I’ve told you about this contest last year, and I kep talking about it and I will probably talk about it next year. I used to have a hundred options and got really anxious about it.

 

 

 

The good thing about being gluten-free and dairy-free (among other ingredient-free things) is that it narrows your choices. I’ve always thought that would be an inconvenient, but on the contrary, it makes it easier when I have to order in a restaurant. I feel lucky I eat fish and seafood, because I’m living in the right place. In Galicia we are famous for our sea products, and I appreciate it a lot.

 

 

I start with one of my favourites from last year’s contest, La Moviola. It seems like they made it for me: Haddock Ceviche with Mango. It had a bit of soy sauce, but as it was so little I ate it anyway. It was very nice. The mango was really fragrant and the pickled onion was a great choice. I’m not a fan of fried corn in ceviches (I know, I know…sorry) but in this case, I liked it. Maybe because of the saltyness, it helped the balance and if I had the choice, I would order it again.

By the way, they were so nice to tell me they had a tapa in the contest through IG when I’ve already tried it. I’m glad they told me, because if I haven’t tried it I would have loved to.

I went to a couple more places that were nice even if they didn’t adjust to my diet (don’t freak out with the word, please. It doesn’t mean weight-loss 🙂 )

One of them was this lovely “fake lasagna” with octopus and turnip greens. When we arrived to Entre Bateas, we ordered the last two tapas of the day, lucky us. I even felt I had to say sorry to the next two people who arrived and couldn’t order them because of us. It said it had variegated scallops, but I only got one bite, such a pity, because the texture was very promising. I was pretty sure that white thing dripping was dairy. I read afterwards it was a sauce made with cheese from Arzúa. It didn’t taste too much like cheese, because it’s a fresh cheese, so for me it felt like a white sauce/heavy cream, very nice and very appropiate for the name of the tapa. It was a delicious tapa, with Galician ingredients and a nice flavour balance.

Although the official brouchure pointed out gluten-free tapas, it did not do the same with dairy, so I risked it. As I told you, I’m eating anything I want 5-10% of the time.

And that brings me to the next place, Bocarrana. It had meat and the sauce had sugar in it, but I tried it anyway. I like bbq sauce, but since I stopped eating sugar a couple of years ago, everything slightly sweeter than usual, makes me cringe. Don0t get me wrong i like combining sweet and savoury always, but in this case, the tapa was overwhelmingly sweet for me. The sweet potato purée was nicely done and the bbq sauce had a hint of acidity (vinegar, maybe?) which balanced that sweetness. I would have loved more of that acidity, but that’s just my opinion. A great thing was the pomegranate. It gave a touch of freshness to the a relatively heavy dish. The meat was perfectly cooked, tender and came off the bone, and if it weren’t for my nonsugar-biased palate I would have loved it.

I had a lot of expectations in the following tapa in Abica: “Thai” Prawn. When they say Thai, you imagine coconut milk if any kind of milk is used. It was a win-win for sure. Hold that thought. I think the suce had dairy in it. Nevermind, small amounts do not count 🙄 But…the prawn itself tasted like coconut milk, yay! I think they marinated the prawns in a mixture of red curry and coconut milk, which made them extremely tender and flavourful. I have a problem with mixing seafood with green pepper and onion. It sometimes reminds me to very traditional Galician dishes, so whenever I eat that combo, it tastes nothing like Thai to me. Although, the prawn tasted like Thai food, and that was the name of the tapa “thai” with inverted commas, so I think I got exactly what they were aiming for 🙂

The dish was delicious and well cooked, in case you didn’t understand all my rambling. One thing I missed…a spark of heat, but again, just an opinion.

And those three were the only tapas I tried that I think had some dairy/meat in them. Not sure about the last one, but I’m just saying that it is very difficult to know when you are eating something you shouldn’t without asking. I just feel lucky that I am not allergic to any ingredient, because that would be a total turn-off for making the blog. Imagine that? I would have even more “hospital posts” that I already have! 😅 (Suggested reads: Hospital I, Hospital II, Hospital III and Hospital IV)

This one above was, wow. The place is called Chirazisushi I love Japanese food, and this one was an example of the flavours that I enjoy. The vibe of the place was hard to match with the delicious food. The music was not at all what you expect if you tried the dish. They balanced every single flavour in order to make a sweet-savoury-acidic-bitter mixture of goodness. The raw tuna cube was big enough for enjoying with the sauce, although slurping the soup was my favourite thing when I finished the tuna 😀

Escabeche Mussels in Taberna do Arriero weren’t my favourite tapa of the contest. They were nice, and although it was something I could eat for sure and I enjoyed I found them a little bit bitter and slightly overcooked for my taste. Nonetheless, I love escabeche mussels and I ate them all. Also, I’m sure they would have been better with a white wine, and I ordered red.  The presentation was the great.

And, the best of all, Yéboles. Their lentils were like: “WTF is this amazing dish?” You enter a very traditional seafood tabern and you ask for some lentils. Lentil Stew is one of my favourite things ever and every time I make them I change the recipe. But this one…oh gosh! I hope they never change it.

The citrus from the lime was so refreshing and combined perfectly with the incredibly perfectly cooked razor clams and the al dente lentils and the…it was perfect, ok? It reminded me to the Asian flavours they offer in Koh Lanta (read more here, and here) That balance of comfort food and innovation mixed with traditional Spanish food is just what I love about food so much. I know I said it but, the razor clams were incredibly good. Normally they over cook them and this ones had so much texture. It was the only place were I had to order two, seriously I couldn’t stand not eating another one. Oh, and the crunchy and beautiful black salt…

 

 

The best part, the chef went out of the kitchen and I recognized him from my childhood. He went to the same school I went. Amazing coincidences. Well, congratulations to them, because I don’t really mind I didn’t try all of the tapas, I’m sure this one was my favourite. Why? Because it was one of my favourite meals ever, and that it’s very difficult to top.

My mouth is watering…thanks for reading. If you tried any of the tapas this year, please share it via IG adding @silviafooding (I’m also on FB and Twitter) i’d love to know your opinions and I always like your photos. Have fun and keep fooding!