La Pulperia
This octopus did not suck.
As of this writing, La Pulperia has 5.0 / 5 stars across over 200 ratings on Google. That’s two significant figures of octopus perfection — but does it deserve it?
Yeah, I think it does. Why? Let’s count the ways:
The owners, a husband & wife team: Fran Lorenzo knows his seafood inside and out and back inside again, and he’ll tell you about it in whatever language you want. Spanish, Catalan, English, French, Russian, he’ll let you know what’s what and what isn’t. His wife Nat hangs back, running the room with the casual confidence of someone who knows her cakes are going to steal the show.
The menu: Speaking of what is and what isn’t, the menu changes faster than the printer can keep up with. The owners are constantly adapting to the current catch, which is something restaurants should be doing if they claim to offer fresh seafood.
The bravas: Patas bravas done right are a thing of simple, sublime beauty. These are gorgeous.
The scallops x 2: Fran grabs his blowtorch and finesses the fire right on the table.
The octopus x 2: I’ll be honest, octopus isn’t my thing. It's usually too bland, too rubbery, and I have a thing against eating creatures with more brains than me (9!). The bad news for the octopus community is that the Galician octopus here is fantastic. The good news is that the vegan Galician octopus (i.e. Galician mushroom) might be even better. Rich and umami-full, this isn’t just another meatless imitation.
So, there we go, 5.0 out 5. Case closed.
But wait, there’s more!
+1 bonus stars go to Nat for her fantastic cakes.
-0.5 bonus stars for the kitschy AI-coded portraits on the wall.