Casa Marcelo

When I sat down to write about our visit to Casa Marcelo in Santiago de Compostela, the first thing I thought was how we almost didn’t go, and what a mistake that would have been. My wife had made the reservation a week ago. I remember that she found a few possible places, and from that list I chose Casa Marcelo, because the photos of the dishes looked amazing. I don’t recall seeing the price of the menu at the time, though.

Fast-forward to the day of our visit to Santiago de Compostela, as we’re walking around in Santiago, and doubt is started to creep in. The menu is expensive, we know that with wine, it will be upwards of 300 Euros. We remembered our last Michelin 1-star experience in Bilbao, and how it left a lot to be desired. My wife read some recent reviews on Google, and they were not good. Surely this was going to be a mistake.

It was with these thoughts that we walked in. Our table was outside in the terrace. We walked by the communal table, and an open kitchen with some counter seating next to it. The inside had a rustic and homey feel to it. After climbing a few stairs we entered the terrace, an enclosed one, and were shown to our table there. The terrace is interestingly designed, almost at odds with the interior space. Illustrations of animals, some of them whimsical, cover the walls and the ceiling. The chairs are brightly colored, and also, very comfortable. For some reason, we thought that this did not bode well for our food.

The service started quite well, though. Our waiter explained how things work, and the sommelier had a chat with us to see how we want to go about the wine. He’s a bit of a character for sure, but in a pleasant and fun way. My wife decided to take it easy on the wine, while I asked him to make maybe two or three pairings to go with the food. Finally, the chef came to our table and talked to us about the menu. He also asked about any food intolerance, and for stuff that we simply didn’t like. My wife told him that she doesn’t really eat red meat or pork. He thanked us and left for the kitchen.

We started with a small cocktail that they finish preparing at the table, and an amuse-bouche: Meringue with seaweed and a light dusting of spices on top. It’s crunchy and immediately melts in your mouth, leaving an aftertaste of slightly spiced, well, sea.

The first starter to be served was an almond soup, served with grapes, almonds, and clams from Galicia. We didn’t quite catch it while they were explaining the dish, but we believe that there was also some balsamic in there as well. This was a perfect start, creamy and light, slightly acidic, but also sweet from the balsamic. Also, just a little savory when you get a bite of the clams. All in all an excellent dish.

Next up were oysters, French Black Pearl, No.2, we were told, to be specific. Served with thinly minced pickled cucumber, they were delicious. My wife is normally not a fan of oysters, but she also quite enjoyed them.

The next dish could be called a salad or a soup, depending on how you look at it. Delicious grape tomatoes, served with a granita made with kimchi. With a few small leaves of basil, and also a basil and olive oil sauce at the bottom. This was one of my favorite dishes of the evening; such a great idea and also incredibly well executed. After eating this dish, we decided that we made the right decision coming here. Even if the rest of the dishes were simply average, it would have been worth it.

The shrimp for the next dish was raw, and was served with mushrooms as the base, with a mousse in the middle. The sauce was made with the juice from the shrimps head.

Next up was a red mullet served on a base of spinach. This was our least favorite of the bunch, and probably the only dish on the menu I would not want to have again. We were surprised because red mullet is one of our favorite fish.

Our final plates before desserts were different for both of us. The chef was nice enough to prepare a fish for my wife, a sardine, cooked delicately, served on top of padron peppers and panko crust. She was very happy with it, and we thought it was a very creative way of preparing sardines.

My steak tartar, on the other hand, was just mind-blowingly good, easily the best version I had so far.

Before dessert, the sommelier recommended a glass of Harsányi Szamorodni Tokaji, a Hungarian sweet wine that we tried for the first time. The first course of desert was a Violet Alaska as they called it, with meringue on the outside, and lavender ice cream in the inside. It was very good, and paired well with the wine.

Finally, to wrap things up, we were served a mille-feuille with vanilla cream. I have a soft spot for mille-feuille, and I can’t recall the last time I had a better one. The layers of the dough were incredibly delicate and fluffy, they simply disappeared in your mouth as soon as you took a bite. For me, it was a perfect ending to our meal.

As we were leaving, my only regret was our choice of seating. If we visit again, I would love to sit at the counter next to the kitchen to enjoy watching these amazing dishes get made. When the chef asked us how everything was, our answer was honest: One of the best meals we ever had.

You can find Casa Marcelo’s website here. Reservations are required.