food & drink

When Guillermo, Carlos and Rubén – three childhood friends from Galicia – opened a restaurant on one of the Raval’s rougher corners in 2011, they let the address name the place. Cera 23 has been filling its small dining room ever since, and a fourth Galician, Rubén’s brother Miguel, has since joined the crew. Their stated secret is humility – “there’s no difference between a tourist and a local” – along with warmth and, clearly, the cooking.

The food is Spanish with creative touches and a Galician accent running through it. The signature is the black rice volcán, a seafood-laden mound erupting with garlic-saffron sauce and finished with dried tuna, and the octopus comes from Muros Bay back home, these days roasted and set over causa limeña. Creamy slow-cooked beef cheeks and a seafood paella hold down the traditional end, while Iberian pork presa with grelos (turnip greens) sneaks another taste of the northwest onto the plate. Finish with the house “Death by Chocolate” – a coulant with a Ferrero Rocher hiding inside, served with salted-caramel ice cream.

The room plays its part: the open kitchen sits in full view of the tables, and a cocktail bar by the door mixes a blackberry mojito worth arriving early for. Reservations advised – the space is small and the loyalists are many.