Behold the Galician Menu del Día (Spain)
Our Galician slow-travel life has really shaped up in recent weeks.
The weather has been great. Our illnesses are long gone. And we’ve been able to get out of the house and check out a bunch of cool places via public bus.
More on that soon.
And we’ve been eating well. Too well!
More than anything, queries about our slow-travel life are about food. And without a doubt, the food in Galicia, Spain is something special.
Readers may remember from our last Galicia post that we were big fans of the weekday lunch “Menu del Día” options around here. But we never really elaborated on what one of these culinary masterpieces is like because we always forgot to take pictures until we were halfway through a meal!
But finally, we made a point to have our cameras ready for one of our most recent Menu del Día experiences, so you can see what all of the fuss is about.
The “Menu del Día” Basics
The Menu del Día, also known as Menu of the Day, is a traditional Spanish culinary experience that offers a set-price meal at lunchtime. It’s a great way to enjoy local Spanish cuisine at an affordable price. The menu typically includes a starter, main course, dessert, local bread, and drinks, all for a fixed price, usually around €10-15 ($10.83 – $16.24 USD).
This may not exactly sound like the kind of cheap meal that slow-travelers like us would normally indulge in. But believe us when we say that when done properly, a Menu del Día delivers some of the best quality bang-for-buck you can imagine.
Because the meals are more expensive (and calorie-rich) than normal for us, we don’t indulge in these more than a couple of times per week. But when we do we don’t really need to eat dinner that day!
So I guess you could say we save money that way.
And finding a Menu del Día is pretty easy. Usually, restaurants advertise them in some fashion outside their entrance.
If they don’t advertise it in an obvious way, just ask the waitstaff and they will let you know if they offer one or not.
A Menu del Día Case Study – Oagocho Pizzeria-Cafeteria (Chantada, Spain)
On one of our more recent excursions, we decided to explore the town of Chantada, Spain, and grab a Menu del Día while we were there.
We didn’t have any real direction on where to find one. So we wandered the streets where the cafes were found, looking for obvious signs that Menu del Días were available.
We eventually decided to eat at Oagocho Pizzeria-Cafeteria, which advertised their Menu del Día outside their entrance.
At €13, this seemed to be a solid deal. And what is nice is that you get a cafe IN ADDITION to dessert. Usually, it is one or the other.
But the price doesn’t matter if the quality is weak. Thankfully the one we got here was one of the best we’ve had in Galicia!
Here is the rundown of what we ordered.
Before our dishes were served, we were presented with our selection of house red wine to drink and local bread. And it was made clear that we could have more wine and bread when we ran out!
For our first course, we both got Fabada de Garbanzos.
For our second course, I got the Filete de Croca con Patatas (beef filet with fries) and Rhonda got the Muslo de Pollo al Horno con Patatas (chicken leg with fries).
We were full at this point, but we weren’t done. We had multiple options for dessert!
We both selected the homemade cheesecake with blueberry topping.
But we STILL weren’t done.
In addition to dessert, post-meal cafes were included. I got a Cafe Americano (diluted expresso) and Rhonda got a Cafe Solo (straight expresso shot).
We took our time, finished our coffees and wine, and waddled out of the cafe stuffed to the gills.
We were so impressed at how delicious each course was, and how we were encouraged to take our time and enjoy the meal. The whole experience put us in a great mood the entire day.
And the icing on the cake is that gratuities aren’t generally given in Spain. So the total cost was €26 ($28.16 USD) for everything.
Again, we can’t afford to do this every day, both for financial and health reasons. But a couple of times a week for a lunch date is no problem!
For those back in the USA (or in other parts of Western Europe), think about how much a multi-course dinner like this would cost you today.
Honestly, it’s hard not to love the Spanish food scene.
Until next time…
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