Galicia, Asturias & Cantabria

Regional Dining Discussions Italy, Spain, Portugal
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Hi, first time poster, so apologizes if my post isn’t in the correct form or discussion group. My wife and I will be on a cruise stopping in the following towns:

Vigo, La Coruna, Gijon and Santander.

Simply looking for memorable culinary experiences with excellent desserts being a high priority. From my research I created the following lunch itinerary and looking for restaurants that might not be on my radar along with help deciding which is best to dine at. Please note we are willing travel up to 45 minutes within any of the ports.

Vigo- travel to O’Grove to Marisqueria D’Berto. Is it worth spending some time in Vigo or should we head right to O’Grove to walk around before lunch?

La Coruna- We will be there on a Monday and unfortunately a lot of restaurants are closed. Considering Arbore da Viera & Taberna 5 Mares. Also open to other suggestions in that area. From my understanding La Coruna isnt a town worth exploring?

Gijon- Similar issue as La Coruna as a lot of restaurants are closed on Tuesdays such as La Huertona & Gueyu Mar. La Huertona would have been my top choice. Any intel on helping decide between Real Balneario de Salinas, Casa Fermin & Auga or venturing outside Gijon? Is Gijon a nice town to walk around?

Santander- I booked Cenador De Amos as a placeholder, open to other suggestions.

We are also spending time in Lisbon, Bilbao area & San Sebastian but can save that discussion for another post. Additionally, we have reservations at Laia Erretegia, Casa Julian so would like to steer clear of Asador spots for these lunches.

Looking forward to connecting and thank you in advance!

Best Regards,
Jeremy

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Since I don`t know how much time you’ll be in each port, some of the suggestions may not be feasible but here goes:
When you arrive in Vigo, assuming you won’t take any organized shore excursion, head straight if you plan to rent a car?? to Marisquería d’Berto, one of Spain’s great seafood temples, as has been reviewed here and about which every seafood-crustacean lover will agree.
But the drive to O Grove will take just under an hour–easy drive that I have done several times. Do you have the time for this seafood feast…??? The best dining in Vigo itself, a city I personally don’t find that attractive/interesting, can be found at Maruja Limón.

A Coruña (in the official Galician language, galego):
I actually find A Coruña far more interesting than Vigo with a very vibrant food scene. But on Monday, many top restaurants are closed and fishermen don’t go out to sea on Sunday so…your best bet by far is the one Michelin starred Árbore da Viera with very pleasant, panoramic views of the water. If you can snag a lunch reservation here, be sure to do so.

Gijón: For Güeyu Mar and La Huertona you would need to have driven from the Gijón port to Ribadesella, just under an hour, but yes, both are closed on Tuesdays, and both extremely difficult reservations to grab. I booked my lunch at the latter for this mid-August on March 23!
Gijón is a lovely town to walk around with a great, energetic vibe and a lovely, expansive beach. Casa Fermín in Oviedo, not Gijón, is lovely in an old school way, and Real Balneario on Salinas beach constitutes just over a half hour´s drive from Gijón’s cruise port. These both require taxi rides or private transfers. I would choose Auga in Gijón itself, right at the water and make sure to find the original Coalla Gourmet (one of Spain’s most enchanting, high end delis) in the center of town. We always make a stop here to purchase gourmet items, cheeses, Moscovitas and fine wines.

Santander: El Cenador de Amos will also necessitate a taxi drive from the port. If you prefer to stay in town, you have several great options: Cañadío (the original from 1981, there’s a Madrid spin off), the one Michelin starred La Casona del Judío or the one starred El Serbal, all in the city.

Again, the excursions outside of these cities will require a taxi or private transfer and will constitute very leisurely dining on tasting menus.

2 Likes
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We were in Asturias very recently (as in, we left yesterday). Gijón is a nice city to walk around in, but if you’re willing to take a half hour taxi ride, we preferred Oviedo. We didn’t do fine dining the day we were in Gijón, but in Oviedo, open Tuesdays, I highly recommend Cocina Cabal. Excellent, creative food. Phenomenal desserts, since you said that’s a priority. If you look to book online they never seem to show any availability but I easily reserved via email. They have both a tasting menu and a la carte. We ordered a la carte.

