Incredible food! Great service! Wonderful ambiance! We had the two appetizers, tomatoes & avocado…read moreand the mackerel ceviche. Both excellent. We order the pig checks, the chicken raviolis and the steak tips. All were to die for! I would eat any of those over and over again. If you are in the area it's an incredible place.

Expensive, nothing to talk about . Service wasn't the best and food .... Well , nothing to talk…read moreabout it

Cute little restaurant with the most beautiful plates (and I really mean the plate, not the food…read morelol). The food was great and so was the service. The prawns were very tasty and the shaken salad with goat cheese and fruits was also very unique. The death by chocolate dessert was also amazing!

Found this gem strolling though the old winding streets of Santiago de Compastelo. We saw a…read morerestaurant that was a bit empty, but cozy and charming. As we approached, we saw the Michelin sign and were delighted. The food was superb. Not many items on the menu, but I think that's great as I am not a local Galician and wouldn't know what would suit my ignorant foreign taste. We decided to play safe and ordered salad, grilled veggies and Rice and Seaford (similar to paella). The salad had peeled tomatoes that were so sweet, it tasted like fruit. The veggies were grilled to perfection with nothing except a pinch of salt...it was amazing! The Rice and seafood had a flavor we couldn't pinpoint, but it produced a cornoecopea of flavors...creamy, lightly cheddary. Soooo delicious. The ambiance and service was top-notch to match. Thoroughly impressed with the place overall.

Came here for dinner after camino. I had polbo a grella. It was tender and delicious. Staff were…read morehelpful with recommendation. I wish I have friends here so I can taste other food. I would like to visit here when I come back to Santiago.

Exceedingly mediocre Galician restaurant catered to tourists…read more  Although I stayed in Santiago a mere weekend, I enjoyed delectable Galician cuisine in the quaint establishments around town. Not here. Eating our way around Spain, my friend and I were thrilled to try a highly-rated restaurant our first night in Santiago. Instead, we found disappointment. We were seated in the basement since there was private event on the ground floor. The décor is Galician (read: medieval). Stone walls and wood furniture, plus sparse lighting, transports you to a tavern millennium back. The vivacious ambiance warmed the crisp evening. Around us, groups of pilgrims celebrated the end of a long trip. Our waiter greeted us with a hefty tourist menu that proffered endless dishes in multiple languages. We ordered lightly, having partook a five-course tasting lunch.   = Food =   Galician king scallop (€4.80): Baked scallops au gratin with breadcrumbs and white wine sauce. Supposedly. Meager scallops coupled with meager flavoring makes for a dish so ordinary it is resistant to critique. Was the scallop fresh and juicy? No idea. Was the sauce balanced and complementary? Who knows. We did not finish this shadow of a proper baked scallop. Grilled razor shells (€15): Navajas cooked with white wine, paired with lemon. We were both obsessed with razor clams (known as navallas or navajas). These clams were juicy, with a moderately chewy consistency. Regrettably the faint fishiness and the gunky guts detracted our enjoyment. The lemon slice helped somewhat. Padrón peppers: These small green peppers are one of my favorite dishes in Spain. The coalition of the sweet green flesh, the bitter white filaments, the picante seeds, and the light dust of salt, is irresistible. The peppers were good, but extraordinarily over-salted. The Spanish tend to salt more than Americans, but never had I needed to swab the salt off before eating each of these. Panna cotta: average. Flan: good consistency and egg flavor. Could use stronger caramel and lower baking temperature for a smoother texture, but otherwise adequate. Mousse crumble: not sure exactly what this dish was, as it was mis-delivered (in place of the panna cotta). Once we informed our waiter of the mistake, he quickly brought us the panna cotta and let us keep this mousse. It was a heavy for my taste.   = Verdict = This restaurant was likely popularized by the NYT feature nine years ago. Spirited ambiance and large menus make this restaurant a good spot for big groups. But falls short for foodies looking to savor good Galician cuisine.

