Restaurant in Palencia, Spain
Castilian fusion at a fair price.
Ajo de Sopas holds Michelin Plate recognition for 2024 and 2025 and a 4.5-star Google average across nearly 2,000 reviews — strong signals for a mid-range (€€) restaurant in Palencia. The kitchen blends Asian and Latin American influences with Castilian produce across two formats: a tasting menu at midday in the interior room, and tapas and à la carte on the glass-fronted Invernadero terrace. Booking is easy; the tasting menu is the stronger option for returning visitors.
4.5 stars across nearly 2,000 Google reviews is a signal worth paying attention to in a city the size of Palencia. Ajo de Sopas holds two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025), operates at a mid-range price point (€€), and sits opposite Parque del Salón on one of the more pleasant stretches of the city. If you have been once and ordered from the terrace à la carte, the stronger argument for a return visit is the midday tasting menu in the interior dining room — that is where the kitchen's creative ambitions are most fully expressed.
The format here splits along a clear line. The glass-fronted terrace, called the Invernadero, is the casual entry point: tapas and à la carte dishes that pull from the kitchen's broader creative range without the structure of a set menu. The interior dining room runs a tasting menu at midday only. That distinction matters for planning purposes — if you want the full composed experience, you need to arrive at lunch, not dinner.
The cooking sits at an intersection that is uncommon in Castile. The kitchen combines Asian and Latin American influences with traditional Castilian flavours, and does so in a way that reads as considered rather than eclectic for its own sake. Two dishes named by Michelin give you a useful flavour reference: crispy pig's ear with hummus and a spicy salsa, and an Iberian pork poppadom. Both lean on texture contrast and cross-cultural reference while keeping Iberian produce at the centre. That is the kitchen's operating logic throughout , familiar Castilian ingredients refracted through technique and seasoning from further afield.
For a returning visitor, the practical question is which format to commit to. The Invernadero terrace works well for a relaxed meal or a longer tapas session, particularly given the park-facing position. The tasting menu in the interior room demands more time and a lunchtime slot, but it is the cleaner showcase of what the kitchen can do when it is building a sequence rather than responding to individual orders. If you have already done the terrace, the interior tasting menu is the logical next move.
No wine list data is held in the venue record, so specific bottles and pricing cannot be confirmed here. What can be said with confidence is that the kitchen's flavour profile , Asian-influenced spicing, pork-forward Castilian ingredients, acidic and umami-driven preparations , asks something specific of a wine list. Dishes built around spicy salsa and hummus pair better with aromatic whites or light reds than with heavily tannic wines. For Castilian restaurants in this tier, the regional reference point is Ribera del Duero and Rueda: the former for aged reds, the latter for the Verdejo-based whites that have enough weight and brightness to stand alongside the kitchen's cross-cultural seasoning. Whether Ajo de Sopas leans into those regional pours or looks further afield is worth asking when you book. If wine matching matters to you, confirm the list format , whether there is a sommelier-curated pairing option with the tasting menu , at the time of reservation. Palencia's wine scene is worth exploring beyond the meal itself if you are spending time in the region.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which tracks with Palencia's scale as a city. You are unlikely to need more than a week's notice for a terrace table on most days. The tasting menu in the interior room, available at midday only, is the format more likely to fill ahead of weekends, so if you are planning around a Saturday or Sunday lunch, book earlier in the week to be safe. There is no booking method confirmed in the venue record, so check current availability through the restaurant directly via Paseo del Salón 25. Phone and website details are not confirmed in our data at the time of writing.
The Invernadero terrace is the more flexible option for walk-in or last-minute visits. The enclosed glass frontage means weather is less of a factor than it would be on an open terrace, which makes it a reliable choice year-round.
Quick reference: Paseo del Salón 25, Palencia. €€ price range. Tasting menu at midday only (interior room). À la carte and tapas on the Invernadero terrace. Google rating: 4.5 (1,974 reviews). Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025.
See the full comparison section below.
If you are building a longer stay, Pearl's full Palencia restaurants guide covers the broader dining picture. For a different register, San Remo and Terra Palencia (Contemporary) are worth considering depending on what format you want. The city's bars, hotels, and experiences guides are also available through Pearl.
For the Invernadero terrace, a few days' notice is usually enough on weekdays. The interior tasting menu runs at midday only and is more likely to fill ahead of weekends, so book three to five days out for a Saturday or Sunday lunch slot. Booking difficulty overall is rated easy , this is not a venue where you need to plan months in advance.
