10 Best Restaurants in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia and Asturias

"From market to plate" is this nueva cocina restaurant's philosophy: chefs start and finish the day with an empty larder and a blank menu. The freshest fish and produce are handpicked at the neighboring Mercado de Abastos and coaxed into exciting dishes that defy tradition. Be sure to book ahead as the industrial-chic dining room and terrace fill up fast. 

Fusing traditional Galician cuisine with Japanese, Mexican, and Peruvian, among others, Casa Marcelo whips up creatively plated dishes in an open-plan kitchen. The jovial dining area—always full and always loud—seats guests at long communal tables, a nod to the fact that the dishes are meant to be shared.

Although the eggplant-colored walls, crystal chandeliers, and carefully chosen antique furniture evoke a traditional French dining room, the food at this restaurant—attached to the A Quinta da Auga hotel—is unmistakably Galician. Try delicacies such as chestnut cream soup, fresh-caught hake, and bay scallops roasted in their shells with garlic-parsley oil. The weekday lunch prix fixe is a steal at €29.

A solid bet on a street packed with middling tourist eateries, this seafood restaurant has polished wood floors and a bustling terrace. The caldo gallego, santiaguiños (slipper lobsters), arroz con bogavante (rice with lobster), and seafood empanadas are superb—as any of the university-faculty regulars will tell you.

This upscale restaurant by one of the region's most promising chefs serves elevated Galician cuisine in a bright, modern dining room with exposed stone walls. Menus feature a plethora of hyperlocal ingredients that have "first and last names," as the chef likes to say: Cambados oysters, Fisterra razor clams, Cachena beef, etc.

Appropriately named, A Viaxe (a journey) takes diners through the edible landscape of Peru and South America, with especially bright renditions on Peruvian dishes using Galician ingredients. A coveted spot at the bar includes views of the open kitchen and detailed presentations straight from the chef himself.

Tucked behind the cathedral, this tapas bar specializes in products from El Bierzo, a comarca (subdivision) in Castile-León, either in the animated bar or in one of the stone-walled dining rooms. Visitors stopping in for a drink at the bar can expect a generous portion of free tapas, while the menu has a selection of grilled meats, revueltos (scrambled eggs with a variety of toppings), cold meats, and cheeses.

This casual seafood spot around the corner from the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos specializes in shellfish ranging from melt-in-your-mouth battered mini-scallops to a take-no-prisoners variado de mariscos platter with langoustines, king prawns, crab, and percebes (barnacles, a local delicacy).

This is one of Santiago's favorite spots for tapeo (tapas grazing) and chiquiteo (wine sampling); it's just a five-minute walk from the cathedral. The traditional bar area takes center stage, playing host to locals, pilgrims, and tourists alike, all gathering for wine, Iberian cured meats, cheeses, and seasonal dishes. It can get crowded, but this only adds to the atmosphere. The tapas live up to their reputation, and they're a better choice than the main dishes.

Across from the market, this lively two-floor restaurant has exposed brick walls, wooden tables, and a menu of modern, seasonally driven dishes ranging from oyster croquetas to saucy local beef meatballs, plus an ever-changing variety of seafood preparations.