That has been the plan.
@tigerjohn did you eat anywhere near El Gran Sueño that you really liked?
@tigerjohn
Do David and Javier at El Gran Sueño offer evening meals on request?
I think they did at some point but I am not sure they did the last time we were there in 2023. It’s worth checking.
We tend to just drive to restaurants (even 1 hour or 90 min at lunch and so I’m not aware of anything in particular that is close by. I think Casa Marcial might be the closest to El Gran Sueno but that’s 45 min.
Closer to El Gran Sueño would be el Corral del Indianu in Arriondas, but it’s 30 min.
Maribel, what do you think of el Corral del Indianu?
They do serve dinners upon request at El Gran Sueño. We plan to do that one of the nights. They have a list of recommended nearby restaurants on their web site, obviously mostly casual, local places. We will travel for our meals, but plan to do at least 1 day hiking out of the hotel, so I will probably try something very local on that day.
I like el Corral del Indianu but it’s not the incredibly unique experience that the adventure of dining at El Molín de Mingo is by a long shot. Arriondas is not the prettiest town in Asturias but it is the kayaking capital.
You can go a la carta at Indianu. And they do serve a fine fabada.
Anything that would be close to, as in 15 minutes, of Caspio la Vega would be quite casual, not “destination dining”.
I’m not one of those who wants every meal to be destination dining. I prefer a mixture.
As do we. Just want you to know that the area immediately around El Gran Sueño in Infiesto will be casual, family-run places, like the spots that are members of the Club de Guisanderas, which we seek out when dining in the Asturian countryside. Or there will be chigres nearby, Asturian cider houses.
OK. Better later than never.
Unfortunately , when I was making my arrangements for the trip, Oviedo did not have a speed train. Now it does, but I had to return my car in Leon. We crossed the Picos de Europa and took a train to Madrid.
Our first meal was in La Lopez bar. We have tried 4 appetizers and one main dish.
- One of the best renditions of ensaladilla
- Very interesting tomato confit, but a tad too sweet for my taste
- Arenque dish - just a mix of salted herring slices, avocado slices and mango slices. I did not get it. I am a herring fan, but could do without avocado and mango
- Slice of foie with a fruit compote - as always good
- Albondigas - very tender and flavorful
- Very unusual tiramisu.
An interesting menu with an informal atmosphere. We liked it.
The dinner took us to the new location of Juana la Loca. Right in the area where we usually stay in Salamanca. We were 15 minutes late, which never happens to me. We were red a riot act by the East Asian seating host lady and informed that we are getting the seat just because she is very kind… The place was packed at 8:25. Tiny tables with people practically seated on each other’s laps. I tremendously enjoyed staring at the behind of an individual sitting at the high chair right in front of our low chair. Most of the customers were English speakers. The lights were very low and we could barely see what we were eating. Our waiter with an Argentinian accent was very pleasant and we went along with his recommendations. All the dishes were served within minutes from the order.
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our first 3 orders were brought on the same plate: tortilla, ensaladilla in the bun and truffled egg con chicharron in the bun. I guess they were not bad, but the environment and the mode of serving did not contribute to the experience.
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onigiri of smoked eel with foie - once again smoked eel is too powerful to taste anything else. Why do we see this combination so frequently in Spain?
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smoked sardine with burrata sandwich - good plate, but too much bread
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tuna toast sandwich - their most popular dish, as per waiter - way too dry. Did not like it at all.
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volcan de dulce de leche - required ordering at the beginning of the meal - nothing wrong/ nothing spectacular.
Maybe we did not do a good job ordering, but some items we wanted were not available. The place appears to cater to the foreign clientele. Nothing wrong with that but we did not like the experience that much. Turning the tables was the main project. We were out in 40 minutes…
Next morning we headed to Toledo. Our first return to town in more than 13 years and I forgot how pleasant this town is. After getting an El Greco overdose we headed to Cigarral del Angel to have lunch in Ivan Cerdeno (3 soles, 2 stars). I have used an opportunity to have a preset lunch for 90 euro/person which is only available on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They did their best to promote the full menu, but it was too much for us at that point. There is a balcony in the main room of the restaurant with a somewhat “ElGrekish” view of the city. The grounds are very pleasant to walk around.
