Eat Like Ushi

I've wanted to go to this seafood festival for many years now, since about 2012 when I first read about it and was planning some food holidays. Unfortunately it never happened, mainly because I like travelling in September and so going in early October can be difficult. But finally, the stars aligned and I managed to get there in 2019.

After flying into Santiago de Compostela and driving down to the lovely seafood town of O Grove, I realised that tourists really don't go there. There was us 2 tourists, and we met one Dutch journalist who was passing through for work. Every single other person was Spanish.

The seafood market in O Grove is small, but has lots of high quality ingredients at reasonable prices. I only had a short lunch to cook some razor clams, percebes and scallops. I would have liked to stay longer and take advantage, but maybe that's for another time.

The town is obsessed by seafood with homages to the crustacean located around the place.

How was the fiesta then? Average unfortunately. Despite all the great local ingredients, only a select few are presented at the fiesta and only cooked in specific ways. There's some impromptu groups of people singing and dancing, and at night there was some reggaeton singers for the underage smokers and drinks (and the older ones at the back) for more entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, the seafood isn't bad, on the contrary it is decent quality, but there was nothing special there that I haven't seen before. The local mussels are large and delicious and the arroz (rice) and fideos (noodles) were full of flavour. Also the bread was excellent, but it's not great if that's a highlight in a seafood place. Razor clams were ok, clams and mussels small but flavoursome (oysters better). The scallops were tiny little things grilled and shrivelled. Considering the quality and breadth of the market, couldn't they have expanded the dishes a bit more? There was also a lobster tank and another crustacean I've never seen before (can't remember the name) but they weren't being served. The tease.

There's also commerative earthern ware and cups to take home for the memories.

I'm glad I've tried it, but I won't be back for the fiesta. Maybe just Galicia again for the seafood markets to enjoy.

Apparently D'Berto was rated the Top Seafood Restaurant in Spain 2014. That's a huge accolade considering the seafood quality in Spain generally, particularly in Madrid and Galicia. I had been somewhat underwhelmed by the seafood fiesta in O Grove, and although part of me wanted to buy seafood to cook at home, part of me also wanted to go to a restaurant to see what they could do (in what would be probably the last night in O Grove for my lifetime).

Then there was the choice between restaurants, the more standard ones with standard prices, or D'Berto with its reputation and premium prices. I managed to get a Saturday night booking by calling on Friday. Considering it was the seafood fiesta opening weekend, there's a few interpretations - it really isn't that busy a town anyway, or people are happy eating locally rather than paying premium. Maybe a bit of both.

After finding a street carparking spot (not realising until a few minutes later they have their own private carpark), we walked past the front and were immediately confronted by very large crustaceans. The lobsters and langoustines in the tank were enormous, almost certainly the biggest I've ever seen. Once walking inside, some huge clams and percebes were in the display also.

The wait staff spoke English and were very friendly. Essentially they have no limits - order as little as you want of each dish and they will do it for you. Flexibility is always appreciated.

- Galcian broth €6;
- Oysters €4 each and Warty venus clams (carneiro) €2.5 each - both were good with nice flavour. The clams weren't as big (they seemed to not give us the giant ones) or as strong as those I have in London. It was one of the few places where I've preferred the oysters over the clams. I thought the clams were the spiky shelled ones (but I was clearly wrong);
- Percebes grande from Cedeira €19.8 for 100g - quite large, but not the biggest they had there. The largest one served was about thumb sized. It was definitely more satisfying than the thin types I got from the seafood fiesta. They were also cooked in very salty water, maybe just a little too much;
- Crab (necora) €27 - this tiny crab was coated in salt and had crystals on the shell. It made it difficult to eat and stung our lips. I mentioned it to them and they didn't really say anything. I probably should have been more insistent;
- Clams to the Frying Pan €15 for half portion - standard. Didn't need both these and the raw clams;
- Scallops "The Original" €6 for 2 - these were actually very nice grilled (with butter I think) scallops that retained their thickness through the grilling. Very good;
- Fried lobster (bogavante) €44 for 500g - the smallest lobster they had, which was fried in butter. Very nice too. Oddly served with freshly fried chips, that weren't cooked properly such that several were stuck together and therefore soft;
- Cheesecake (tarta de queso) €7 - unusual in that it had a very strong milk flavour to it.

