Good afternoon, friends!
On my last holidays I spent a week in Galicia.
One of the gastronomic specialties of this Spanish community is the Pulpo á Feira, a dish of octopus pieces seasoned with olive oil and salt and, optionally, a spicy sauce. If you want something to accompany it, you'll have to ask for it. 🐙
You'll find this dish at pretty much every Spanish restaurant in Galicia, no matter if you're in the larger cities such as Vigo, A Coruña, Lugo and Ourense... or in small towns such as Melide.
Beware, when outside of Galicia I don't advice you to ask for Pulpo a la Gallega, most likely they'll serve you a disappointing ripoff version of the Galician dish. Sometimes they give you Potatoes with Squid and charge you just as much. 🤣
Anyway, it was in Melide that I found a hidden gem.
The restaurant had plenty of other dishes but since almost everyone asks for the house specialty, they set up an exclusive spot with a dedicated cook for preparing the octopus. The rest of the food was being prepared in the kitchen.
As long as I the restaurant was open, this lady worked non-stop. She was prepping, cooking, cutting and serving octopus from dawn to dusk.
I noticed she worked more than the rest of the kitchen workers combined. 😲
She almost seemed to be working in autopilot. 😆
Sometimes the restaurant owner would help her for a while. Judging from their body language, I felt like they are husband and wife. When he got some free time, he would always be there helping to get the dishes out as fast as possible.
I wasn't the only one impressed with their fast service and cooking skills. The guy in front of me was also taking photos.
The name of the place is A Garnacha and it was, by far, the best restaurant of the whole town. I have tried a few others but none of them was as good as this one. From the food's taste to the ambient and decoration, the place was 5 star.
At the entrance there were two decorative pieces which were both lovely and funny. The first one was a statue of an octopus playing bagpipe. Having eight arms must make it a lot simpler! 😆
Next to it there was this old looking pot, also advertising the name of the place.
From the street you'd never guess this was such a good place, it had nothing special about it, the looks were just like any other spot in the town...
The strange billboard with the dishes almost made it look like a fast food burger place... and nothing could be further from the truth. Like the old saying goes: never judge a book by its cover.
On hot summer days you can even opt to having lunch outside.
There was a group of four people waiting by the entrance. Maybe they were waiting for a free table inside? Or perhaps they had already finished and were simply chatting before going home...
On this particular day it was sunny but not very hot, so there was only a brave couple sitting on the tables outside. It was a lot more comfortable and cosy inside.
This restaurant is situated in the main street of Melide, just a couple of meters away from the centre which makes it very easy to find.
Inside there was a full crowd. Not a free table in sight. As you can see, the tables are quite large. In the good Spanish tradition, unless you go with a large group you'll be eating side by side with total strangers.
This is a bit awkward and confusing for foreigners but hey, once in Rome do as the Romans do. Right?
The ladies sitting next to me didn't go for the Pulpo. Instead, they asked for Codfish and Fried Chicken. From the way they were devouring it, both dishes seemed to be great.
The decoration was quite cool but since the food was so delicious and the ambient so friendly, not one was looking at it. Everyone was having a blast, chatting, drinking and feasting like lords.
At night, the streets get a lot quieter but the restaurants keep serving until very late, so if you're in the mood for dinner instead of lunch, you have plenty of options.
Melide is a small but vibrant town. I was surprised to see so many people in such a small place. As expected, most of the tourists were walking to Santiago de Compostela, which is only 55 kms away.
If you're ever in the neighbourhood, pay a quick visit to this town.
| Cameras | Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ90 Samsung Galaxy A70 |
| Photos | 16 (Edited with GIMP) |
| Animation | 18 Frames (Edited with GIMP) |
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Muy buen post!!!! Unas fotos preciosas
Thanks a lot, I'm glad you liked them!
The way you noticed the lady is also how other people may notice her because she is so hardworking
We always have people like that in every workplace
Nice pictures!
Indeed, she was working all day long! Thanks for stopping by!
Yay! 🤗
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One unique place, that's for sure. I have to put it on my to-go list, thank you! :)
!DHEDGE
Are you thinking of visiting Galicia?
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One of my favorite dishes is octopus... In Peru, there's a typical dish called Pulpo al olivo, with a sauce made from olives... a delight!
Makes me want to take a trip to this city 😀
Enjoy your day
Well, if you come to these parts, you'll find this dish all over Galicia!
Thanks for your visit and comment.
You make a person hungry seeing the people enjoying the meal, preparation must be tedious, repetitive obviously paying dividends for being full, a good sign!
Bagpipe playing Octopus sure something to smile about, the jug appears to be an old milk container they used to move to dairy in when we were young.
@tipu curate 2
Sorry, please curate posts not older than 1 day.
Apologies my bad @tipu!
Yeah, restaurants are a hard business. They really have to stand apart from the rest to be full all day long. If not, they'll be empty. Usually, there's no middle term around here.
When people see busy, they always know it's good, either the best or no business.
I love pulpo. One of my favorite seafood ingredients. I'm obsessed with Japanese Takoyakis but also ikayakis. But but just happened cuisine, hot baby octopus in Korean food are delicious and hope I can eat a live octopus.
But meanwhile I enjoyed the octopus sandwich which is very good.
Very interesting. I tasted a lot of stuff when I was in Tokyo but I think I missed that one!
The hot baby octopus is Korean actually. They look like the sausage from bentos.
I must get this food ... here it is hard to get something like this 👀👌👌👍
It's hard to get this anywhere in the World except for Galicia! 😅
Oh :)) ok..ok
Octupus is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids that has lots of benefits our hearts.
Please try come to Nigeria and taste our own fufu with egusi soup
Thanks, but I rarely get out of Europe... It's a lot cheaper to visit neighbouring countries! 😜
Okay
Delicioso