La Vida Buena: Mama
Peixe and Costa Vella
If
I was only allowed to make two recommendations for Spanish travel… I would
recommend a restaurant called Mama Peixe and Hotel Costa Vella, both businesses
within a block or two of each other.
Hotel
Costa Vella gets very positive mention by Rick Steves, patron saint of middle
class travelers, and that’s how we found out about it. No need for me to pat
myself on the back for a recommendation already made by Mr. Steves. He has such
a wide audience and the Hotel Costa Vella has, no doubt, been well-discovered
and thoroughly uncovered. The hotel is a pleasing combination of great
ambience, friendly staff and a beautiful garden available for breakfast and
afternoon drinks. We arrived in the middle of a heat wave and the garden
provided a relaxed breakfast nook and a great happy hour retreat when the
temperature hit an unseasonably 90 degrees. Our room had a nice view
overlooking the hilly agricultural and residential environs just beyond
Santiago de Compostela.
Antonio,
the Costa Vella concierge, eagerly helped me when I tried to reach Sada by
phone and couldn’t make the connection with my cellphone. They got the Sada friends
on the line. I spoke to Pily and communicated our exact time of arrival in
order to meet Marisol at the family house. This would be the completion of my
pilgrimage—back to the house where my mother was born in 1926.
The
other hotel clerk agreed to put Reed’s fancy cheeses in the hotel refrigerator
and joked when he returned them to Reed that “they tasted really good.” When
the black Mercedes arrived to take us the last leg to Sada the same guy teased
us calling it “the president’s car.” I guess the 12 hour train ride across
Spain did us in and we decided to treat ourselves to a taxi ride the last 30
miles or so to Sada.
The
other great service provided by the Costa Vella staff was the recommendation of
Mama Peixe restaurant, a “taberna marineira.” Translated, the restaurant is
Mama Fish—and it is well-named. We got the meal of the day for 12 euros—maybe
one of the top meals of the entire trips—a meal in 4-5 courses!
Price
Fix:
Wine—glass
of Albarino
1) croquet
2) Swordfish Sashimi (served
w/bits of watermelon)
3) Cod w/sauce cooked to
perfection
4) Pork—with pears and
potato, cooked to perfection
5) Lime pie (served as a
sorbet, in a cup)
6) Espresso or hot tea
(choice of green or black)
This
was the best meal at the most unbelievable price!
A
few customers walked out after dining with the “Camino Limp,” the pilgrim’s
affliction caused by too many miles/kilometers of walking. They had smiles on
their faces, either from the meal or the completed journey or possibly both.
Here
is the address:
Mama
Peixe
Rua
de Algalia de Arriba 45
15704
Santiago de Compostela
Labels—
Santiago de Compostela, Pilgrimmage, Camino, Price Fix, Mama Peixe, Hotel Costa
Vella, Spain, Rick Steves
Travel day-- 6/20/17
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