO in the port of O"Grove which is only a few minutes’ drive from hotel. I might have more than one meal here and am open to any other suggestions in O’GROVE or within a short drive of Isla de la Toja.

There are “mussel tours” by boat that seem to be very popular in around the Isla de Arousa, but I’ve read mixed reports about these with some commenters saying it’s a party scene with little education about the mussels, etc… I’d love to hear of your experiences with this, and with any other tours I could take, or easy drives I could do on my own. (No wineries, but maybe visit to cheese maker???). (Also plan to sample and purchase cheeses to bring home; something other than Tetilla)

I’m considering driving to Cambados for a meal at YAYO DAPORTA but a little anxious about driving in the dark, and I always prefer dinners to lunches.
(For years, I imagined that YAYO DAPORTA was a Galician version of a sports bar, only to learn in the past few years that it’s the name of the revered Galician chef with two Repsol “suns” and a Michelin star. Not the first and certainly not the last goof that’s tarnished my name!!). (The word “deporte” means sports, in Spanish)

Would love to read comments about this restaurant, and any others either in Cambados or closer to my base of La Toja. (YAYO DAPORTA offers two tasting menus, at either 75 or 100 euro. A less expensive option from the same chef is CONTINENTAL, also in Cambados.

After eight nights at the GH LA TOJA, I wanted a stop on the way to the Santiago airport. The town of Padron seemed to fit the bill, especially since I’d always wanted to visit ASADOR O’PAZO, the “meat temple” in that town.
Weekends in June are wedding season in Galicia and it required lots of back-and-forth to find both a place to stay, and to secure a table at O’PAZO (Their website clearly states that there are NO tables available for a single diner).
And their nearby guest house ,which looks divine, is booked out every weekend in high season for weddings, as is the asador for the Saturday that was my choice for a meal. Happily, all is resolved and I’ve booked two nights at a rural hotel just outside Padron, and lunch at O’PAZO for the Sunday, the day before I fly home from Santiago. I briefly considered a detour to La Coruna making that my last stop, but flights back to the US have better connections from Santiago; La Coruna does seem to have a lot of tempting restaurants so will keep that in mind if I’m fortunate enough to return again to this corner of Spain…)

Whether or not I can take this trip depends on my partner’s easy recovery from a pair of “procedures” a few weeks prior, but all indications point to a green light, and he may decide to come along. (I’m a bit conflicted about that, truth be told; there are benefits in traveling alone, especially since I speak Spanish pretty well and so like to strike up random conversations, almost always about food…sometimes a bit too often and a bit too long for my companion)

So, please, if Maribel or any of you Gallego-philes have ideas for me, don’t keep them a secret!!! I’ve about two months, but it’s always great to revel in the planning. A million thanks!!

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On your Santiago list you’re missing the most talked about young chefs, Axel Smyth and Claudia Merchán of SIMPAR, who won both of the most prestigious awards at this year’s Madrid Fusión.
Axel was declared the “cocinero revelación” of 2025 and Claudia, the pastry chef, honored with the “pastelera revelación” award. These two graduates of the Basque Culinary Center opened the restaurant in 2023.
(Axel opened Auga e Sal in Santiago and immediately won a Michelin star but closed it shortly after.)

Over the years, since these MF awards were initiated in 2003, we’ve seen how especially these two prestigious awards have lifted up, catapulted, the careers of up-and-coming chefs. (David Muñoz won the Chef Revelación award in 2008). This year at MF we cheered on the two young chefs of Arsa in Logroño, also candidates for Cocinero Revelación. As soon as these candidates are announced, we try to visit them (before the suns and stars are bestowed and prices go up!)

SIMPAR, however, offers a tasting menu only, priced at 85 euros. I think I may have suggested it to you for your last Galicia trip. It now has one Repsol sun and one Michelin star. But it’s closed on Mon/Tues.

Did you not consider staying slightly outside the city at the A Quinta da Auga Hotel & Spa (a RC)?
Or perhaps two hotel spa stays weren’t necessary?

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Have you stayed in the Parador before? I spent an unfortunate night there in 2011. Of course a lot has probably changed since then. I did enjoy the luxurious breakfast, so once Lulu and her dad joined me at another hotel I took them there for breakfast, and that was a fun way for them to experience it.