The meal started with six appetizers. We were informed by the waiter that those are the interpretations of the local dishes. I liked the asadillo manchego in the form of croquette. The rest of the introduction was less interesting.
Cold herb and tomato soup. Wild mushroom under some kind of white foam. And finally, a quail dish consisting of 3 preparations. The desert was pumpkin based and very light. All the plates were palatable and very appropriate for the price we paid.
Our waiter was somewhat aloof with an insuppressible desire to pass as less as possible time by our table. He would mumble something incomprehensible in response to my questions and run away. All the communication was accomplished with his gaze directed away from the table. Maybe he was not comfortable speaking English. I gave him an opportunity to speak Spanish, which he did not accept. Communication with a sommelier and servers was much more pleasant.
About 1/2 of the tables were occupied and, by my superficial judgement, we were the only people settled on the short menu. The chef (not sure it
was Sr. Cerdeno) was making frequent trips to the tables of his acquaintances, but did not greet the rest of the tables. I found it to be unusual for a 2 star restaurant. I think that the short menu “vale la pena” but not sure if I would make a special trip for the long one.
The light dinner took place in Barmiton. Once again the place was busy at 8 pm. Only about 50% were tourists. The waiter was very helpful, but the server was drunk(!!!).
We have tried:
- Vaduvan croquettes - very good
- Baked leeks with hollandaise and shaved truffles. Not bad, but the truffle did not shine through.
- Canelon with shrimps. Not good. The pasta was undercooked and bechamel tasteless.
- Piparras de Padron. Not really. They were not “de Padron”. I had a lot of those the preceding week…
- Milhohas de rabo de res (oxtail). Mostly fried dough with a minimal amount of oxtail.
We skipped the desert. It was not our favorite meal.
Before heading to the airport the next morning we did the customary visit to Mercado de Paz for a meal in Casa Dany and some food shopping. Coming around 11 am is the best time. Same food. No line. As always we enjoyed the notorious tortilla, as well as morcilla.
Off note: Prior to the market visit we stopped in Alex Cordobes cheesecake store 2 blocks away. There was no line!!! The salesperson told us that there is no problem with bringing small cheesecakes on the plane as hand luggage. We got two and successfully carried them to NY for friends and family!
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Eager for more!!!
About that cheesecake, did you buy it the day before flying home? In a mini-bar overnight?
Back to Asturias for a moment:
The fact that I remember very little about our dinner at EL CORAL DE INDIANU might tell you something… A good restaurant but not memorable for me.
Alex Cordobes cheesecake store in Salamanca opens at 10:00. We were passing by around 10:30 and because there were no usual long line we stepped in. There were 2 people in the store in front of us.
Our flight that day was at 4:00 pm. So we did not even have to think hard about refrigeration. Actually I checked and found that the small cheesecake fits our hotel room refrigerator. We got two small ones. Most amazingly they let it on the plane! Hope it helps.
Great, thanks! I asked because I bought the smallest one, lemon flavor. (Some flavors are not made in smallest size or they were sold out of them..)
Could not even make a dent in it that night, so stored remainder in the hotel room mini bar. Next day it was good but some of the liquid began to separate out…Could not even finish it on that night.
Third night, what remained tasted great, but had collapsed and was more liquidy. Maybe this has something to do with the flavor..if they used lemon oil (??).
Good job on bringing it home; I might do that next trip to Madrid.
I was astounded by the cheesecake I had last spring in Galicia; the restaurants called it “Basque style.” I’d sure love to find some like that next time in Madrid, or during upcoming stay in Barcelona!
This report is superb. One of the classics, for sure.
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@erica1
The “official” ingredientes of the Álex Cordobés TRADITIONAL tarta de queso without the variations:
Galletas María, queso crema, huevos, mantequilla, nata y azúcar.
So that is… the Maria cookies that many children have for breakfast (and that adults have too!), cream cheese, eggs, butter, whipped cream and sugar.
This season he is also producing one with white chocolate, with Belgian chocolate, with Dulce de Leche, with pistachios, with Oreos, and with Kinder Happy Hippo (I have no idea of this one!)
