September 8, 2024 Lunch - Taberna A Laxeira, O Grove, Galicia
What a difference a day makes.
No more trudging up and down the hills of Compostella.
We found out today supermarkets close in Spain on Sundays. We had planned to shop for groceries, but soon discovered that was not going to be the plan for the day.
Also, Suzette woke up with a really bad pain in her back so we changed the plan to bathing at a thermal spa. Luckily, Suzette found a spa at the Eurostars Gran hotel Toja on Toja Island near O Grove, about ten miles from the rental.
We each ate one of the artisanal pain au chocolate we bought yesterday that were fatter with lots of chocolate filling instead of the two thin threads of chocolate in the longer traditional shaped ones.
We arrived a bit after 11:30 and bathed in the mineral pool with its Jacuzzi jets from 12:00 until 1:00 and then dozed on heated tiled lounges in the relaxation room until about 2:00.
The spa is inside the glass on the left side
We were going to meet in the bar but apparently there were two bars and I went to one and Suzette went to the other. After a drink we found each other in the lobby of the hotel around 2:30.
We decided to find a place to eat lunch and drove off the island and to the O Grove port, where we found a parking space near the ferries that depart for tours of the several islands near the Pontevedra Bay.
Suzette had found a recommended restaurant named Taberna A Laxeira that was 2 blocks from the parking lot. When we arrived at the Taberna there was a table available. There was one waiter who served the tables outside on the street, in the restaurant, and in the upstairs dining room, who was constantly running. After about or fifteen ten minutes he came to take our order. We had been carefully examining the limited menu and told him we wanted Langustinos grilled with olive oil and steamed Clams plus bread, a beer for Suzette, and a glass of house Albariño for me. The house albarino was excellent, fruity and not acidic.
There were two cooking techniques specified for clams, neither of which we knew. The clams were served in a puddle of a brown anchovy paste sauce that we sopped up with pieces of bread as we ate the approximately 15 to 20 tender clams.
We ate the clams quickly like starving persons; then waited another ten or fifteen minutes for the waiter to serve a plate with nine or ten large prawns charred from the grill. The Langustinos were really hot but when we tore off the heads the juice inside was succulent and the tail meat tender. In fact they were fabulous. The lady in the kitchen really knew how to cook langustinos. In googling the difference between scampi or langoustine and shrimp, langoustine are in the lobster family and shrimp in the shrimp family.
It took us a while to eat the Langustinos because the shells were hot and the flesh taut inside the shells. When we finished the waiter brought us two packets with finger wipes in one hand and in his other he was carrying an inviting dessert in an 8 or 10 oz. glass for another table. When I asked him what the dessert was he said Chocolate flan. I could see the top was covered with a layer of chocolate and immediately asked for one. Soon he brought one with two spoons. Suzette helped me eat the lovely chocolate flan, egg custard with a layer of chocolate on top and a graham cracker wafer on the bottom.
After lunch we returned to the rental with a side diversion by another closed grocery store. It was 5:00 when we arrived and we lay down and napped until 7:00, when we constructed a beautiful salad consisting of slices of tomato and onion, plus lovely lettuce leaves and cubes of soft farmer’s cheese we bought at the Market in Compostella yesterday dressed with a simple olive oil, lemon juice, and salt dressing. I also cut slices of the artisan bread and Suzette melted slices of cheese on those in the microwave to make open faced melted cheese sandwiches.
We moved a table and bench onto the upstairs balcony to enjoy an incomparable view of Pontevedra Bay as we ate. Suzette was feeling better and went to bed at 9:00.
I am torn as I write this blog whether I should drink a shot of Herbs of the Picos liquor with a piece of chocolate and a cup of tea or let the fresh salad we ate for dinner be my final food of the night.
I feel great after a day of soaking in mineral water and eating light meals of seafood for lunch and fresh salad for dinner, so will probably pass on extra food.
Bon Appetit
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