If you want to know what to eat in Ourense, you have to keep in mind that it’s the only of four Galician provinces that isn’t near the ocean so naturally, although present, fish and seafood aren’t prominent ingredients of the region with the exception of octopus, which is always a star dish in Galicia.
The Miño crosses the city and many restaurants offer fish from the river on their menus: salmon, trout, and lamprey (similar to eel). In terms of meats, in addition to in-season game, you can eat many of the dishes that come from pig slaughter such as androlla, leg of lamb a la orensana, and the famous lacón con grelos (with I.G.P.).
Ourense’s cuisine is based in quality produce like the Galician soup with grelos (greens), cachelos (boiled potatoes) and legumes like the Faba de Lourenzá with I.G.P. You’ll have the opportunity to try their typical cheeses: Queso de Tetilla, Queso de San Simón da Costa, and Queso Cebreiro, all products with D.O.P. that pair perfectly with the town’s famous bread, Pan de Cea (with I.G.P.)
In Ourense, the empanada is reinvented with a great variety of ingredients: eel, octopus, and bonito fish are the most highly demanded.
The most common wine in the province is D.O. Ribeiro, but they also make Monterrei, Ribera Sacra, and Valdeorras wines, all with D.O.
Lovers of dessert that come to eat in Ourense will be able to enjoy the cake known as Bica de Trives as well as the cañas (stuffed tube pastries). In Ourense the chestnuts, with D.O. Castaña de Galicia, are especially good, and are eaten either roasted or candied as marron glacé. Another typical product with I.G.P. is the Honey of Galicia.
It’s always good to finish a meal in Ourense with some Aguardiente de Hierbas (herb brandy) or Orujo de Galicia (pomace brandy), especially if the food has been plentiful.
In Galicia they generally celebrate many gastronomic festivals, and a few of the ones in the Ourense capitol are: Xantar (International Salon of Gastronomic Tourism), the fall and springtime Concursos de Pinchos, and Los Magostos, the day of the the patron saint, San Martín de Tours, in which they originally roasted chestnuts around the fire and currently celebrate in different parts of the city as well as surrounding mountainss.