Potes
La Soldrería doesn’t take reservations, so we decided to go on the early side to see if we could snag a table. The regular tables were all full at 8:30pm but luckily there were two seats at the bar. We had a lovely time chatting with the bartender in mixed Spanish/English and were grateful for our timing as we watched people be turned away or choose to sit outside on the chilly patio. To start, Eric ordered a local Godello (then switched to an absurdly cheap 2€ Albariño for his second), while I had a local red, a Mencia / Syrah blend that was delicious. For dinner we ordered two plates and a dessert which wound up being plenty of food. Confit artichokes with citrus purée, paprika cream, toasted garlic and crispy ham and Cocido Lebaniego croquettes with goat chorizo sprinkles. The dessert was “4 Hazelnuts by Ildefonso Llorente,” a cocoa sponge, chocolate ganache with honey, caramelized hazelnuts, hazelnut ice cream and caramel sauce.
While exploring town we spotted Bar Whiskey along the riverbank. I went in briefly to get some pricing (5-90€ a drink, big range!) and the owner didn’t speak English, but we decided to try our luck for a drink anyway after dinner. In Spanish I asked for two whiskeys (small pours) under 8€ from Islay and Speyside. We received generous pours of Bowmore 12 and Cragganmore 12 that came with a bowl of nut mix, a small water to split and a bowl of sweets! Final bill was 11€. Yay! The music was a mix of Adele, Alanis, and switched to Spanish 80s as we were leaving at 11pm. Would return!
AnyBun? burger place was great! The owner, Francisco, is originally from LA and super nice. No tables were available inside when we arrived at 8:30pm so instead of waiting we opted for the covered outdoor balcony overlooking the river. The view was great and we enjoyed the birds swooping through the canyon feasting on insects. We ordered a TN smash burger and a cheeseburger with one order of fries. Eric got a Estrella Galicia and I got a glass of red wine. Everything was delicious, highly recommend.
Mogrovejo
After the Brez hike, we stopped in charming Mogrovejo for some lunch. There was a small parking lot at the entrance to the village and we found a spot. Timing was on our side as we got an outdoor table on the Queso y Cosas balcony just before a couple of other groups showed up. We opted for local wines again, a godello for Eric and a Mencia blend for me. We paired this with a Asturian cheese ½ board, which included Mezcala (nutty, light and pleasant, liked), Oveja (sheep, very mild, our least fave), Ahumado (very smoky! pungent like a campfire, Eric’s fave), Picoñ (serious blue, floral and bitter toward finish, paired well with fruits).
Sotres
We easily found parking in the public lot north of town and walked downhill to Restaurante Sotres for lunch. The owner turned the lights on for us when we walked in! Good to note that there was a parking lot for restaurant guests as well. We split a grande carafe (6€) of the house red, a toro cosechero that was deep inky purple red, fruity, and big! The pitcher was too much wine, and we brought some back in an empty water bottle. Eric ordered the cornbread with cabrales cheese and I had the fabada asturian stew which was excellent. The texture of the beans was wonderful and I loved the inclusion of a little bit of each of the meats: pork belly, morcilla (blood sausage) and chorizo.
Las Arenas
There are very few places open at the beginning of the week in Las Arenas. One of the better reviewed options, Sidrería La Zapica, was super busy with large groups but we managed to snag a table! As implied in the name of the restaurant, they specialize in cider, so we decided to split a bottle of the local Cortina and learn how to use the tabletop hand pump contraption that aerates the cider on demand without having to wait for a server. We honestly didn’t notice a difference between this method and the handheld long pour method from earlier in the trip.
For dinner we ordered the padron peppers to share (very tender and green, no spicy ones) and I got the chorizo in cider sauce (mildly sour, a little smoke, lots of flavor) while Eric went for a grilled goat cheese salad that was enormous and filling. An excellent salad after a week of meat!
The following night (Tues), the town was dead and even fewer restaurants were open. We stopped into La Bikina around 8pm and the owner told us the only option was to come back at 9:30pm as all the tables were reserved. Considering they were closed the day before and there was no info posted about how to make a reservation, it was a disappointing experience. We opted to do a cheese plate back in our room instead.
Cangas de Onís
After arriving in town we walked to the nearby Roman bridge, and decided to stop for a drink in the garden bar next to it. At the outdoor kiosk I ordered a glass of white and a glass of red, then we found a table by the river where we enjoyed the view and the antics of the cute dogs one table over.
The 3-course set menu for 20€ at La Pinza Cervecería-Restaurante looked intriguing, so we booked a table for 8:30pm. We opted for water as our included drink and supplemented with a bottle of Leon rosado. Eric got the Estofado de garbanzo and pig ears (! beans were good, but not a fan of the ears), a reasonable portion of cachopo (thin beef stuffed with ham and cheese), and the lemon mousse (very light) for dessert. I had the fabada (delicious), pork cheeks (had to take one home), and the flan de dulche de leche. I was absolutely bursting by the end. No more set menus for me! Service was polite but indifferent, we had to flag the guy down to pay.
NILDA BAKERY & CAFE – a small takeaway place just steps from our apartment, we went here twice. The bacon and cheese bocadillo was as expected but the ham and cheese ‘panini’ was more like a mini pizza bread. Still tasty though. Since the bocadillo was good we got one for our lunch the next day too.
On the last evening we decided to try two different places for drinks / food. The first place, Taberna Asturcelta, was two blocks off the main street and very dead at 8pm on Thursday. Our waiter, Jose, was helpful with the wine selections, though I had to ask for olives when a table that arrived after us received them and we didn’t. Eric got a Rueda for his first glass (fairly light) and a white from rioja (Virua grape, bit of funk, butterscotch and toffee, rich) after he mentioned wanting a more robust wine. I had a glass of the Tinto de Toro (a recent fave, very inky and fruity, nice) and an Asturian red from Raul Perez (Mencia grape, chewy, with some funk. Blackberry, black pepper, much drier.) Once the kitchen opened, we order a small portion of the croquettes, made with oxtail (we think).
Our second stop was Sidrería La Sifonería de Celso largely to use the free cider certificate we received from our apartment host. We liked the cider from Sidrería La Zapica in Las Arenas better, plus it was a chore to get the servers attention to keep topping us up. I was still hungry, so we got a small order of the croquettes with cabrales cheese – smaller than the previous place with a very light cheese flavor. Good, but not memorable.
After dinner, we stopped in to Cremela Helados y Chocolates for a mint chocolate cone – very nice – which we enjoyed seated on a bench in the nearby park.
