Passion for the Octopus 🐙 | 章鱼排档

Pasión por el Pulpo? 🐙 Passion for the Octopus, the name of this pulperia eatery screamed at me to try it out. As a seafood lover, I was thrilled to find this little gem in Peníscola.

The place is indeed oozing with passion for octopus. Mural of octopus at the counter, drawings of octopus on the menu, and a big bucket of octopus right outside of the kitchen...

A variety of octopus dishes are calling from the middle of the menu. I loved how their menu shows photos of all the choices along with the numbered names and prices, all on a single sheet. It's a godsend for a visual type of person like me, especially when I'm illiterate about some of the Spanish words. I know most of the survival food vocabulary after living in Latin America, but different words are occasionally used here, and with a Catalan influence.

It's fun to guess their meanings and get pleasantly surprised or unpleasantly shocked, but not when you are starving. I've heard lots of stories about foreign friends pointing to a random item on a Chinese menu without pictures, and being served weird stuff like bull testicles (I'm not a fan of those either and have never actually seen the dish myself in China). ;)

So we ordered Pulpo a la Gallega, the first octopus specialty on the menu. It's a traditional Galician dish that's now available in other parts of Spain. The octopus is usually cooked in a copper cauldron before being served with boiled potatoes, olive oil, and either sweet or mildly spicy paprika.

This pulperia might look rough and ready, but the food was of excellent quality. The octopus was perfectly cooked, fresh and al dente. The razor clams and seafood soup tasted divine as well.

The staff was friendly, and the seafood was served quickly at a reasonable price (see the bill photo). Pasión por el Pulpo is an eatery that I highly recommend, if you want to try some awesome seafood in Peníscola, particularly pulpo! :)

今天来推介一家最近吃到的大排档，在西班牙橙花海岸的Peníscola。名叫"Pasión por el Pulpo"，意思差不多是"一腔热情，专做章鱼🐙"。:D 就凭这名字，我这海鲜爱好者也要试试啊～

这家海鲜排档确实充满了对章鱼的热情。菜单上有章鱼图案，柜台边有章鱼壁画，厨房外面还放着一大桶章鱼虽然看上去有点恐怖······

菜单上有各式章鱼和其他海鲜菜肴的照片。作为视觉型的简单动物，我很喜欢这种一张大纸显示所有菜品照片和价格的方式，一目了然，省时省心。五颜六色的海鲜，让人看着就食欲大增。关键是对于一个西班牙语半文盲来说，这种菜单可以帮助省去查词的麻烦，或者因猜测而产生的惊险刺激。在拉美生活后，我对多数基本生存词汇还是了解的，但西班牙本土的一些用词又有所不同，尤其是东海岸受到加泰罗尼亚语影响的地方。

还在国内时就听闻很多外国友人在中餐馆的点菜历险，面对没图的中文菜单，随便指向某道菜，反正对文盲来说，都是一样不认识XD。运气好时，有美味惊喜，不时也会遭到一定程度的惊吓，比如牛睾丸汤······哈哈，真是造化，连我自己都没吃过这类诡异的东西^^。

有了这种多图对照菜单，碰到不认识的单词就不用查找或瞎猜了。最后点了章鱼特色菜：Pulpo a la Gallega。这道传统的加利西亚菜来自西班牙西北沿海，如今在全国都可以看到。一般是先在大铜锅中煮好章鱼，然后和水煮土豆、橄榄油和甜椒粉一起吃。

这大排档虽然看起来有点粗糙，但干净整洁，食物质量也是一流。章鱼煮得恰到好处，鲜美弹牙，蛏子和海鲜汤的味道也非常棒。服务很好，上菜快，价格也不太贵，值得推荐。