Instead of planning how we’ll spend each travel day, Dan and I prefer to head out with a general idea of where we want to go and stop when something catches our eye. It might be a world-class museum one day, other times it could be a fabulous view along the side of the road or an inviting coffee house.
It certainly paid off when we passed a tiny restaurant in Andorra called l’Hort de Casa.
How to find a good restaurant in Andorra
Somewhere between the Vall de Pal and Arinsal in northwest Andorra, our stomachs begged us to take a break for lunch. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a travel guide for Andorra, which could have told us where the good restaurants were.
Come to think of it, so would a guided tour. Private guides always steer their guests to good places to eat. But this time, we were road tripping through Andorra on our own.
With no clue of where to eat in Andorra beyond the capital, we resorted to our usual routine: drive around until you find a local place that looks good.
If you have no clue where to eat while on the road, try what we do:
- Look for something that resembles a restaurant. (duh!)
- Avoid all chain restaurants, because they cater to tourist tastes.
- Check side streets, where non-locals rarely go.
- Look for a busy restaurant, either full tables outdoors or a full parking lot. (Only applies if it’s the normal mealtime.)
- Look for local plates on cars in the parking lot.
- Bonus: a hand-written menu (because the menu changes according to what’s in season)
The goal is to find a place that prepares food for the people who live in the area. The flavors will be authentic, and locals return to places that prepare the best dishes.
Besides, local restaurants mean local prices. You can’t go wrong with that.
We somehow ended up in a small town called Erts, where a small stone-and-wood building sat on a small side street. Our only clue to what was inside was a simple wooden sign over the door humbly proclaiming “RESTAURANT.” With all the vines and greenery and a small terrace in the front overlooking the mountains, it looked so inviting that we couldn’t resist. We went in.
Inside L’Hort de Casa: mountain ambiance
It was a pleasant October day, but the weather was a bit chilly, so we decided to eat indoors. The aroma of fire-grilled food greeted us as we entered and were warmly welcomed and seated by a very friendly woman.
We later learned that the woman who we thought was the waitress is actually the owner. Turns out, she does everything in the restaurant.
We could tell that we were in for a treat.
When we got the menu, we finally learned that our lunch stop was named L’Hort de Casa (The Orchard House). We also discovered that it specializes in Aragonese cuisine.
Aragon? I didn’t know that it had its own cuisine, or even what part of Spain it’s in. All I knew of it was that it was once a kingdom (Catherine of Aragon was the first wife of Henry the 8th).
Whatever. Everything on the menu looked delicious.
The menu offered a lot of dining options, all fairly priced. The waitress brought a basket of crusty bread and a dish of Spanish olives while we made our selections.
What’s Aragonese cuisine?
Following her recommendation, Dan ordered a flavorful homemade beef noodle soup to start. I couldn’t resist selecting a wild mushroom salad with a balsamic reduction dressing. When it arrived, I was thrilled to see palm hearts in it as well. I was even more delighted to find that the mushrooms were tender, not woody.
Aragonese cuisine must include snails, because our waitress told us it’s the specialty. No slime for us though. When we saw the duck breast on the menu, we went no further. We both ordered it.
The duck breast was simply prepared, graced with kosher salt before meeting the grill. It arrived to the table accompanied by a slice of grilled pepper and potato, both drizzled with a fragrant Spanish olive oil.
Then the bill came.
Our final bill for 2 starters, 2 entrees and two beers came to €36.50 plus service charge. Pretty standard pricing for Europe.
Considering the flavor and atmosphere, it was worth every euro.
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We’ve been there twice already. First time for their snails especialty and the second time for their calçots especialty. We love the food, the place and the customer service!!!
I’m really glad to hear that, Debbie. You know what, I had never heard of calçots until now, so thanks for that. I had to Google it. Come to find out, high season for calçots, the Catalan green onion, comes during Lent. At least there’s something to enjoy during the winter months. lol
It sounds like a treat we need to try! How do you like them prepared?
I agree with you, Linda. When it comes to choosing a restaurant I always look for how many people are eating there. If it’s empty, there may be only two reasons: it’s either very expensive or very bad. The duck looks really good, I love duck.
We love duck too, Anda. If you get a chance, try duck bacon; it’s amazing.
No but tell me about it slowly. Mmmmm….duck. LOL!
That duck looks so good! I was , literally, just writing about crispy duck in a new blog post I’m about to publish and thinking “yum!”, then saw this. Need to get me some duck!
When I first tried duck, I wondered, “where have you been all my life?” Crispy duck is the BEST! Have you tried Balinese bebek goreng?
Too much planning can certainly take the fun out of things. I love your adventurous spirit, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s usually an experience to remember.
… and it seems that the ones that don’t work out are the most memorable, haha.
I think you got total value for money in such a stunning location. The food looks so good. Great post and beautiful photos.
Thank you. Are you a duck lover?