La Huertona

Fish from the auction and holm-oak embers

La Huertona does almost everything over fire. The fish comes from the Llanes and Ribadesella fish auctions, the menu is written each day according to what has been bought and the staff tell you at the table how each piece is prepared and what the portion costs, which usually ranges from €35 to €60 depending on the species and the market. In the kitchen is José Manuel Viejo, whom the gastronomic press collected by the house has singled out as a fish grill master. In season, the dish many people come for is the elvers.

The long menu of the season

As well as the à la carte menu there is a tasting menu at €170 per person, with bread, coffee or infusion and VAT, without wine. This season's goes through Galician goose barnacles, Ribadesella lobster salpicón made to order, red prawn from Palamós and leek with caviar, both over holm-oak embers, jig-caught baby squid "afogao", grilled rey de costa, roast milk-fed lamb with only water, salt and lemon, an apple croquette with fresh duck liver and, for dessert, cheese flan, rice pudding and cold orange soup with pineapple ice cream. The house warns that it may change.

Eating here is expensive: the website gives an average price from €100 per person. The cellar has its own list, which can be consulted on the website.

On the Piconera road

The restaurant is on the Piconera road, a kilometre from the Tito Bustillo cave and two from Ribadesella: the easy way is to go by car. It has a dining room with large windows and a terrace among plants for good days.

Booking with the phone in hand

Booking is by phone only, on 985 860 553; the website calendar gives an idea of free days, but the house insists that you must call. Tables are for eight people at most. Lunches are from 13:30 to 16:00 every day except Tuesday, when it is closed. Dinners, from 21:00 to 23:30, are on Fridays and Saturdays, and in summer also on Thursdays.

It fits after the Tito Bustillo cave or the rock art centre, a kilometre away. It is the closing lunch of the Sunday in Ribadesella with Tito Bustillo and La Guía chapel.