August 30, 2023 Breakfast - fried eggs with ham Lunch - Fried Oysters, steamed mussels, and Baked scallop with tomato sauce. Dinner - Ribadomar
Today was a mix of good and bad.
It started off well with a hardy breakfast by Suzette of fried eggs and serrano ham and bread slathered with butter and orange marmalade.
We then drove to the fish market and Wednesday market where we bought fruits and vegetables, including broccoli, potatoes, three types of tomatoes, small onions, yellow wax beans, green pole beans, peaches, figs, Parmesan cheese, a soft cow cheese, a type of ham, dark bread, and raisin bread.
We toured the fish market but did not buy any fish because we do not a good means of preparing it.
We then drove to Bodega Martin Codex, which is on the northern edge of Cambados. Today they were picking so it was fun to watch the tractors pulling boxes of grapes into the mechanized production facility. We then walked to the tasting area and leisurely tasted four wines and their brut sparkling wine . We liked the rose made from Mencia grapes and bought two bottles of it.
We then went back to the apartment and put groceries away and then walked to the plaza where Gil Armada winery is located. It was 2:00 and when we arrived we discovered our tour had been scheduled for 12:30, not 2:30.a small error of mixing up dos and doce (2:00 and 12:00).
So we decided to walk to the oyster restaurant recommended to us about three blocks from the plaza.
When we arrived at the restaurant we discovered the oyster restaurant had gone out of business and the new restaurant did not serve a comida del dia. There was a fried oyster dish that Suzette ordered and I ordered steamed mussels and a baked scallop in a tomato sauce. There is a distinction between large scallops (vierra) and small scallops (zamburinas).
The large scallop was like the big sea scallops we get in the states and are baked. The small scallops are usually sautéed in olive oil and sauced with balsamic or nothing more than the olive oil and a bit of minced parsley.
Because the zamburinas are very different they are more interesting gastronomically speaking.
Suzette ordered beer and I ordered a glass of Albariño. Lunch was not memorable although the mussels were fantastic as usual. Suzette said two of the six fried oysters were good. I ate one and it was mostly eggs. The oysters were dotted with lumpfish caviar, which was a nice touch.
After lunch we walked back to the plaza to take the 4:00 mini-train ride around Cambados.
On our way we stopped at Vino Principe wine shop and bought a bottle of Albariño, a bottle of vermouth, and a bottle of artisanal whiskey.
These are the three winning wines or 2022 in Cambados
We drank a glass of Albariño Floral that was not very good beside the train because it was delayed when we arrived.
We took the train ride that was in Spanish so we did not understand it and the little diesel powered train bumped terribly as it crossed traffic bumps.
When we returned to the plaza, we decided to walk to the apartment.
When we arrived we put the three new bottles into the fridge and I napped for 2 hours.
When I awakened at 7:00 we made a reservation at the Ribadomar restaurant for 9:00.
Suzette made a snack plate with slices of cheese garnished with the added goat cheese.
Then I dressed for dinner in blue Jen’s, a Mexican white shirt, and Italian boating shoes.
At 8:45 we walked the 1 block to the restaurant.
We arrived a few minutes early and had to wait until it opened at 9:00.
We chose to sit at a table on its large porch.
We had seen oysters on the tapas menu on the street, so as soon as a waiter set our table we asked if they had the 2022 first prize award winning Albariño, Puerta Santo. When they said yes we ordered a bottle with a dozen oysters.
The wine and oysters were soon served and we reacted negatively to the saltiness of the oysters and positively to the Santo Albariño that presented a perfect balance of fruit and acid.
After we finished the oysters we considered the menu.
We ordered a plate of white asparagus with a homemade mayonnaise sauce that turned out to be the best dish of the dinner and they probably came of a jar.
Suzette chose Hake and I chose sole with small scallops.
We did not realize that both would be fried and furthermore forgot to request reduced use of salt.
So we were unpleasantly surprised when both fish were fried and the garlic sauce served with them was quite salty.
We ate half and decided to take the other half home to make into another dinner.
We did enjoy the potatoes served with the fish which were boiled, peeled, and sautéed in butter and garnished with minced parsley.
We also enjoyed the slice of family recipe almond cake we ordered for dessert that was served with a puddle of chocolate sauce and whipped cream.
All in all Ribadomar was an old style restaurant that deserved recognition by Michelin, but was stuck in the old style of cooking Spanish high cuisine.
We probably need to learn more about ordering to avoid the saltiness that kept both Suzette and me tossing and turning much of the night with indigestion.
One thing we definitely did wrong was not order water with the meal that would have diminished the intensity of the salt.
We returned home at 11:00 and Suzette went to bed and I stayed up tried to blog but fell asleep for an hour.
Suzette woke up at 12:30 and we looked at the blue moon with binoculars for a couple of minutes, which was fun.
Then during the night I caught up on the news from the US, which was small recompense for not being able to sleep.
I actually did get to sleep and slept until 9:00 a.m. so was completely rested and ready for another day of adventures including a visit to another winery.
Bon Appetit
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