My husband and I are looking for off the beaten track local type restaurants for our visit to Cuenca. We are traveling in April and would love to experience a place that is not super expensive but where the locals would eat. any suggestions? TIA
Posted by
6702 posts
Maybe not exactly what you were looking for, but I’d be remiss if I did not share what a good meal I had at Raff!
Will you be driving?
Posted by
OP
229 posts
Yes we will be driving.
The restaurant looks lovely but not really what we are looking for.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
8460 posts
I can’t help with restaurants as we ate at the Parador one night and at a place on the main plaza our second night there. Most restaurants in the historic center will probably be more tourist oriented.
Since you will have a car, if you drive to the historic center there is public parking garage, Paseo del Huécar Garage, just before the bus and motor home lot. From it, it’s an uphill walk to the historic center.
Posted by
6702 posts
Okay great, I can point you to a frequent poster on the Fodors forum named Maribel who could be a great resource. Good luck!
There is a forum on Hungry Onion where she and Erica, who also posts here, do a deep dive:
https://www.hungryonion.org/t/cuenca-for-two-nights/40694/2
They definitely discuss some high end places, but also definitely know and enjoy the kind of place you are looking for.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
9261 posts
We stayed in the old town, and like someone said, you will be sharing the restaurants there with mostly visitors, but most serve good local cuisine.
I recall eating at Savbia, a smaller pleasant place, some local dishes with some Italian inspired dishes mixed in (Risotto for example). nice compact menu, which is always a good sign.
Picaro Tapas and Copas was also nice, small dishes, but lots to choose from. They also serve a Menu del Dia that is a good value.
There are a couple restaurants/bars right on Placa Mayor, they serve decent simple dishes, well worth a lunch, they also open early for a mid-morning breakfast.
Posted by
new york
1359 posts
The Parador is quite good; their menu features some Conquense (yes, that's really the name!) dishes that you might not find elsewhere in Spain, which makes it quite an interesting place to eat if you are adventurous. Morteruelo is one. zarajos is another, but I'll leave it to you to look those two dishes up... It's pretty much a meat-centric place but you can easily find fish and veg.
One place I really we wanted to try is ASADOR NAZARENO DE ORO; specialities are meat including baby suckling pig, and the morteruelo, but they also have fish.... I messed up the timing and by the time we got a move on, their kitchen was closed after lunch. I don't think it's a place that would attract many foreign tourists, but I never got there, so.. They are even open daily ( or were.)