La Pulpería de Paco

A couple of weeks ago I started to write about my favourite places to eat in Salamanca, so it is just about time to bring the next post. I will be talking about La Pulpería de Paco, which is specialized in seafood. But before going any further, I have to admit that being a Hungarian – without sea – I am not the biggest fan of seafood. I am still reluctant to try out many weird looking creatures, specifically because I’m convinced that most of them taste very similarly – I could also say that they don’t have much taste, and I’m willing to get into an argument with anyone stating it differently. So although the receptivity of my stomach is limited, I try to be as open about it as I can, and this is how La Pulpería de Paco got onto my list.

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Where can you find it in Salamanca?

Although not in the old part of the city, but it is located still quite in the central area, right opposite to the train station. Here is the address: Paseo Estación, 109-115, 37004, Salamanca.

The place

In my opinion, La Pulpería de Paco represents the Spanish eating habits and mentality very well. The place is always full of people, particularly around 9-11 o’clock. And when I say full, I mean literally: all the tables are occupied, people are queuing already at the entrance and all the way long in the whole place, the waiters are trying to navigate themselves throughout the crowd, and you are lucky if you get a table within 10 minutes. As a consequence, when you finally get to sit down, if you want to talk to the person you came with, you have to shout so that they can hear you properly. Everyone is chatting at the same time and they don’t care about the others, they just want to enjoy that they are out and that the day is over. So this is the kind of atmosphere you have to imagine. And to top it off, the whole design of the place is centred around the topic of seafood; the pictures on the wall and the continuous video clips about the cooking process makes sure you feel like being somewhere on the coast in a hot summer night.

The menu

As I have mentioned above, the place offers seafood – and not much else. But regarding seafood, for sure, there is a great variety to choose from and the quality is guaranteed. Additionally, there are some desserts as well, however I don’t have good memories about the ones I have tried. So if you’re willing to take my advice, you go there to get delicious seafood and not to have something sweet.

As for me, my favourites are the Chopitos and Gambas al Ajillo. The former are a type of cuttlefish prepared in a coat and served with lemon on the top, while the latter are prawns in a delicious garlic sauce. But you can also ask for Pimientos Padrón, which is not seafood but typical of Spain and it has been only a short while I fell in love with it, so I am still in the quite-obsessed-about-it period.

However, the most famous dish, without doubt, is the Pulpo con Cachelos, a plate of octopus served on potatoes. Honestly, we have been to La Pulpería de Paco many-many times, and the family of my boyfriend loves it, but in spite of the fact that it is flirting with me every single time, I just cannot have the stomach to try it.

For further information about the selection, visit their website: http://lapulperiadepaco.es/

The prices

All the necessary information on prices can be found on the picture, I hope they are more or less visible. But at least I can tell that it is a higher quality restaurant which implies higher prices.

La Pulpería de Paco is open from Tuesday to Thursday from 20:00 and on Friday and at weekends from 12:00 to 15:00 and from 20:00 to 00:00.

All in all, this is another place from my list I would recommend you when coming to Salamanca. Especially advised for those who love seafood!