Restaurant in Castrillo de los Polvazares, Spain
One dish. Book before you arrive.
Coscolo holds a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand and serves the Cocido Maragato — León's famous reverse-order stew of meat, chickpeas, and broth — using house-cured, locally sourced products. Chef Paolo Casanova has made the dish his own at a price point that removes all hesitation. Book ahead, park at the village entrance, and come hungry for the full sequence.
Yes, book it — and do so before you arrive in the village, not after. Coscolo holds a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand, serves one of the most historically specific dishes in northern Spain at a € price point, and sits inside a car-free medieval village that most travellers pass without stopping. If you are on the Camino Francés or making a detour through the Maragatería region of León, this is the most purposeful meal you will eat. If you are already here for the Cocido Maragato and debating which restaurant to choose, Coscolo is the answer.
Coscolo is a traditional restaurant in Castrillo de los Polvazares, a village in León whose entire culinary identity is built around a single dish: Cocido Maragato. The dish has been served in this area for centuries, and its defining quirk is the reversal of the usual Spanish cocido sequence. At Coscolo, you eat the meat first, then the chickpeas, and the broth arrives last. The logic, historically, was practical: pilgrims and muleteers needed sustenance immediately and could not afford to fill up on soup before reaching the protein. Chef Paolo Casanova, who trained in Navarra before settling here, takes that received tradition and tightens it. The restaurant smokes, cures, and prepares its charcuterie and meat products on the property, using locally sourced ingredients from the surrounding Maragatería. The result is a cocido with more provenance depth than most versions in the region, and Casanova has renamed it on the menu as Cocido Coscolo to mark the distinction. The Michelin guide noticed: the 2025 Bib Gourmand recognises exactly this kind of cooking — serious, place-specific, and accessible in price.
On a first visit, the Cocido Coscolo is the only dish you need to think about. It is the reason the restaurant exists, the reason the village exists in the wider food conversation, and the most complete way to understand what Coscolo is doing. Order it, work through all three courses in the correct reverse sequence, and pay attention to the smoked and cured elements , these are made in-house and represent the specific contribution Casanova makes to an otherwise shared regional tradition.
On a second visit, the question shifts. You already know the cocido. Now is the time to test the rest of the menu and look for the smaller editorial decisions Casanova makes: the details he has described as adding personality to the Navarra-meets-León framework he operates within. A second visit is also the right moment to think about pairing , the wine list at a Bib Gourmand in a Castilian village is worth interrogating, particularly for bottles from Bierzo, León's most serious wine appellation, which sits close enough to warrant being on the list.
If you find yourself at Coscolo a third time, you are either living locally or making a deliberate pilgrimage, at which point the conversation with the kitchen becomes the point. Casanova's Navarra background creates an interesting tension with the deep Leonese tradition he is working inside. A third visit is the moment to ask about that directly.
The Bib Gourmand designation matters across all three visits: this is food worth returning to, recognised at a price that does not require justification. A € price range at Michelin-recognised quality is not common in Spain's restaurant landscape , or anywhere.
The most important practical note: leave your car at the car park at the entrance to the village. Castrillo de los Polvazares is a protected medieval settlement and only residents may drive inside. Walk in from the car park. The village is small and the restaurant is easy to find on foot from the entrance. There is no public transport option worth considering , this is a car trip from Astorga, which is the nearest town of any size, roughly 10 kilometres away. If you are walking the Camino Francés, Castrillo de los Polvazares sits just off the main route as a detour from Astorga and is a well-known stopping point for pilgrims with time and appetite. Plan the visit with current hours confirmed in advance, as rural restaurants in Spain often operate limited service days or close seasonally without much notice online.
Google reviews sit at 4.6 from over 2,200 ratings , a volume that signals genuine local and visitor traffic, not a boutique audience. That number, alongside the Bib Gourmand, suggests consistency rather than occasional brilliance.
Booking is rated as easy for Coscolo, but easy is relative when you are in a village with a finite number of covers and a dish that takes time to prepare correctly. Book ahead, particularly on weekends and during peak Camino season (spring and autumn). Walk-ins are more viable on weekday lunches but are not guaranteed.
See the comparison section below for how Coscolo sits against other Spanish restaurants Pearl covers. The short version: Coscolo is operating in a completely different category from €€€€ tasting-menu destinations. It is not competing with those restaurants, and it should not be evaluated against them. It is the best-value case for a specific regional dish done with genuine craft in its native setting.
If you are extending your time in the area, Pearl's guides cover the full picture: our full Castrillo de los Polvazares restaurants guide, our full Castrillo de los Polvazares hotels guide, our full Castrillo de los Polvazares bars guide, our full Castrillo de los Polvazares wineries guide, and our full Castrillo de los Polvazares experiences guide.
Order the Cocido Coscolo. It is the reason to come here and the dish that earned the Michelin Bib Gourmand. Everything else on the menu is secondary on a first visit. The cocido arrives in reverse order , meat first, chickpeas second, broth last , and uses smoked and cured products made on-site from locally sourced ingredients. On a return visit, use the wider menu to understand the rest of Casanova's cooking, but the cocido remains the benchmark.
