Road and gastronomy have been two concepts linked for many years, as Michelin and Repsol well know. Or what has been repeated so many times that if there are trucks stopped, you will surely eat well. But beyond guidebooks and roadside restaurants, the truth is that gas stations do not seem like the best place to unleash gourmet passions: hot bad bread, snacks, soft drinks and inflated prices are usually the menu when stopping to refuel. Luckily there are exceptions and even places with their own specialties to take as a souvenir.
Some service area stories are well known. Las Esparteras, on the A5, has become a place of pilgrimage for many gourmets. It is not just a stop en route, but many go there expressly for their food or their menu with almost 1000 wine references.
Rausan deserves special mention, the Alfajarín service area, on the N-II near Zaragoza and strategically located on the Madrid-Barcelona or Barcelona-Bilbao route. It is not that it is, far from it, a place of foodie pilgrimage, but it is one of the best-known stops en route in the country. Any souvenir to take away? The first thing that comes to mind are the mythical fruits of Aragon, but we confess that we have never made them.
Unfortunately, other places on the road are better known for their infamous Francoist symbology that even reaches food and drink products. And there are also those that its illustrious clients have made famous, such as the La Finca gas station that made headlines for having a good assortment of caviar and champagne for the residents of the area. The new Diverxo will open in this luxurious urbanization in Madrid, so everything seems to fit.
For somewhat more humble travelers, here is a small list prepared with the invaluable help of the gastronomic journalist Jorge Guitián ?collaborator of this same house and great traveler? of some delicious things that we have discovered along the way.
In Monrepós, near Huesca, on the highway to Jaca, the Tomasinas are the queens of this service area. These cupcakes available in more than fifteen varieties and each one with its name (Lurditas, Juanitas, Carlotas, Gordas…) have been made since the beginning of the last century, they tell us, and have become the symbol of this service area which is defined as confectionery.
Of dimensions and forceful flavor, they ensure that the elaboration is completely handmade with flour, fresh eggs, olive oil and without dyes or preservatives. It is not uncommon to see travelers leave the place with a yellow box with half a dozen Tomasinas.
The concept is a bit crazy, but it has been a real success for years. In fact, the Guissona area is itself an excursion destination for many. The fault lies with the BonÀrea restaurants, a livestock cooperative that also has its own supermarkets and gas stations and that offers a buffet in which the diner has his own plate to cook the meat.
In addition to Guissona on the Barcelona-Valencia motorway, Jorba on the A-2 is very popular. Knock-down prices (free buffet at 8 euros during the week and 12 at the weekends).
A8 motorway, exit 269 between Cantabria and Asturias. With these instructions we arrive at a stop with various names (La Casa Azul, Royal III, La Casa de las Corbatas…), but two indisputable stars in its bar and shop: the Unquera ties and the gigantic chocolate palm trees.
Although the first ones -long puff pastry cakes- have long since made confectionery one of the claims of the town of Unquera, the size of the palm trees of this well-known roadside bar has redoubled the fame of the place. They are also sold in its online store at 6.5 euros per unit.
We continue in the north. Between Puebla de Sanabria and Verín, in the province of Orense, the Mesón Erosa on the N-525 has two good reasons to make a stop: the bread and empanada from a local oven that they serve in this house.
They have both a bar and a restaurant, our colleague Jorge Guitián tells us that he knows a while about Galician empanadas, and both the bread and the aforementioned empanada can be eaten there or ordered to take away.
I’m going to take you to eat at the gas station. In almost any place the idea would be scary, but in Batea (Tarragona) it is great news. Because the gas station bar (it’s actually right behind it) is the Miravall restaurant, a highly recommended stop on a gastronomic route through Terra Alta.
Beyond the peculiar location, the traditional cuisine, but with a twist and based on good local produce, is most interesting, with a daily menu and some tasting based on seasonal products. The wine, of course, white Garnacha from the land.
The history of this service area dates back to 1889, although it was then called the Venta de Almadrones. Located at kilometer 103 of the A-2 at the height of the town of Almadrones (Guadalajara), this family restaurant is well known for its own creation and preparation of sweets based on sponge cake and pastry cream that they have baptized with the same name as the village.
In addition to the almadrones, be careful because Area 103 also has its own gourmet brand: Acojonante. A very diverse range that includes both artichokes or chorizos in oil, cheese, chocolate or pickled partridge.
It seems that confectionery and the road get along especially well. Sometimes with their own specialties, other times the trick is to sell good products from the area without having to go astray. This is the case of the gas station that is at kilometer 80.7 of the Madrid-Andalucía highway, at the exit of La Guardia, in the province of Toledo.
The bar, Guitián tells us, is a bit dark, but in it you can buy the wonderful hempseed cakes from Panasu, a workshop in La Guardia. They are thin and crispy oil and anise cakes that are decorated with hemp seeds.
On the road and driving it is usually recommended to eat something light. If we are also in the middle of summer, it is noon and we are walking near Pamplona, ??the advice seems more than logical. Despite all this, we confess that we skip it if it stops in Liedena.
A few years ago Iban Yarza ?panarra guru par excellence? gave us the clue: in the Latorre Complex, right in front of the gas station, there is a wonderful menu of the day. It is a sports complex with a hotel, with a huge dining room and not many luxuries, but they usually have a more than decent stew and pochas.
It is true that there is no gas station, so it is not a proper service area. But many stop at A Pousadinha (EN-111 road between Coimbra and Figueira da Foz) for a good reason: Tentugal pastries.
An authentic temple dedicated to this Portuguese sweet and other regional pastries that are worth having marked on the map when traveling through the center of the neighboring country.
