Cava Spanish Restaurant and Tapas bar, Galway

Review

Cava is a really good Spanish restaurant in Galway serving a large selection of Tapas, starters and main dishes. They have a very good Spanish wine list and if, like me, you love Spanish food when in Spain, then Cava is a slice of Iberia at home.

There are certain food trends that I find funny - not amusing funny, weird funny. These range from Italian restaurants serving food that is anything but, to Sushi bars devoid of fish, and people calling restaurants eateries. What the hell is an eatery? A really lazy way of describing anything from a Michelin Star restaurant to a sandwich bar in a metro station in Bruges? It is devoid of specific meaning, so as a descriptive term is poor. Last but not least of my gripes are the universal tapas. I have had the misfortune to be offered Tapas in everything from Lebanese restaurants to Thai and Chinese. Is there not equivalent word for ‘small plates of food’ in these languages or is it just another sign of dumbing everything down to the LCD. Thank God, or Paolo, things are improving generally and some things significantly.

Since opening Cava restaurant in Galway, husband and wife JP McMahon and Drigín Gaffey have built up a strong following on the back of taking something they both love and doing it really well.

The food is as authentic as possible, and the wine list is a labour of love continually evolving. They try to buy carefully sourced Spanish ingredients, or make their own in a traditional way, for example with their salted cod. The inside is causal with wooden floors and some exposed stone. Spanish music, the chatter of happy customers and a menu in Spanish with English subtitles, and you know they have set out their stall to do one thing well.

The tapas part of the menu is too long to get specific, but expect platters of cured meats and Spanish cheeses, fish every which way, meatballs and Spanish sausages, and plenty of rocket, roast peppers and tomatoes all served in various combinations. At lunch time there is a selection of sandwiches and some soups while the tapas are available all day, every day.

Cava also do a dinner menu Wednesday to Sunday, and here you can find dishes such as roasted wild pheasant spatchcocked served with lentils & pancetta cassoulet, mixed local leaves, pan-fried sea bass with chickpeas and chorizo broth, served with sautéed potatoes and samphire or free range rabbit with Spanish rice cooked in saffron with wild mushrooms, & mixed baby cress.

Prices are reasonable, with the Tapas starting at around a fiver, and dinner main courses, such as the pheasant, standing you €34 for a serving for two.

Spanish food has been underserved with most of the fusion offerings that have sprung up until now. Cava takes a great culinary tradition, treats it with respect and delivers Spanish food as it should be. When I write it I can’t help wondering why others can’t do the same. Well worth a visit.

*Meanwhile if that is not enough to whet your appetite, JP will be blogging with us soon on Spanish wines and recipes, more anon.