At a € price point with a Michelin Bib Gourmand, Coscolo offers strong value relative to the quality signal. The Bib Gourmand is specifically awarded to restaurants that deliver good cooking at moderate prices , this is not a coincidence here. If you are comparing spend, Coscolo at € delivers more place-specific culinary depth than most mid-range restaurants in León. For context, the €€€€ tasting-menu experiences at restaurants like Arzak in San Sebastián or Azurmendi in Larrabetzu are a different category entirely. Coscolo is not competing with those , it is the right answer for a different question.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in Pearl's current data for Coscolo. Given that it is a traditional restaurant in a rural Castilian village focused on a long, structured dish like the Cocido Maragato, informal bar seating is less likely to be the primary format. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm before arriving with that expectation.
Book at least a week ahead for weekday visits, and two or more weeks ahead for weekends or during Camino season (broadly March through October). The village itself limits foot-traffic spontaneity , you have to make a deliberate trip to get here , which means visitors who do arrive are almost all intentional diners. Cover count is not confirmed in Pearl's data, but rural Bib Gourmand restaurants in Spain typically run small dining rooms. Do not rely on walk-ins.
Castrillo de los Polvazares is a small village and Coscolo is the most recognised name here. If you want to compare traditional Cocido Maragato options in the area, check our full Castrillo de los Polvazares restaurants guide for current alternatives. For a broader León regional meal, Astorga is the nearest town with a wider selection. For Michelin-level traditional cuisine in comparable price ranges elsewhere in Spain, see Cave à Vin & à Manger - Maison Saint-Crescent in Narbonne and Auberge Grand'Maison in Mûr-de-Bretagne as reference points for what Bib Gourmand traditional cooking looks like across borders.
Yes, clearly. A € price range at Michelin Bib Gourmand standard is the definition of worth it. You are getting a regionally specific dish, made with house-cured and smoked products, with 4.6 stars across over 2,200 Google reviews. The price removes any hesitation. The only question is whether the Cocido Maragato format , a long, structured, meat-forward meal , is what you are in the mood for. If it is, this is one of the most price-justified meals in León.
It works well for a special occasion if the occasion suits the setting: a rural medieval village, a historic dish, and an informal but serious atmosphere. It is not a white-tablecloth destination for a formal celebration , the € price point and village location indicate a more relaxed register. For a food-focused couple or small group who want their special occasion to feel like a discovery rather than a performance, Coscolo is the better call. For a formal anniversary dinner with wine-list depth and full-service polish, look at higher-tier options like Atrio in Cáceres.
Group capacity is not confirmed in Pearl's current data. Given that it is a traditional village restaurant, phone ahead to discuss group size and logistics before booking. The car-park rule is worth factoring in for groups arriving by multiple vehicles , all cars must be left at the village entrance. Groups of four or more should confirm in advance whether private or reserved table arrangements are available.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coscolo | Traditional Cuisine | € | Easy |
| Aponiente | Progressive - Seafood, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Azurmendi | Progressive, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| DiverXO | Progressive - Asian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Order the Cocido Coscolo — there is no real alternative. This is chef Paolo Casanova's version of the Cocido Maragato, León's historically reversed stew (meat first, then chickpeas, then soup), made with smoked and cured products prepared on the property from locally sourced ingredients. It is the reason the restaurant exists, and it is what the 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand recognises.
Coscolo sits in the € price range, making it one of the most affordable Michelin Bib Gourmand experiences in Spain. The Cocido Coscolo is the centrepiece, and the value for what you get — locally sourced, house-smoked and cured ingredients, Michelin-recognised cooking — is strong. If the format works for you (a single landmark dish rather than a multi-course progression), it is worth every euro.
Bar seating details are not confirmed for Coscolo. Given the restaurant's setting in a small, protected medieval village and its focus on the full Cocido Coscolo experience, it is worth contacting the restaurant directly to confirm seating options before you visit.
Book as early as possible — at minimum a few days ahead, and further out on weekends or during the pilgrim season on the Camino de Santiago, which passes through this area. Castrillo de los Polvazares is a small village and Coscolo is its highest-profile restaurant, which means capacity is limited. A 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand will only increase demand.
Castrillo de los Polvazares is a tiny village built almost entirely around the Cocido Maragato tradition, so most dining options in the village serve some version of the same dish. Coscolo is the Michelin-recognised choice. If you want broader comparison, Pearl's full Castrillo de los Polvazares restaurant guide covers the alternatives.
Yes. At the € price tier, a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand with house-smoked and cured ingredients and a historically distinctive dish format is a strong value proposition. Coscolo is not competing with fine dining tasting menus — it is delivering a specific, well-executed regional dish at an accessible price, and it does that well enough for Michelin to recognise it.
It works for a special occasion if the occasion suits the format: a single landmark dish in a medieval village, not a multi-course celebration dinner. The Cocido Coscolo's reversed serving order — meat, then chickpeas, then soup — gives the meal a ritual quality that makes it feel distinct. For a milestone birthday or anniversary where the story matters as much as the food, it is a strong choice.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
