August 13, 2023 Lunch - Restaurant Indiano, Mercado de Este, Santander Dinner - Meson Goya
We woke up at 10:00.
We dressed and walked down our street toward the center to Chocolatier Avila and ate a breakfast of churros and chocolate with coffee for Suzette and Earl Grey tea for me.
We then walked to the Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria. This is the best prehistory museum I have ever seen. It is the collection of all the archeology done of all the caves and living sites in the history of human habitation in Cantabria from 400,000 years ago to the Roman occupation around 27 BCE.
What made the museum particularly interesting was the multi media approach of combining dioramas and videos with the actual artifacts. So for example besides showing 30,000 year old flint objects there were dioramas with flint nodules and flakes and videos of flint knapping.
The highlight for me was the gallery of “moveable objects”. Here are a couple of examples of some of the first Art created by humans.
Suzette grabs the first spatula
We asked the attendants to recommend several caves to visit.
When we left the Museum around 2:00 we walked next door to the Mercado de Este, a covered food hall built around 1908. There was a crowd seated around La Casa de Indiano, so we went there and ordered a vermouth for Suzette and an apple cider for me. As we were ordering I saw a platter of 10 broiled scallops out of the corner of my eye that looked wonderful, so I ordered a half order of five for 10 €. The scallops were fabulous fresh broiled on the half-shell with their milt sacs attached and drizzled with good olive oil. We loved them and enjoyed dipping pieces of bread into the puddle of scallop juice and olive oil to soak up every last drop of flavor.
I think we are on what will be a successful weight lost regime: we are walking more and eating less and enjoying exploring the fresh seafood food more.
After lunch at around 3:00 we walked three blocks to Centro Bodin, a modern building designed by Reno Piano that juts out over the bay in several places and features large gallery spaces.
The exhibits did not interest me except for a large gallery with an open window wall facing the bay filled with colored glass circles.
Bodin was a collector in the early 20th century and the eight works from his collection on display included a good 1918 Juan Gris Harlequin and a lovely Sorolla of children at the beach.
We sat in the cafeteria after visiting the gallery at 4:00 and drank glasses of not great Freixenet Cava and then walked back to the apartment and napped from 5:00 to 7:00.
At 8:00 we started getting ready for dinner and at 8:45 we walked next door to Meson Goya for dinner.
Notes on dinner at Meson Goya Restaurant. The waiter did not let us order the Rosado Cava for 15 € but instead brought his recommendation: Juve and Camps Reserva de familia Brut Nature Gran Reserva and charged us 15 € for it instead of the menu price of 29 €. Of course it was fabulous, crisp on the front, clean and fruity in the middle with a lovely long finish. In Vinvino it garners a 3.9 rating and is in the top 5% of all cavas. We also ordered a bottle of mineral water.
The first course we ordered was pescado pastel (pudding), a fish terrine with two sauces. One sauce was mayonnaise and the other and better sauce was a tartare type of sauce. The dish was was served with a basket of toasted slices of baguette. I made open faced sandwiches by spreading sauce and then pastel on slices of toast. Suzette ate pastel straight without bread. Suzette seemed to think that the loose pastel was actually the filling for fish croquettes without being coated with bread crumbs and fried and I suspect she is correct because croquettes were on the menu also.
Suzette made a lettuce wrap with the last piece of pastel and lettuce and sauce
There were two large piles of large tomatoes on the restaurant counter when we walked in that resembled heirloom tomatoes and the daily menu listed Cantabria tomatoes, so we ordered that as our appetizer. A large tomato was cut into wedges and served with some chopped red onion, olive oil, and salt. We loved the fresh tomato with pieces of baguette drizzled with olive oil. Fresh and delicious.
We were not rushed as in an American restaurant. When we finished one course, the waiter cleared the table and brought us clean silverware and plates and then fetched the nest course.
The third course was the head end of 1/4 Sea Bass (Lupina) sautéed with garlic and olive oil and served with sliced potatoes saturated in olive oil. I boned the fish but did not clear it of all bones. I cut the remaining filet in half and served i 1/2 to Suzette with potatoes.
We loved the fresh sea bass and I recall eating as good a filet when we stayed in St. Jean de Pin in 2010, so sea bass must be a fish common to the waters of the Bay of Biscay.
We were offered a dessert menu and when I saw arroz con Leche I ordered it.
A few spoonfuls were served in a bowl and dusted with cinnamon. It had a noticeable citrus flavor and when we asked the proprietress the recipe, she said simply milk, rice, anise and lemon. I was expecting to see a caramel sugar Crystal crust but there was none on this simple dessert.
In fact our impression of Meson Goya was that it was well prepared basic food without any culinary tricks. I guess I would call it a local bistro.
The bill for the four courses with a fabulous wine was 74 €, so I left a 10 € tip. Another lovely dining experience in what is becoming a trip with lots of lovely dining experiences.
We went next door to our apartment (the restaurant and apartment share the same address) and I showered and then blogged and Suzette read and then went to bed around 12:30.
One of the things Suzette likes to do on our trips is read. She often reads a book in a day or two, so I would call her a voracious reader, except it seems to relax her.
Tomorrow we will take the sightseeing bus and visit the Gustave Klimt exhibit.
Bon Appetit
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