If/when I get married to a charming Galician man, I think we will need to hold the reception at a…read moreplace like O Salvora. The view is incredible because the restaurant is situated in the hills and the waterfront is just a five minute walk away. Even better, the dining area is well-equipped for large groups and parties. Okay, back to reality.
Because we were part of a large group when we dined at O Salvora, we received a three-course, set menu. The tables had two types of inexpensive (and honestly not very good wine) - a Mencia and an Albarino. After we received our portions of pan gallego (which was fresh from the oven), it was time to taste some typical Galician dishes.
First course: Merluza steaks, lightly battered and fried. The quality of the merluza was excellent, with a very mild flavor and fresh-from-the-water texture. For this reason, the fish could have stood on its own or been prepared a la gallega (with potatoes, olive oil, and paprika), rather than being overpowered by the batter.
Second course: Ternera [1] and potatoes. It is impossible to get more Galician than this. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge of cooking the meat did not properly redistribute the juices while cooking and we had very dry, slightly tough ternera. What a disappointment because the flavors would have been much more pronounced had the meat not been dried out.
Dessert: Pre-packaged ice cream. (I was secretly hoping for a slice of Tarta Santiago!)
When our coffee was brought out, the gentleman next to me from Andalucia (with an accent so strong that not even the mother of my host family could decipher him at times) had the brilliant idea that the waiter should bring us augardente (orujo) [2] to pour into our coffee. The rest of the story is probably implied, but we made sure that whatever disappointment we felt about lunch was quickly rectified through the consumption of orujo.
[1] http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carne_de_ternera
[2] I love this stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orujo