Pestiscos do Cardeal is a tapas restaurant in old town Santiago de Compostella. It conveniently…read moreopens for dinner at 7:00 p.m. rather than the customary 8:00 p.m. Spanish dinner hour. The menu is full of temping items. Be aware that each tapas item portion is sizable enough for sharing. (We had tapas in Barcelona where a selection was an individual serving. Perhaps the Catalonian and Galician ways with tapas differ.) I think three selections here would be sufficient for two people. The menu is in Spanish. One of the waiters could interpret some of the selections, but even a limited ability to read and order in Spanish was a definite plus. We ordered bread (Plato de Pan), Flauta Lomo con Queso, Flauta Bacon-Queso, Tapa de Chorizo Ibérico, Tapa de Jamón Ibérico and Huevos a la Cazuela. This order was delicious! But, it turned out to be a feast and would have been enough for four persons. Still, it was quite reasonably priced at about 33 Euro. The Huevos a la Cazuela was the most interesting. It is what I would describe as a skillet dish or a casserole with a baked egg on top. Very shareable or nearly a meal in itself! The Flauta in Spain is a sandwich made on a thin baguette. (Similar to, but shorter than a Bocadilla.) A Spanish Flauta is a sandwich, not the same as a Flauta in Mexican cuisine. Arriving at 7:00 p.m.there was lots of seating. By the time we left, the restaurant was quite full. Highly recommended, but come early!

Excellent service. Excellent food we had a group of eight people. The food came fast and hot. The…read moreportion sizes were appropriate and the flavors were excellent. Recommend the red wine will definitely return when in town. You can't go wrong eating here very enjoyable

Not open at 8pm…read more.. Really one of my pet peeves go ahead and close they don't bother you update yo he just want her to still in business. Well I'll never be back So what does it matter?

Best little restaurant to taste the seafood of galicia ... Jenny will help you the best of…read moreseafood... The wine is great also... a 2007 Rioja is 15 euros . . Definitely get the pimentos and scallops and pulpo... and pementos de padron... and zamburinas (scallops)

Excellent food. The…read morepulpo & the orejas were great but so was the cheeses, jamon, flan and the other stuff we had. They don't make their own sangria so don't bother.

Simple place, local ambiance, very friendly staff. We were attracted by the specialty of the house:…read morepig ear. Tasted it, but not for us...... Squid and Pimientos were delicious. With a bottle of chilled Albarino wine and bread, this was a perfect meal for the first day in SdC

Excellent service, delicious tapas based on the region produce and good wine and beer. It was a…read moreunique experience to stop by and have some tapas, beer and wine before our dinner. It's a typical Santiago de Compostela tavern. It was worth the visit. People were extremely friendly and helpful explaining the dishes and giving information about the wines of this Galician region! I highly recommend it.

We stopped by María Castaña to grab some quick bites before heading to our next engagement…read more Overall, we had a great time. The interior of the restaurant gave me a nice old school and homey vibe with its exposed stone walls that kind of matched the general rustic vibe of Santiago. Fortunately for us we visited during an off peak hour and were able to nab a couple of seats at the bar without a wait. We thought the servers were very friendly and definitely made sure that we were well taken care of. For instance, we never had to wait more than five minutes to get refills of wine and plates of food. Although I do not remember exactly what we had, I do not recall being disappointed with the food. Oh wait, I do remember that the zamburiñas were delicious. In fact, I think after having our first plate of zamburiñas, we order another serving towards the end of our meal. ;) In terms of price, the restaurant was a bit more expensive than a couple other local places, but it was not anything too outrageous especially as tourist.

A small, typically Galician place to have a tapa and talk (at the bar or front area with tables) or…read moreto eat (at tables or in interior). Be prepared to speak Galician (we do) - the service will be even better and friendlier. Although set in the casco vello or medieval part of Santiago, the restaurant is not afraid to try some intriguing dishes such as algae salad with sweetened balsamic vinegar (really healthy) or sea urchin omelette. Dessert can be good as well. Reasonable prices, very nice atmosphere with stone walls. However, if you have noisy children, or sit near them, the inner area can get a bit loud toward the end of your meal. Go early, get to know the people there - a lot of regulars stop by for apperitifs. Not far from the cathedral and other parts of the historic area of this city that is becoming too full of tourists for my taste.