This “Basque style” cheesecake has become all the rage, thanks to the famous burnt cheesecake from La Viña in San Sebastián, which Marti Buckley (and others) made famous in her cookbook, Basque Country. And which was copied in San Sebastián by the several outlets Basssk Cheesecakers, a new franchise.
Cheesecake is not a traditional Basque dessert.
Traditional Basque desserts:
mamia (milk curd or cuajada in Spanish), pantxineta, goxua, talo con chocolate, the tejas y cigarrillos from Tolosa, pastel vasco (on the French side, the delicious gâteau Basque with either black cherry jam or pastry cream filling), queso con membrillo (Basque cheese with quince paste), La Intxaursaltsa with nuts served at Christmas time, and in Bilbao, the bollos con mantequilla, the “best” coming from pastelería Arrese on the Gran Vía.
As to “Basque style” cheesecake, you’ll now find copycat places in Madrid called “Bascake” and “99 Cheesecake” both on Calle Princesa, but…
for the best authentic Madrid cheesecakes (not burnt as in La Viña’s) imo, I would stick to Álex Cordobés, Fismuler (the runny one) and La Ancha, and those found in the Grupo Cañadío restaurantes (La Maruca, Cañadío, La Primera, Gran Café Santander) and Luna y Wanda on Ponzano. I’m a Madrid cheesecake lover, and there are so many great cheesecakes made here.
BTW. the World Cheesecake Day is March 27.
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Damn. I am back in Madrid in 2 days.
Maribel! You just made my schedule there much more busy…
Hi dostrovs,
I think we missed each other at Ivan Cerdeño in Toledo!
We had a fabulous lunch there on Thanksgiving Day with our delightful HO friends, opting for the shorter “Monte y Ribera” menu. It was indeed on a Thursday (could have had the €90 menu), but we went for the full menu rather than the short menu del día. I’m normally not a fan of long tasting menus, but every morsel on this one was a work of art, especially that asadillo. I’ll try to post a few photos later.
Our friend opted for the wine pairing, which seemed so interesting, it gave me a moment of FOMO.
My husband and I shared a bottle of Dominio del Pidio Cabernet Sauvignon recommended by Annika, Iván’s wife..
The sommelier’s service was delightful, as were our communications with Annika, the “head of the house”, with whom we chatted about Mannix and Lera. (Our waiter didn’t seem as comfortable chatting in English.)
Iván greeted us at the bottom of the stairs upon our departure (didn’t see him making the rounds of the tables that day).
This cigarral, the oldest in Toledo, would make a dreamy wedding setting. All in all we had a very memorable experience and would return.
If you haven’t had the chance to dine at Desde 1911 in Madrid (by Pescaderias Coruñesas), I highly recommend it. With our same HO friends we enjoyed another wonderful lunch there and have another reservation coming up in late winter.
The highly polished, Michelin starred service of Abel Velarde (just won his award this year for best mâitre in Spain), the three amazing cheese tables, our dessert crepes prepared tableside plus the “choose how every many you want” chocolate/bon bon trolly are reasons alone to go!
Because the menu completely changes daily, and it was the only service that weekday (no dinner service), Abel “gifted” us an extra starter of squid carbonara with white truffle. This dish is a wow!
One can opt for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 starters (we again chose 3) and the fish of the day, the best available in the market, is served for all. Our fish this time was sea bream from Conil. Pescaderias Coruñesas is the finest seafood purveyor in the country.
Just wanted to recommend Desde 1911 for a delightful splurge if you have a chance sometime when you’re in Madrid (but book far in advance!).
Desde 1911 has provided us with our very best two meals of 2025.
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Thank you again for all the precious advice Maribel!
I made an attempt to get a table in Desde 1911. Unfortunately they are closed for vacation. I made a reservation in Pabu. Hope it stands fir expectations. As well will swing by Segovia with the meal in Jose Maria. Feliz ańo nuevo!
I think you’ll really enjoy Pabu. I haven’t yet been but my HO dining pals recommend it, and they have great taste!
Feliz Año Nuevo and enjoy your stay!