Yes, particularly for the terrace format. Tapas and à la carte at the Invernadero suits solo diners well , you can eat at your own pace and order selectively without committing to a full tasting menu. Palencia is a manageable city for solo travel, and at the €€ price point, Ajo de Sopas is one of the more interesting solo dining options in its tier.
No confirmed data on dietary accommodation is held in the venue record. The kitchen's approach involves Iberian pork prominently in named dishes, so if you have pork restrictions or other dietary requirements, contact the restaurant directly before booking. Phone and website details are not confirmed in our current data , enquire at the address (Paseo del Salón 25) or via any booking platform listing the venue.
The interior tasting menu at midday is the right format for a special occasion meal here. It is a composed, sequenced experience in a more formal setting than the terrace, and the Michelin Plate recognition (two consecutive years) gives it credibility as a destination lunch. At the €€ price range, it is significantly more accessible than a splurge at a three-star Michelin restaurant, which makes it a practical choice for a celebratory meal without the full cost of, say, El Celler de Can Roca or Arzak.
At €€, yes , especially for the tasting menu format. A Michelin Plate with a 4.5-star Google average across nearly 2,000 reviews at a mid-range price point is good value by any measure. You are not paying three-star prices, and the kitchen is doing something more creative than most restaurants at this price level in Castile. Compare it to the €€€€ tier of Spanish fine dining , Azurmendi or Aponiente , and the value differential is considerable.
If you are returning after an à la carte visit, yes. The tasting menu in the interior dining room is available at midday only and represents the kitchen's most structured expression of its cooking , the Asian and Latin American influences woven through Castilian produce make more sense as a composed sequence than as individual dishes ordered at random. The Michelin recognition specifically applies to the restaurant as a whole, but the tasting menu format is where that level of intent is most legible.
San Remo and Terra Palencia (Contemporary) are the nearest local alternatives worth considering. For creative Spanish cooking at a higher tier elsewhere in Spain, Quique Dacosta in Dénia, DiverXO in Madrid, and Mugaritz in Errenteria represent the ceiling of the category, though at a significantly higher price point and with considerably harder booking windows. See Pearl's full Palencia restaurants guide for local options.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ajo de Sopas | €€ | — |
| Quique Dacosta | €€€€ | — |
| El Celler de Can Roca | €€€€ | — |
| Arzak | €€€€ | — |
| Azurmendi | €€€€ | — |
| Aponiente | €€€€ | — |
How Ajo de Sopas stacks up against the competition.
A few days to a week is enough for a terrace table at this Palencia restaurant. If you want the tasting menu in the interior dining room, book earlier as it runs at midday only, which limits availability. Palencia's scale means you are unlikely to face the multi-week lead times common in larger Spanish cities.
The Invernadero terrace, with its glass-fronted street-facing setup and tapas-focused à la carte, suits solo diners well — you can eat lightly and at your own pace without committing to a full tasting menu. The midday tasting menu in the interior room is a reasonable solo option too, given the €€ price point and Michelin Plate recognition.
No specific dietary policy is documented in the venue record. The menu mixes Asian and Latin American influences with Castilian ingredients, so there is reasonable variety in format — tapas, à la carte, and tasting menu — but check the venue's official channels before booking if you have specific requirements.
Yes, within context. The interior tasting menu at midday is the right format for a considered meal, and two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) give it credibility without the pressure of a formal fine-dining environment. For a big-occasion dinner in the evening, the terrace à la carte is more casual, so align your expectations to the format you choose.
At €€ pricing with Michelin Plate recognition two years running, it is a reasonable bet in Palencia. The cooking fuses Castilian traditions with Asian and Latin American influences — a more ambitious approach than the price suggests. For context, the crispy pig's ear with hummus and spicy salsa is a signature Michelin has specifically flagged.
If you are eating at midday, yes — it is the most direct way to see what the kitchen is doing with Castilian-Asian-Latin American fusion at a €€ price point. It is only available in the interior dining room at lunch, so plan accordingly. If a lighter commitment suits you better, the Invernadero terrace tapas give you a fair read on the kitchen without the full commitment.
San Remo and Taberna del Gordo are two Palencia options worth considering depending on your preferred format. If you are travelling in Castile more broadly and want a higher-ambition meal, the region has options at different price tiers, though none in Palencia currently hold a Michelin star — making Ajo de Sopas the most credentialled option in the city for modern cooking.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
