3 Best Restaurants in A Coruña, Galicia and Asturias

This tiny restaurant is beloved by locals for its authentic food. It feels like an old farmhouse, with stone walls and floors, a fireplace, pine tables and stools, and dusty wine bottles (adega is Gallego for bodega, or wine cellar). Appetizers such as pulpo con almejas al ajillo (octopus with clams in garlic sauce) are followed by fresh fish at market prices and an ever-changing array of delicious desserts.

El De Alberto marries traditional Galician flavors with eye-catching modern presentation. Alberto, the passionate and friendly chef-owner, has no qualms about, say, dolloping kimchi sauce on local octopus or painting truffle butter on baked scallops (instead of the usual squirt of lemon). The sunlit dining room with white tablecloths and colorful velvet chairs sits at the halfway point between casual and fancy. 

This sophisticated sea-foam-green dining room is the perfect place to feast on fresh fish while sipping Albariño. Don't miss the mussels with béchamel, a dish that La Penela is locally famous for. If shellfish isn't your speed, the roast veal is also popular. The restaurant occupies a modernist building on a corner of the lively Praza de María Pita. Some tables have views of the harbor, or you can eat in a glassed-in terrace on the square.