Above: A generous serving of cecina, thinly sliced cured beef, at Casa Divi.
As do most cities in Spain, Leon prides itself on its regional specialties, many involving meat. The meats of the Castilla y Leon region are indeed delicious, but sometimes we did seek out a few workarounds. The following are the spots we visited, listed in alphabetical order.
Never had we spent such a long period in Spain without a classic egg and potato tortilla. To remedy that, Lamar researched where to find the best one in the city. To do that he had to go to a bar, Bar el Gallinero. Open only at night and about as popular a spot on the tapa circuit as you can find.
Standing cheek-to-jowl, the crowd spills out, blocking the pedestrian street. Lamar gently elbowed his way to the bar to place a to-go order for a whole one, cooked to order. So he waited, balancing a glass of wine amidst all the young people gesturing and maneuvering in wildly unpredictable directions.
He returned home victorious with a classic tortilla weighing in about a kilo. He had learned in advance that it should be ordered jugosa, removed from heat well before it is set. Best we’ve ever had, and we enjoyed it the next day and the day after that for breakfast.
With its mom-and-pop hospitality, Casa Divi is absolutely the perfect place to sample a multitude of regional specialties. A little hike from the tourist center. it is always packed with locals. The menu is extensive, and dishes are family-sized. Fortunately, we had family to help on one of our visits.
The restaurant makes its own jerky for their plump croquetas. A local would never order cecina, the featured photo of this post, without knowing its pedigree. Casa Divi sources theirs from El Castro de Castrocalbón:
For El Castro, the process of making cecina begins with the selection of the meat, valuing hindquarters of animals of a minimum of 5 years old and a live weight of about 400 kg. After careful profiling, salting and washing, the piece goes to the dryer for 45 or 60 days so that the meat settles in the air, eliminating the water. This favors the penetration of the salt homogeneously and evenly. The pieces of Cecina Artesana remain for 15 nights in the smokehouse with holm oak wood from the forest of the Chana valley. Finally, they are cured for 12 months in the natural drying room.”
Zamburinas, scallops, were grilled perfectly, and shrimp were included in a bowlful of heirloom Pico Pardal garbanzos. Casa Divi offers salads, but be forewarned that most vegetable dishes are not vegetarian. A platter of tender leeks with honey and raisins arrived with alternating slices of roasted apple and micuit fois gras. Grilled wild mushrooms, setas, were studded with bits of jamon.
All so recommended. On our second visit, we felt welcomed almost as family. We were trusted, perhaps overly so, to help ourselves to complimentary house-made spirits – limoncello, orujo and anis, my personal favorite.
Above: Casa Divi
A polar opposite of Casa Divi in terms of atmosphere, Casa Mando maintains an old-school formality. Octopus was prepared in the traditional Galician style, while zamburinas with coconut and ginger were a little fancified for our tastes. Leeks were deliciously sweet, and the rich sauce for eggplant parmigiana was a deep dark red.
The formality of yesteryear provided a show-worthy presentation of baked Alaska. And the result of the tableside flaming tasted even better than it looked. The name for the combination of sponge cake, ice cream and meringue was coined by Delmonico’s in New York in 1876 to commemorate the Alaska Purchase. Once the flaming dessert is prepared for one table, orders ripple throughout the restaurant.
Above: Casa Mando
Clandestino Gastrobar shifts gears to offer contemporary fusion dishes to share in intimate spaces styled like an urban loft. Croquetas were blackened with chipiron ink. A burrata salad was well balanced, and corvina, or drumfish, ceviche was made heartier by generous amounts of avocado, cherry tomatoes and candied nuts.
Prawns and slices of heritage Duroc pork tenderloin topped “dried” rice. The only dish we felt was fusion run amok was deconstructed “broken lasagna.” Wontons unsuccessfully replaced traditional pasta, and the presentation seemed almost like stacked nachos. For dessert, shredded phyllo, or kataifi, served as a nest for a bright citrus filling, with trendy yusu ice cream on the side.
Above: Clandestino Gastrobar
A striking contemporary interior set a playful tone for Kamado Asian Food. Artfully presented Thai salad with huge shrimp perched atop it was the healthy part of our meal; the rest was guilty-pleasure delicious. In other words, not a spot for purists.
Eggplant tian was decadently transformed into a dish as sweet as caramelized plantains. Duck and shitaki mushrooms were at the center of the uramaki Singapore roll, while shrimp tempura was at the heart of a tarted-up uramaki secret roll.
Above: Kamado Asian Food
La Parrala Wine Bar offers a cozy spot for nibbling from a variety of small plates. We sampled melted cheese with two pestos, and a salad topped with rounds of caramelized goat cheese. Fried anchovies and red shrimp croquetas were outstanding.
Above: La Parrala Wine Bar
Pizza with cecina and fig jam at funkily decorated La Vespa 50 Pizzeria more than satisfied our pizza cravings. A large platter bore a beautiful assortment of lettuces with walnuts and parmesan crisps. But wait, what they did to that salad was remarkable. If your salad arrives with two large scoops of cheese ice cream in the center, does it have to qualify as your dessert? Definitely try that approach to salad at home.
Above: La Vespa 50 Pizzeria
A line of flames separated our table from the sleek contemporary bar at Lumiere Bar-Restaurante, where we began our meal with a bowl of the fried padron chiles that had been lacking in our diet recently. Our salad was colored by roasted vegetables, fresh fruits, microgreens and flower petals. Shrimp, boletus wild mushrooms and slices of miniature ears of corn. Our mound of tender tuna tataki was delivered sizzling atop a Himalayan salt block.
Above: Lumiere Bar-Restaurante
Leon was the third city on this trip that we patronized a Sibuya Urban Sushi Bar, none of them exuding a chain-like atmosphere. This time I’m including the tableside prep of the softshell-crab roll. Both fresh nigiri and standing-alert shrimp tempura lived up to our expectations. Recommended newcomers to our orders were a salmon, mango and cucumber salad; and a vegetable yakisoba.
Above: Sibuya Urban Sushi Bar
We don’t brake for burgers all that often, but Leon is home to the “Best Burger in Spain” Award in 2025, The Carnivan SuperBar. Worthy of the hype? Yes. Mother of Mary comfort food might be taking it a bit far, but the burgers were indeed f-ing delicious. The fries as well. Generous salad, and even wine. Order at the bar with tableside delivery.
Above: The Carnivan SuperBar
Hope our photos help you along your travels.
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