Eat Like Ushi

I walked through Cimadevilla looking for something inspiring for dinner. I came up short. El Planeta was closed and other restaurants in the area didn't seem to interest me much and had people standing around drinking and smoking. I felt like something a little quieter. I considered the recommened La Galana in the Plaza Mayor but didn't want to spend that much money. After much more looking, I almost walked into the decent menu del dia (but average reviews) of San Bernado 4 until I saw this quite cool looking corner bar.

Translated (on Google) to "do not let them tell you", I had to go inside to see what the menu offered. It was a Asian/Japanese-inspired menu much to my surprise. Again I didn't want to spend too much, but thought trying an Asian-Asturias fusion place was quite atypical.

Lots of items caught my fancy. But at racion size, it was quite limiting to how much I could order. The croquetas de oricio y manzana sounded great, tartar de atun and more seafood options. But I couldn't resist seeing what gua-bao in Spain is like...

- complimentary appetiser of anchovy with sardine sauce - a intensely potent flavoured anchovy with some sauces for balance. One of the finest anchovies I've eaten. The XXL ones from Santoña were advertised especially in Cudillero, so I wonder if this was one of these;
- Gua-bao de presa iberica con cebolla roja y rabanito €6.4 - that price for one bun is remarkably expensive, higher than even some London prices. The bun was ok but could have been softer and pillowier. I would have liked more meat too for that price, but the pork that was in there was nicely stewed and savoury flavoured. The onion and radish added some nice sweetness for balance in a combination I haven't had elsewhere;
- Tempura de langostinos, trigueros y zanahoria con mahonesa de aka-miso y agridulce €12.9 - black tempura coating some soft, sweet and deshelled prawns (other than the tail). Given some of the sizes of prawns I saw in Asturias, I would have liked to get some really fat ones. The carrot and asparagus tempura was simply coated in relatively unseasoned batter. All were fried well and crisp. The salty sauce of miso went best with the vegetables and the sweet sauce with the prawns (even though I think the waiter told me to eat it the other way... or did he...);

It wasn't the best meal or fusion or Asian food I've had but I'm glad I tried it. It would have been nice to have been able to get a half tempura and a half something else. Combined with the hipster Rawcoco cafe, at least Gijon has some different options to the Oviedo.

For the uno de mayo public holiday, it was nice to see that lots of food places were still open. My hotel receptionist was quite clear in saying everything is closed, other than restaurants.

I had read from a blog site about Asturias that Cimadevilla and in particular the old fisherman quarters along Cuesta del Cholo was the place to be. The hotel guy suggested El Planeta in the area but in the end I chose Mercante as it looked more relaxed, had an outdoor area where people sit and drink (even though it was a little chilly for us on that day) and looked a little cheaper.

The upstairs was nicely decorated with some very average ocean views (but ocean nonetheless). Sangria de Sidra €8 was something we had yet to try and it was what it sounded like - sangria made with cider instead of red wine. It was obviously a lighter colour and a bit less strong in tannins.

It had been recommended to us a few times to try cachopo somewhere, the local version of schnitzel, cordon bleu, parma etc.

- Ensalada de Tomate y Mozzarella €10 - simple. Quite expensive for the amount of mozzarella given;
- Pulpo a la Gallega €16 - we actually ordered the waiter's recommended pulpo en vinagre but for some reason got this instead. It had a little bit of bite to it, which I don't mind, (but we had eaten ridiculously soft pulpo a la gallega in Oviedo);
- Chipirones €11 - fried tasty salty baby squid. Nothing more to say;
- Cachopo de Ternera €20 - this beast would feed 2-3 on its own reasonably comfortably. It was nicely fried and crisp on the outside housing rare sliced beef and oozing with mild cheese and a layer of red pepper. It wasn't too salty and was quite good. I can see why it's a specialty of Asturias and many restaurants advertise it as well as being finalists or winners of a cachopo competition.