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in O Grove, Meloxeira Praia, a “chiringuito gastronómico”, 1 Repsol sun, as of this year.
In Cambados, A Taberna do Trasno (with an inverted “s”), a Bib Gourmand
(“Trasnos”=duendes, or elves, gallegos)

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I’ve stayed at the Parador and during my stay I found it extremely busy, lots of comings and goings, smack dab on the square, and people coming in to take a walk around and photograph this historic property.

erica,
You may have done the same when staying at the hotel behind it the last time.
This Parador’s breakfasts are copious though (all hot items to be ordered now fresh from the kitchen to order…eggs any style, bacon, sausages, whatever you want), not at all like your disappointing breakfasts on your last trip at the other place (where I never had any meals at all after a bout of food poisoning).

While I’m not a fan at all of most of the Parador dining rooms for lunch or dinner (with a few exceptions), their buffet breakfasts, with all the regional specialities, especially the charcuterie, the local cheeses, the pastries, are terrific. And they now have espresso machines so that one can make his/her own brew, as you know since you stayed at the one in Pontevedra last time.

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I knew you would steer me in the right direction!
I was surprised to find, when I began looking in February, that many hotels were full for my dates. (I did not try the Quinta da Agua because I wanted to be able to walk around and return to rest at hotel from time to time). I had other hotels on my list including the Altair, but they were full. (By now I’ve figured that it must be high Camino season)

The Parador website also showed full for my dates. (Main attraction would be the Parador breakfast; I figured there was a chance I might get stuck with a small, dark room.

So I wrote an e-mail letting them know I would take almost any category of room and, lo and behold, they put my on a waiting list and within a day, confirmed a “double for single use” room. I was relieved to find a spot so I did not ask any questions about “which room,” and knowing the Paradors, I did not expect that they were going to go into much detail. I think when the time gets closer, I will write them, or phone them, to get some details.

So, SIMPAR. The tasting menu is what threw me off, but with your fulsome praise, Maribel, I will put it back on the list. The prices sound reasonable, that’s for sure! I think there is another Santiago place on my list, above, that is tasting menu only, and YAYO DAPORTA is as well. I’m going to read about SIMPAR as soon as I end this post.

As for O’PAZO, they have been incredibly responsive to my e-mails. I really wanted to stay in their affiliated hotel but, as I said, it’s wedding season. The restaurant wanted to know if I wanted the tasting menu or not, but I responded that I’d let them know closer to my arrival… I don’t know why I had the notion that this was a simple asador, but from the videos I watched, it’s very elegant. I have to say I’ve never seen a restaurant booking page that specifies, before they even take you to the page for your dates and time, that the minimum number of diners is two. But looking at those large, white-dressed tables in their dining room, I do know that it’s not a cozy spot for one person. But be that as it may, I’ll look forward to dining there although their main attraction appears to be those hefty steaks…

The Padron guest house I booked was the only one with decent reviews on the two big booking sites that had space, and I’ve had a lot of chatty back-and-forth with the manager. (I’ve promised to help him with his English when I stay there, etc etc…). I don’t know if mine is an unusual experiencer, but just about every person I’ve had e-mail interchanges with has been incredibly friendly, saying that they are so happy I am visiting, etc. Even the person who wrote to me at O’PAZO.

Another reason for visiting Padron was for their Sunday market, but I’ve since watched a few videos and it looks like a motley collection of souvenir sellers, interspersed with very few food vendors, pack the streets on Saturday mornings. (I was imagining stands piled high with peppers, cheeses, etc etc) I’m not even sure it’s worth going, but I’lll ask when I arrive.

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About Sunday markets in Spain…they simply can’t be compared to the French outdoor markets, which I love!
We returned from 9 days in Paris, marveling once again about the beauty of the presentations (a photographer’s dream), the extremely high quality, the vasty variety of tempting foods presented at all the 8 outdoor markets we visited (one each day!)…and the relative lack of junk items, cheap clothing, souvenirs, etc. (like the one we experienced in Teguise, Lanzarote, which wasn’t even worth a single photograph).
Although I’ve never been to the Sunday market in Padrón, I can’t imagine it being any better than what you saw in Santiago at the Mercado de Abastos.

Your difficulty with Santiago lodging is not only the wedding weekend but full blown Pilgrim season!
The Parador is slowly being remodeled to the tune of 36 million euros and the full works are “supposed to be” finished in June of 2026. The vast amount of money will be spent in general repairs of this ancient, history building (the Paradors’ flagship) and improvements of the public rooms, adding another elevator, etc. with a bit of that amount spent on the rooms’ decor.

In the Padrón vicinity, did you happen to reserve at the Pazo de Lestrove?

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