La Bombi

Cantabrian seafood temple 

Poached shrimps

La Bombi is highly regarded as perhaps the best seafood restaurant in Santander. The family-run business is located in the heart of the city, with water tanks holding onto live seafood such as crabs and lobsters, all cooked to order to ensure freshness. I turned up on a Monday afternoon and the whole place was fully booked, which sounds crazy considering most restaurants wouldn't even bother to open due to a lack of customers. So La Bombi really does have a reputation among the locals and I was glad I booked a table in advance. The owner who spoke great English walked us to the fish tanks and explain what fresh food they have and how would they cook it, which make the ordering really fun and engaging.

Spider crab

Grilled king prawns

To kick off the meal, I had some poached shrimp seasoned with sea salt. It was super simple but it tasted so wonderful, it was so fresh and sweet, and I think anything additional seasoning or garnishes on top was not needed at all. A whole spider crab was next, and I was glad the kitchen did all the hard work by peeling all the meats off the legs, before mixing them with the brown meat before serving. It was creamy, but not overly rich, and the freshness and sweetness were outstanding, it worked like a treat when tasting it with some bread. A whole 1.3kg John Dory was grilled to perfection, the tiny hint of chili really offered a lovely aromatic taste which lifted up the freshness of the fish, it was also cooked and seasoned to perfection, I could not fault it.

Grilled John Dory

Giant clams cooked in white wine

The restaurant is on a more premium end with most seafood dishes costing around the £25 - £30 mark, and more if you order a whole fish or lobster, but I still find it much better value than anywhere I came across in the UK when we are talking about fresh seafood. All the dishes had very simple cooking treatments, and all cooked just at the right temperature. For true seafood lovers, it is hard not to fall in love with La Bombi.

Food 4/5

Average cost without drinks and services:
£70 (dinner)

C. Casimiro Sainz, 15, 39003 Santander, Cantabria, Spain

https://www.labombi.com/