The meal was good but not the best we had in Asturias. It was also felt that for the higher end prices the servings were smaller than other places. Maybe that's just Gijon compared to Oviedo, or maybe this popular quarter is using its advantage. I'd try El Planeta (or another restaurant in Cimadevilla) next time just to compare.

Considering the hipster look is so natural for Spaniards (the beards, hoop rings for earlobes, tattoos, nose bars), I was still a little surprised to find a hipster cafe in Gijon. It's a raw place, which is an even higher level. The only thing they need now is to add gluten-free and dairy-free although there's a few options for those already.

There website has a smoothie with avocado, dark chocolate and banana which lured me in. However it didn't exist in this place (maybe an updated menu or maybe only the Madrid branch). However the other options were equally enticing - I settled for a Love €5.95 for 500mL and changed my milk from lactose-free to almond (to mix with the chocolate eco, fresas, lucuma, nata y pistachos). The cream made it a little thicker and diluted the flavour slightly of the other ingredients. Whole pistachos added texture. It was good.

I added to the health meal with an Acai bowl €4.5 (base de platano, leche almendras, acai, granola, arandonos, coco rallado) which was sliced banana, strawberry, desiccated coconut granola swimming in an acai and berry thickish almond milk soup. It was refreshing and simple. I think the granola could have been a bit more interesting or the addition of some seeds or more nuts.

Finally I succumbed to a cheesecake dessert €3 which was smooth and sweet with textures of chocolate and walnuts.

It was a huge meal and perhaps not all that healthy in the end, but refreshing and a change from the hearty stews, seafoods and meats I'd other been enjoying in Asturias.

It was actually quite difficult to find restaurant recommendations in Asturias. Tripadvisor has its limitations but I found more reliance on it this trip than other places. In looking for somewhere cheap and cheery to eat, we thought trying to backstreets might be more fruitful than the tourist centre.

My friend wanted to try fabada and meat, so it was limiting looking for a place that both of those. La Costa was the initial target but did not have fabada on the menu. After walking around a while longer, we ended up back here and just asked - yes they had fabada they were preparing for tomorrow. And yes, we could have some.

This was the first place that served complimentary olives. It was a nice change. The cider €2.6 was fine. I found it strange our waitress specifically said they didn't do the high pouring method, however I saw several other waiters in the adjacent room doing it. Odd.

Fabada €8 was a large serve with small pieces of chorizo and morcilla and pork. It was actually a little less strongly flavoured than previous ones - maybe the overnight sit intensifies it more. Nonetheless it was enjoyed with good quality bread. Morcilla Matachana €6.5 was the first time I'd seen it served like this - opened onto little piles on bread with the rich smoothness able to be spread. It finally dawned on me that all morcilla in Asturias was made in this smooth textural way. Finally given the place is an Argentine parrilla, the costillas ternera €13 was bits of cross-section rib on a hot plate. The thick part I ate managed to stay medium rare, but the others cooked to medium quickly, even by sitting them away from the centre quite quickly. It was mildly tender and simply flavoured. Not the best, but adequate.

A cheap solid meal for two in the end.

Every Spanish town, particularly every costal town needs to have decent gelato/helado. In Gijon, the names seem to be Regma, Islandia and La Ibense. There isn't much information about them online. I didn't get to try Islandia. Regma has a few branches and looked ok from the outside. La Ibense was the conveniently located one when taking a nice long walk to the east coast statues.

I was very pleased to see the words "Asociacion de Artesanes del Helado" as we walked in. Whenever in doubt, the words artesanal always reassure me.

The flavours were quite standard but a good variety. As usual I had a small €2.5 with pistachio and avellano/hazelnut. The pistachio had some nuts throughout but really the flavour was quite lacking. It was disappointing. The avellano was a much stronger nut flavour and enjoyable. I tried a few fruit flavours too which was ok.

Overall it was fine but next time I'd try Regma or Islandia instead.