Sidrería El Mentidero
Tucked just off the old town's main artery, El Mentidero is the kind of sidrería that defines Asturian eating: long communal tables, bottles of cloudy natural cider poured from arm's-length, and platters of food that are entirely seasonal and entirely local. It is loud, convivial and completely unpretentious.
What to order
Start with a culete of sidra natural — the waiter pours it from a raised bottle into a wide glass held low, aerating the cider and releasing its sharp, yeasty aroma. The ritual is not theatre; it genuinely changes the flavour and every Asturian will tell you so with complete seriousness.
For food, order the fabada asturiana if it is on the board — a slow-cooked stew of large white fabes beans with chorizo, morcilla and lacón that is richer and more complex than any bean dish you have eaten before. Follow it with a cachopo: two thick veal escalopes sandwiched around Asturian cheese and ham, breaded and fried to a shattering crust.
The cider culture around it
El Mentidero sits on a street with several other sidrerías, and it is perfectly normal — expected, even — to move between them over the course of an evening, a practice called the txiquiteo or chigre-hopping in local parlance. Each place will have slightly different house cider from a different Asturian producer.
Llanes has its own small cider culture distinct from the more famous Gijón scene; the apple orchards on the hillsides above town supply several local producers whose bottles you will only find in this immediate area.
More of Llanes
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Llanes →
