Isaac Loya

In the wake of ther quarantine, Isaac Loya has been in the business for more than half his life, specifically at Real Balneario de Salinas. Loya forms part of one of Asturias’ major culinary sagas, the owner in bygone days of the mythical San Félix de Avilés and creator of the country’s best-known “Champagne sea bass”. The Loya family was also the first to extol the merits of red bream, so much in vogue nowadays. 

Isaac started out on the restaurant floor under his grand mentor, his father Miguel Loya, but necessity sent him into the kitchen, which he never left. His verve and mastery with fish has allowed him to add in a number of techniques, increasingly specific and updated, and he is now a veritable master in the treatment of sea produce. Real Balneario de Salinas is located right on the Salinas beach, and its dining room has some magnificent views of the Cantabrian Sea. The restaurant has had a Michelin star since 2005, it has just passed the 30-year mark, and is in excellent health in terms of product, cuisine, restaurant service and its wine list, possibly one of the most interesting lists in the Principality. 

Some of the fetish products are barnacles, shrimps, sea urchins, red mullet, grouper fish and red bream. The restaurant is held to be one of Spain’s best fish restaurants, it is a feature of many restaurant lists and rankings for its charm and its views, and it also has two Repsol “soles”.