The things we do for love … of food!

Every two or three weeks we like to get together with our friend Colin from Pontevedra and any other friends who want to come along and have lunch together, usually at some place which is new to one or preferably all of us.

With this in mind and as Colin was coming to Vigo today, last week we asked another friend, Roberto, if he could give us the name and location of a seafood place that we had been to with him last year. It was a bit of a long shot as on that occasion he had had to drive around for a while looking for the muy auténtico place that he knew close to La Guía. When he found it we certainly appreciated it but giving us directions to it a year on proved impossible.

So he recommended another place, just as good, he assured us. Once again the name of the restaurant escaped him but he was able to tell us it was in Teis, just up the road from where we live, just opposite the boatyard Factorías Vulcano. Armed with that information we set off to see if we could locate it.

The boatyard was easy enough to find. More or less opposite was a rather scruffy looking café/bar. It didn’t look much but then, Roberto had said it was a bit cutre. However, not wanting to make fools of ourselves by taking our friends to a place that only served the odd sandwich and packet of crisps we took a photo and asked Roberto was that the place he meant.

Well, no, but we were close, he told us. The restaurant was just around the corner. It was quite popular and got rather full at lunchtime. We could really do with booking in advance. It was a pity he couldn’t remember the name.

Now, the road round the corner from the place we had found was a mess. We had looked there and found nothing but we were prepared to give it another try, especially as we had found nowhere else new and interesting to take friends to. This was yesterday evening. We were at the chess club, up at Calvario, more or less the other end of Vigo.

So, knowing that the number 3 bus went into Teis we went to Travesía de Vigo and got on a bus, a number 3. This bus follows a circular route so we knew that at some point it would get onto Sanjurjo Badía, the main street through Teis. What we didn’t know was that the bus would go almost all the way to Redondela before doubling back to go through Teis. At one point, as we went beyond La Guía, we thought we might end up in Pontevedra.

Eventually however the bus did turn around and head back towards Vigo, back to the right side of La Guía for us and eventually back into familiar territory. In the growing dusk we made our way back to the Factorías Vulcano boatyard and explored the rather unprepossessing sidestreet with cars parked on either side, a cul-de-sac without proper pavements.

And there it was, Bar Nisio, a place you could walk past without noticing if, that is, this were the kind of street you might just stroll along. We went in, checked that they were open at lunchtime today and booked a table for four for today. Just as well we did as the place got rather full while we were there.

It’s one of those Tardis-like places that look tiny from outside and then when you go in they take you through a corridor and down some stairs into quite a large dining area. As requested last night I had phoned them this morning to let them know which of the “specials” we wanted: a choice between arroz con bogavante, fideos con almejas or cocochas de merluza pilpil. We started though with a selection of shellfish for starters, all freshly caught, they assured us, and certainly very tasty.

Really we could have had just the starters and forgotten about the main course. However, main courses had been orders so we made the great sacrifice of eating our way through them. It was well worth it.

Another successful gastronomic adventure!