CLOSED: El Buen Comer

Eco Mundo is very close to the train and bus stations. They offer two table d' hote menus, the daily menu and the festive menu. Both offer four courses consisting of: salad, soup, main course and a dessert and are priced at 9 and 14 euros respectively. The salad course was great; self service from a salad bar of varied items including freshly grated vegetables, spinach, tomatoes, olives, sweetcorn and peas with dressings and tasty home made bread to accompany. There are three-four items to choose from for each of the other three courses. The two times I went, the second course offered a choice of three soups, with all being vegan and the tomato soup was particularly good. On both my visits there were three main course choices two of which were vegan. The seitan burrito and marinated tofu with cous cous were fairly decent but in my opinion lacking on the seasoning and spices side. My non veg*n friends thought the same about their vegetable lasagne. From the three desserts on offer, only one was vegan each time I went: a fruit compote, basically pureed fruit. This was okay but reminiscent of baby food, however I am informed that this is a regular offering in Spain.

As the previous reviewer has said, no alcohol is served though I gather you can take your own along. A selection of non alcoholic drinks including alcohol free wine are available, as are soya milk and very good soya milk lattes. Although limited English is spoken the waitress was very helpful in marking off vegan items on the menu. Overall, good value, clean and a pleasant interior. The atmosphere could be improved with louder background music, particularly in the evenings. This place is your best bet in Santander. The food just needs a bit more seasoning and I would give it 4 Happy Cows.

Anything vegetarian in Spain has to be welcomed, and Eco Mundo tries hard to create a healthy, wholefood environment. However, the overall atmosphere tends to be penitential rather than celebratory, though perhaps my opinion was influenced by the fact that only non-alcoholic beer was available and strong flavours were avoided (didn't sample the whole menu, of course...). I suppose it depends what sort of vegetarian you are...