O Salnés is the part of the Rías Baixas most closely associated with Albariño, Cambados and the mussel rafts of the Ría de Arousa. It also gives a Portuguese Camino itinerary access to serious destination restaurants without turning the journey into a week of long diversions.
Pepe Vieira, Raxó
Pepe Vieira, Camiño da Serpe, Raxó, holds two Michelin stars. Chef Xosé T. Cannas serves tasting menus built around Galician ingredients, particularly seafood, in a wooded property above the Pontevedra estuary. The meal begins through different spaces, including the garden, before reaching the glass-walled dining room.
Raxó is not on the marked Portuguese Way. We treat it as an evening destination and arrange a private transfer from Pontevedra, Combarro or another nearby hotel. This is the sensible choice after a walking stage: nobody needs to negotiate an unlit rural road after a tasting menu and wine pairing. Pepe Vieira also has independent hotel rooms, known as galpones, for travelers who want to make the restaurant the centre of an overnight stay.
Yayo Daporta, Cambados
Yayo Daporta, Rúa Hospital 7, occupies an eighteenth-century stone building that once served as a Royal Hospital. Its location makes it particularly useful on our Portuguese Spiritual itineraries, which already bring travelers through the Arousa estuary and the O Salnés wine country.
The restaurant has one Michelin star. Its menus draw from the coast around Cambados and from two kitchen gardens, one at the restaurant and another at Pazo A Capitana. Mussels, cockles, razor clams, seaweed and Albariño are part of the local vocabulary rather than decorative references. Reserve well ahead and allow the evening for the complete tasting menu.
Casa Marcelo, Santiago
Casa Marcelo, Rúa das Hortas 1, is only a few steps from the Cathedral. Marcelo Tejedor’s Michelin-starred kitchen mixes Galician produce with Japanese, Mexican, Peruvian and other influences. The kitchen opens directly into the room, with counter places and a communal central table, so the experience is livelier and less formal than the white-tablecloth image some travelers associate with a starred restaurant.
It works particularly well for a celebration after reaching Santiago. The restaurant fills quickly, and the shared layout is part of its character. Travelers wanting a conventional private table should discuss that preference before booking.
A Tafona and A Tafona do Peregrino
The similar names cause understandable confusion. A Tafona, at Rúa Virxe da Cerca 7, is Lucía Freitas’s Michelin-starred restaurant. Her cooking is rooted in Galician fish, shellfish, vegetables and the work of local women producers. The dining room has stone walls, a skylight and tables made from reclaimed timber from Galician mussel rafts.
A Tafona do Peregrino is the hotel associated with the same address, about 500 metres from the Cathedral and beside the Mercado de Abastos. The Michelin distinction belongs to Lucía Freitas’s restaurant, not to the hotel classification. Its position is convenient for travelers finishing the French or Portuguese Way, particularly when dinner and the final night’s accommodation need to remain close to the historic centre.
Restaurant opening days, menus and distinctions can change. For a premium Portuguese Camino, we confirm the reservation first and then build the hotel and transfer arrangements around it. See the Pazos and country hotels we use on the Portuguese Way, or ask us to include one of these meals through Start Planning.