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Another I like very much in Oviedo, if you have the time for the half-hour drive is the very small Ca’ Suso, also very creative cooking with welcoming service, run by two brothers. Yes, Oviedo is more charming, in my view, with some outstanding museums, a beatiful cathedral and a lively food market, El Fontán. It’s also the home of bakery Confitería Rialto, the home of the Moscovitas and the lovely, historic Camilo de Blas. Oviedo has a sweet tooth.

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So glad you liked it!

Jeremy, what day of the week will you be in port in Gijón?

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He said Tuesday.

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You’re so right!! I completely forgot that! And I even talked about the two Ribadesella Tuesday closures! Duh.

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Thank you for the quick response and detailed information and recommendations. We do not have excursions so will have flexibility to travel by taxi for restaurants and to explore a different city if desired.
We will have a full day at each port so fortunately we will have enough time for a seafood feast at D’Berto and if we opt to do lengthy tasting menus as well.

Yes, it’s tough timing for La Huertona if we could even get a reservation as it’s a bit too far to travel from Santander to.

I did come across 1 Star El Serbal on the beach in Santander whick looks beautiful! Have you dined at El Serbal and Cenador De Amos recently? Curious how they compare and if I should narrow down to those 2 or look at the other restaurants you mentioned.

Since we are open to take a taxi would you still opt Auga over the other choices? Oviedo sounds like a lovely town & the bakeries are definitely a bonus but dining on the beach is certainly appealing. Which restaurant is better and has a nicer beach Auga or Real Balneario? Also if you had to rank each of these solely based on food which is best?

Also I should note I promised my wife one day on the cruise where we stay on the boat and sounds like it should be on Monday when we port in La Coruna instead of Tuesday in Gijon. Our cruise starts in Lisbon with our first stop in Porto. We are planning to dine at Casa De Cha da Boa Nova.

Unfortunately, as is the case in each of these towns we will only have the opportunity for 1 meal so really want to make it count!

Thanks again!

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I’ve dined at both once but not recently, so I can’t give you a recent comparison.
Where I have dined recently is the Cenador de Amos offshoot in Madrid inside the Rosewood Villamagna Hotel.
Auga is city dining at the port, not on the Playa de San Lorenzo, Real Balneario has the actual beach and better views, imo. So city vs country dining. And Auga is a fairly new entry into the Gijón dining scene while El Real Balneario has been an Asturian dining star for years.

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Thank you, this is very helpful in deciding how to spend our day when we port in Gijon!

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We arrive in Gijon at 8am and dont depart until 6pm. We could head straight to Oviedo to explore and either go to Gijon to dine at Agua for lunch or Salinas and dine at Real Balneario. Speaking of taxi’s do you recommend to use free now, uber, lyft or another service? How readily available are taxi’s/rideshare in these towns? I assume using a rideshare app will be easiest?

Also, any other bakeries, or cant miss spots for tortilla espanola for breakfast would be helpful!

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Although you´ll have 10 hours in port (if a small ship it shouldn’t take long to disembark), I assume you will want to leave plenty of cushion to get back to the ship before 6, so I wouldn’t advise going down to Oviedo just to explore, as that takes time in an unfamiliar city (and you’ll be without a guide), before heading back either to lunch at Auga or heading out to Salinas to Real Balneario.
I don’t use taxis in those cities because we live here and drive everywhere now. But most Spaniards do use free now, and Uber is available in Gijón.

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I appreciate the concern about timing but I don’t anticipate any issues. We will plan to get off the boat at 8am and can take a 30 minute taxi to Oviedo to explore. That should give us roughly 4 hours in Oviedo which will be plenty of time. Then we can either dine in Oviedo or head back to Gijon for lunch and board the ship. If we dine at Auga it’s at the cruise port. Our reservation will be at either 1:30pm or 2pm to allow ample time and then plan to be back on the ship by 5pm, maybe 5:15 at the latest.

Instead of Oviedo we could go to Salinas instead which is also 30 minutes from the port. How does Salinas compare vs Oviedo and preference on Real Balnerario vs Auga?

Also any recommendations in O’Grove and starting point to explore before lunch at D’Berto. Thanks!