Spain — dining — bent street kitchen

I have died and gone to heaven. I'm not usually prone to spiritual exultation but that was my first thought after my first bite of food at this restaurant. Maybe I'm connecting to all the spirits of pilgrims past who journeyed here for the Camino de Santiago, seeking complete absolution so they could ascend to heaven with an untainted soul. Maybe it's because our accommodation used to be a Catholic convent. Maybe it's because none of us imagined we'd have our best meal of this trip to date in this religious city of Galicia.

Casa Marcelo offers Japanese tapas of the best kind, taking advantage of Galicia's renown for amazing seafood. It's located on Rua das Hortas, a mere stone's throw away from Praza do Orbradoiro. Casa Marcelo is surprisingly cosmopolitan in this quaint UNESCO World Heritage town of cobblestoned streets.

Tomato salad with garlic sauce and rocoto (a kind of Spanish pepper) sorbet

We were so affected by this gastronomic event that even my teetotaler mum had a divine intervention and ordered a glass of wine claiming she just had to drink something that matched the bounty on her plate. If this is the Way of St James, then I may turn into a pilgrim yet.

Casa Marcelo has a funky and modern look with a long communal table as well as a chef's table fronting the open kitchen.

Fritura de cabracho (fried scorpion fish) with garlic aioli

It is owned by Marcelo Tejedor who is a chef himself. The staff were friendly, relaxed and attentive. I tried to get a photo of head chef Martin Vazquez but he refused to have a photo by himself insisting he will only have photos taken with the entire team. He gets 5 stars from me just for that!

Head chef Martin Vazquez (4th from left) and his team

Speaking of stars, this is one of the best-value Michelin starred restaurant I've been to. The 3 of us had 8 courses, 6 glasses of wine plus water and bread and the bill was only 136 euros.

Plantain in pastry with vanilla ice cream and orange sauce (divine!)

So if you happen to be in Santiago de Compostela, make this restaurant part of your pilgrimage and have a buen Camino.

I don't know about you but I always get a little nervous about taking on restaurant recommendations when it's from someone I've just met. People have different tastes. When I'm in a foreign country, my bad-meal anxiety kicks in even more because I wonder if I'm being sent off to slaughter at a tourist trap. I have serious trust issues.

We just met Moises this morning, our local guide, and as lovely, informative and helpful as he is, I was on tenterhooks until the first plate of food arrived.

Moises recommended this place for seafood and paella so those were exactly what we ordered. They started us with a plate of olives and based on its taste and presentation, I began to exhale slowly.

We were each presented with complimentary hot bean casserole in a mini tureen which I forgot to take a photo of. It was warm, satisfying and told me everything was going to be alright.

The restaurant is an easy walking distance from the Prado Museum and far enough from tourist crowds. e arrived just after 2 pm and my Sydney brain initially registered the few occupied tables as people just finishing off their lunches. In actual fact, we were one of the early guests and by 3 pm this large restaurant was packed with smartly dressed locals eating their biggest meal of the day.

The fried calamari was perfectly cooked and seasoned, served with a mix of pickled peppers. Even the green salad was a standout with the tomatoes having just the right balance of sweetness and acidity. The berberechos or clams were divine and had bread-dunking-worthy sauce made of olive oil, garlic, white wine, parsley (but ground to a paste rather than just chopped and I think this method gave it a much deeper flavour) and chilli.

We were so full and couldn't imagine ordering dessert. This didn't stop us from scoffing down these complimentary morsels of butter cake.

So thanks to Moises Perez Zapata, the friendly staff and talented Filipino (yes!) chef at El Barril de Las Letras, this little piggy was happy and cried hee hee hee all the way home!