2023-04-29 06:30:55
It opened its doors in the 70s in A Estrada and continues to attract new customers thanks to its vicious portions of churrasco at the weekend.
29 abr 2023 . Updated at 05:00 h.
The Mesn da Estrada is not a pretentious place. Neither in the name, nor in the decoration, nor in the price list. The business opened its doors in the mid-seventies in A Estrada, when marketing had not yet reached the towns and things were still called by their name. It could have been called Casa Puente or Casa Durn, but Albino Puente Goldar and Florentina Durn Rivas —who founded the business— decided to pay tribute to their town by naming their business simply Mesn da Estrada. The couple had made the Americas in Venezuela and, back home, they built a building on Avenida de Benito Vigo and opened an establishment on the ground floor. Many customers who still go religiously to the premises at wine time remember those beginnings in which the bar was already as it is seen today.
Outside, the façade, framed by two lanterns, combines glass and wood and is crowned by a wrought iron sign that reads the name of the place. Inside, wood is the protagonist of everything. From the counter, from the tables, from the shelves and even from the ceiling. Fixrallo Muebles Goldar. Back then there were carpenters…, comments a client recalling the glorious past of A Estrada as the undisputed capital of furniture. A couple of cart yokes preside over the place, giving it a traditional touch that does not clash with the rest.
Already in the days of Albino and Florentina, the place was what it is today. A bar for wines, coffees and homemade tapas with a calm and familiar atmosphere. When the couple left the premises, they took the transfer Manuel Chao first and then his son Alejandro Chao, until in October 1999 Javier Gaete Durn took over the business.
Except for small necessary reforms due to functionality issues, Gaete did not touch the bar. He focused his efforts on working hard to keep the usual clientele and try to attract new visitors. This year I am here 25 years old. Almost nothing, comments Javier Gaete from behind the bar. He and his wife Susana Fernndez, who is in charge of the kitchen, are the pillars of the business, which is open every day except Tuesdays from 8:10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. and on weekends it usually extends its hours until 2:30 a.m.
There is work to give and take, but Javier is used to it. You don’t give shops in the middle, says. And don’t exaggerate. His parents, José Antonio and Marina, run the Casa Gaete de Riob, a tavern with catering service in which Javier grew up from a young age. The man from Estrada was also a bartender at the Dilema de Silleda nightclub and did many extras at weddings and pulperas and many hours in the cafeteria that his father managed at the A Estrada Cultural Recreation Center.
The client cuts his ham
Susana Fernández, who was a hairdresser in Silleda, joined the team six years ago. She is in charge of the kitchen and delicious homemade tapas come out of her pots. Like tortillas, stewed potatoes, tripe or salad. On Monday nights we have cut ham, but each customer cuts their ownXavier explains.
The place is one of the great winners of the Santas Tapas. In 2016 his Polo fusion was the most voted tapa through the App. In 2017 he won second prize with his Petisco de monte. In 2018 his Tigresn was the best presented skewer and in 2019 his Horta do Mesn won first prize and the prize for best presentation twice. To finish the list, in 2022, the place won the third prize with Naan do Mesn. Except this last year, we’ve always played somethingsums up Javier proudly.
In any case, at the Mesn da Estrada, what is most successful is the churrasco on Friday and Saturday nights. The 9-euro tapas attract new customers to the premises and have brought a bar that is on its way to fifty years into fashion back into fashion.
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