D'Berto - The Best Seafood Restaurant in Spain! |Pianistus Herodotus

Spain is a country that has insanely good food almost everywhere you go, and to crown an establishment (not only by me, but by every food critic in the Iberian Peninsular) as the best seafood restaurant is a royal feat. It has to boast not only the best cooking but also the best ingredients, and it is not a title born out of snap judgment. Welcome to Restaurante d'Berto.

d'Berto would probably win the title of the most obscure fine dining location - in O Grove, Galicia, Northwest Spain, no less. I first met Berto months before I visited his restaurant,
and even then I have heard noises about how good he serves his seafood. I therefore chiseled in stone a lunch reservation when I was visiting Galicia again, and made sure I got hold of him so we could talk about his food.

E: Ernest
B: Berto

E: The seafood you serve is amazing. Where and how do they come by?
B: All the seafood and fishes are sourced from nearby fishing villages. I know every fishery in the region, and I pay top dollar for the best catch everyday. I never bargain with my suppliers, and they always reserve the best catch for me. Nothing in my restaurant is second grade. Each of these suppliers from the neighouring villages bring me the lobsters, oysters, giant prawns, and fishes everyday. And size does matter! We always get the biggest of everything!

E: What is Galician cooking?
B: The main thing is produce, and then produce, and then produce. The preparations are always very simple - simple seasoning, little sauces. Very traditional, very family-like. Here in Galicia, our seafood and fishes is known throughout Spain as the highest quality. A lot of these seafood are not easy to get, such as the Percebes. Each year there are reports of people who died while collecting percebes. My mother used to be at the kitchen here, till about 7 years ago when my sister and I took over the restaurant, preparing the same recipes as our mother did.

E: Give me some tips on how to choose my seafood.
B: Look at the colours. For example, the Cigalas (Langoustines) that we have are huge, with bright and powerful colour, which is not what you find at the market usually. The Percebes have to be short and fat, not long and lean. The long ones are good, but the short and fat ones are the best. In general, the colour of the seafood says a lot about its quality.

Berto and his sister Marisol now run the restaurant. We have tried a tasting menu of several different kinds of seafood, starting from a salad with fresh mussels, homemade bread with local olive oil, then a Galician signature dish of Empanadas (pies), Galician oysters, a tuna tartare, percebes, grilled baby scallops (or zamburinas), razor clams, cockles, clams, lobster salpicon, and pan fried lobsters in garlic and olive oil. It was simply a feast of some of the best seafood I have ever had.

d'Berto is located in the town of O Grove, some 30 minutes from Cambados, capital of the Albarino wine in Galicia. The island of A Toxa is next to O Grove, which is a famous resort village and a spa town to boot. The whole area is punctuated by beautiful beaches and fishing villages.

If you are into fine dining, this is one restaurant in Spain that you cannot afford to miss. Find D'Berto on Facebook here.

D'Berto Restaurante
av. Teniente Dominguez 84, 36980, O Grove
+34 986 73 34 47
dberto.info@icloud.com

西班牙是一個美食天堂的事實是無可否認的，無論你去到哪裏，你都可以輕易地找到令人涶涎三尺的海鮮美食。當然，這一切除了要歸功於當地最精湛的烹調技巧外，當中最好的食材亦是不能或缺的。

d'Berto 餐廳位於西班牙西北部加利西亞省 O Grove 小鎮，它是當地最值得去 fine dining 的一間餐廳。當我認識老闆 Berto 的時候的還沒有去過他的餐廳，但是我已從當地人口中知道他的餐廳隻賣最巨型最上剩的海鮮，因此當我再次來到加利西亞的時候，我就預訂了到 d'Berto 吃一頓午餐，並於餐後聽他細說他的海鮮故事。