For €159.3 for 2 people, there was good variety but it just didn't seem worth the money. I suppose it feels like they are priding themselves on the size rather than the cooking quality. In fact most things are raw, boiled in very salty water, and the few extras are fried (which is a bit better). For comparison, I'd have to say Ramiro in Lisbon is better (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/cervejaria-ramiro-lisbon-10-2013).

I was disappointed to find they also had charged €1.5pp for the bread and €2 for tap water. That is not a standard in the region and probably should have limited my tip. Oh well. I won't be back.

I actually wanted to go to the gelato place across the road (Heladeria Encantadas y Dulces), but for some reason it wasn't going to be open for another 30mins (and this was 4.30pm). There didn't seem to be much point waiting and the quality at Ravello looked adequate.

Forest fruits (frutas del bosque) and hazelnut (avellana) were alright and filled the need. Just as we finished, the other one opened.

In Galicia, empanadas are not the same as what the rest of the world thinks. Here they are large pies essentially, and filled with local ingredients like seafood.

There aren't many bakeries in O Grove, but Castro's seems to have the nod with also all the locals queuing there for their morning bread each day. They probably don't get a lot of tourists, because even the locals seemed amused/surprised to find me there (and speaking some Spanish).

I tried the cockles (berberechos) empanada €12 - a thick buttery pastry with lots of cockles filling the inside. It had good flavour. My only small gripe was it was quite gritty too.

Upon leaving at the end of the trip, I had a mussels (mejillones) €7 to go. Although the local mussels are great, these were slightly less in terms of quality and flavour (obviously used for this purpose) but still good. And not gritty either.

If I'm ever in the area (which is quite unlikely to be honest), I will be back at that bakery.

After arriving into Galicia into the heavy evening rain, a nearby dinner was needed before the drive to O Grove. I was told by a Galician friend that I should stop into Santiago but given the dark and weather it meant that anything more food was probably not going to be fruitful. After finding a random place to park on the street, I looked on Google maps and found a Galician restaurant nearby. It would have to do.

The fresh seafood in the counter was a good sign.

- Homemade croquettes €7.2 - cheese and jamon. Very good;
- Steamed cockles €9.95 - simple flavours;
- Grilled king prawns €10.95 - very flavoursome prawns actually.

It was a good meal and a nice introduction to simple local seafood flavours.

Considering we were going to drive to O Grove for more seafood (and decent meat being more difficult to find), I should have ordered the beef (Rubia Galicia breed). Next time.

The final lunch in Madrid before leaving was one I wanted paella. Unfortunately nothing was open before 12, which limited the time and effort required to have it. Instead we went for the local roast chicken place, run by Chinese people, but still cooking up a mean roast chicken and some delicious chicken rice also.

€8 for a whole chicken is not bad at all. Not what I would usually go for in Spain, but fast local food when required.

A couple of pitstops on a tapas crawl.

A few dishes from La Concha and a quick stop into Casa Lucas for drinks and grilled pork tenderloin.

I coincidentally came across Bico in Plaza Mayor in Madrid. The name was instantly recognisable after my one and only previous visit (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/bico-de-xeado-malaga-04-2019). It was a big surprise and I was happy about it too. Once again the pistachio and coconut were excellent.

On a dreary humid, rainy Monday, I searched for a late lunch. Vincente had a reputation for good prawns so I sought it out. I liked the counter side but didn't realise they also have a seated section on the other side. I ended up there which was fine, although the atmosphere was quite different.

I wasn't sure if it was grilled or fried prawns that were the special. I suppose my clue should have been the grilled where listed on the menu first and "Gambas Plancha" is in big writing at the front of the cooking window. I asked my server which was better - he answered something I couldn't decipher in typical Andalusian Spanish, and before you knew it I had both. Hmmm.

The little grilled ones were clearly better. Much more flavoursome although it could also be that they were heavily coated in salt. The fried ones were plain and seemed to lack flavour.

I'll try somewhere else next time. The Atarazanas market is a much better option in my opinion.

On my first gelato day, I tried the well known Casa Mira. It is known for turron (fudge) but I didn't really want that. The shop is located on the main street too, which is convenient but would it live up to reputation?

I tried the pistachio, Malaga (which they told me was red wine) and was surprised to find horchata (which they told me they made in-house from tigernuts/chufas). The gelato was ok, nothing particularly special, although not bad by any means. The horchata was quite simple and I liked that it wasn't coated in cinnamon and not as sweet as the typical Valencia.

I wouldn't go back for the gelato, I'd go to Bico de Xeado instead (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/bico-de-xeado-malaga-04-2019).