La Mas Barata Arroceria, Oviedo 04-2017

There are two arrocerias (that I could find) in Oviedo. One is called La Genuina de Cimadevilla. I was keen to go to this place. For some reason, my travel friend decided to go to the other one. Calling yourself "the cheapest rice restaurant" is not generally conducive to being a quality restaurant, but you can only try...

After finding the place, it was a surprisingly nice venue. It was also filled with Spanish groups and families all enjoying their rice dishes.

They specialise in different types of rice dishes - banda is dry, melosos is wet and caldosos are soups. That's essentially the explanation from the waiter. Each dish also needs to have a minimum of 2 servings (I didn't see that written on the menu).

After some nice bread, the Clasico (gamba, calamar y mejillon) €21.4 for 2 came out. It was a very heavily flavoured rice, cooked a little under al dente (but I don't mind that crunchiness) with small smalls, squid and mussles inserted. Even though the pan was extremely hot, the waiter mixed it up immediately so there was no burnt crust at the bottom, which was a shame.

I also tried the De La Abuela with chicken, sausage, peas and red peppers. It was a much less flavoured, more simplistic paella, and good in its own way.

It isn't my favourite paella, but it's reasonable and the price isn't too dear. Interestingly Genuina is probably only a little more expensive, so I'd be keen to try that one instead next time.