E: 筆者
B: Berto

E：你的海鮮真的很出色，牠們是來哪裏來的？你是怎樣把牠們帶到這裏？
B：這裏的所有海産及魚都是來自附近的漁村，我認識這個地區的所有漁農，我給他們最好的價錢去買他們每天捉到最大最好的漁穫，他們通常都會把最好的海産留給我，所以在我的餐廳裏你不會找到次等的食物。漁農每天會給我供應龍蝦、生蠔、巨蝦及魚類。海鮮當然是越大的越好，我們買的全部都是最大的海產！

E：可以介紹一下加利西亞的烹調方法嗎？
B：我們的煮食都是用最簡單的方法，用最簡單的醃料、最少的醬汁，加上很傳統、很自家的煮法。加利西亞海鮮的質素是全西班牙最好的，但是很多海鮮都不容易去捉，例如鬼爪螺，每年就有很多人因為捕捉牠們而意外喪生。以前是我的媽媽主理這餐廳的廚房，大概七年前我與我的姊姊就接手了，但我們都是用我媽媽從前的食譜。

E：你可以教我們怎樣去挑選海鮮嗎？
B：你要看牠的顏色，例如我們的這個大蝦，牠的體積很巨型，色澤鮮豔，看上去很有力量，這種質素就是平時在一般市場找不到的。鬼爪螺呢，很多人以為越長越好，其實是越肥短越好。長的是好，但是長通常都相對比較瘦，所以短而粗壯的是最好的。總括來說，從海鮮的顏色都可以知道質素啦！

Berto 與他的姊姊一起經營這間餐廳，我們在這裏品嚐了包括了許多不同海鮮的 tasting menu，由鮮青口沙律開始，接著是自家製麵包配道地橄欖油、加利西亞著名的蛋餅，還有加利西亞本地生蠔、吞拿魚他他、鬼爪螺、炭燒元貝、蟶子、鳥蛤(一種歐洲的蜆)、大蜆，最後是龍蝦沙律及蒜蓉橄欖油炒龍蝦，這對我來說絶對是前所未試過的海鮮盛宴！

d'Berto 位於 O Grove 小鎮，距離加利西亞 Albarino 酒區的首府 Cambados 大約30分鐘車程。O Grove 鄰近的 A Toxa 小島是當地著名的 SPA 渡假勝地，附近整個地區都滿佈漂亮的小漁村及海灘。

如果你是 fine dining 的粉絲，這間餐廳是你到西班牙旅遊時絶不能錯過的一站！

D'Berto Restaurante
地址：av. Teniente Domínguez 84 36980 O Grove
電話：+34 986 73 34 47
電郵：dberto.info@icloud.com

Facebook：https://www.facebook.com/pages/DBerto-Restaurante/275745462471887

Fresh mussels salade dressed with white vinaigrette

Warm and refreshing

Empanadas, a Galician specialty. The fillings are made with lobster and hake (left), and tuna caught from the northern Spain, or 'bonito del norte' (right)

Galician oysters. Creamy and rich, with a tannic and fresh after-taste of gin. Texture is crisp, rich. Will pair well with a stronger, fuller body Albarino. Caught in Cambados.

Tuna Tartare, served with seasalt, paprika, and black pepper on the side.

This tuna tartare is a family recipe.

Percebes. No visit to Galicia is complete without tasting their Percebes. These are some of the fattest ones I have seen and tasted.

Very tender Scallops, or Zamburinas.

Steamed Razor Clams. Sweet, tender and delicate. There is no sauce to this dish, just pure organic goodness from the sea, a reflection of the Galician culinary principal.

Lobster Salpicon, with tomatos and egg whites. Most usually used with monkfish but is expressed here with fresh boiled lobster. The dressing is very light, with generous pieces of lobster meat that are fresh and crisp. The sweetness of the lobster meat is further brought out by the chopped tomatoes.

Lobster sauteed with garlic, served with lobster eggs. The flavour is strong, powerful, and rich. The entire meal is built up to this final course that is absolutely unforgettable.