A few years ago Mary and I made an unexpected boat trip to Santa Pola, Spain, just outside of Alicante. We stumbled on Restaurante Asturiano La Sidreria, with a nice outdoor patio next to what looked like an ancient fortress. We didn’t know it, but this simple eatery was famous for an Asturian dish.

Cachopo is pure comfort food, think chicken fried steak but instead of gravy, it’s stuffed with cheese and all sorts of tasty ingredients depending on the chef’s preference. We’ve had a cachopo craving ever since we landed in Spain and yesterday we satisfied it in a lovely little restaurant, La Charca Taberna. It lived up to its glowing reviews on TripAdvisor.

The modest dining room was comfortable, the staff friendly. Of course, we ordered cachopo, but we also ordered a tomato, white asparagus, and tuna salad to start. Although it's not prime season for tomatoes, these were the sweetest we enjoyed on the trip.

But the star of the show was the very large and magnificent cachopo served on a rustic cutting board. It was the best we’ve tasted since Santa Pola. The beef was fork tender, the crisp coating satisfyingly crunchy, and the ham and gooey three cheese filling savory.

We barely made a dent in it. But that’s OK; we now have enough leftovers for another delicious meal. Salud to the chef and staff. We’ll be back any time we come to Madrid, which will be often.