This is one of the most beautiful regions on Earth. I’m reluctant to reveal it

Gueyu Mar sits on a corner by the sand dunes, with umbrellas shading the patio out front, and a gigantic sculpture of a fish – the imperador, Alvarez’s signature ingredient, his muse – staring out from the rooftop.

The place doesn’t look anything special. There are no airs and graces, no tuxedoed waiters or a clipboard-waving maitre d’.

But then that’s the thing with Asturias as a whole: this region is a low-key wonder. You would roll up in Asturias in a figurative bikini and thongs and not even realise you were setting foot in one of the most beautiful, most desirable and most enjoyable regions in the entire world.

Though, you would soon figure it out.

My lunch at Gueyu Mar comes at the end of the journey. The beginning is in Cudillero, a hillside fishing village within striking distance of the main airport here, which has become the calling card of Asturias, given it features in so many of the region’s tourism brochures.

There’s a perfect U-shaped bay of cool, clear water at Cudillero surrounded by a steep hillside packed with houses like a crowd in a football stadium, with just as much colour. Roads snake their way up, lined with restaurants spilling onto pavements, with quaint hotels and B&Bs. It is literally postcard perfect – just look at the postcards.

Asturias’s tourism slogan is “paraiso natural” — natural paradise — and the region is just that. Tucked between Galicia and Cantabria on Spain’s northern coast, it is a verdant area of soaring mountains and rugged coasts, of rolling meadows and orchard-covered hills. The gorgeous Picos de Europa mountain range is here; seaside towns such as Ribadesella, Llanes and Lastres abound; historic Oviedo city sits in an emerald valley.

This region is the source of fierce pride for its residents, as I discovered even before my arrival while chatting to Claudia, a native Asturian and one of the cabin crew on my Emirates flight to Madrid: “It’s true natural paradise,” she told me. “I love walking through the forests and mountains with my dogs, hiking, biking, being in contact with nature.”

This region has long been popular with domestic tourists in Spain, the perfect place to escape the heat of the south or the crush of the cities. However, to international visitors, Asturias remains something of a secret. And it’s one that, even now, I’m a little hesitant to let slip.

Lunch in Cudillero provides my first taste of something that’s essential to understanding the character of Asturias: cider. There’s a long and fiercely proud history of producing cider in this region, where that natural beauty is perfect for growing apples, which are then ideal for being pressed and fermented into a mildly alcoholic beverage.

Pretty much every meal past 11am in Asturias is served with cider, so it’s no surprise to find my fried calamari and grilled octopus with paprika sitting alongside a green bottle and an empty glass. The sun beats down, the streets reverberate with the sound of adults dining and kids playing, and there’s just nowhere else you would want to be.

Later, I’m moving onwards to the south-east, into the Picos de Europa. There are historic sites here, artwork in caves that dates back 35,000 years. There’s wildlife, too: brown bears and wolves. This wild region is riven with walking trails that take in those spectacular peaks reaching desperately for the sky.

Though, I’m here to eat. The Picos is also home to cheesemakers, the only ones in the world who can create Queso de Cabrales, a soft blue cow’s milk cheese that ages in caves in the heart of these mountains.

In the tiny village of Asiegu, a place so beautiful in the fading light today that it almost doesn’t seem real, Rocio Bueno is making cheese. As the sound of cowbells echoes through the hills, she’s churning milk, separating curds, pouring it into moulds. The curds here are chunky, with space between them for the natural penicillin in the caves to penetrate and produce the blue mould Cabrales cheese is so well known for.

Rocio takes me to one of those caves, too, which has no signage, no door, no obvious marker that there’s even an opening here at all. It’s secret business, a coveted space. And the cheese is spectacular.

Much is made from the local environment in Asturias. In coastal Lastres, Anchoas Hazas produces some of the finest salt-cured anchovies on the planet. You can visit the workshop and watch as tiny bones are plucked out of fish by hand, and the fillets set to cure in tins.

Buy a few of those tins while you’re there – the value for money is ridiculous.

And then just along the coast towards Cantabria, there’s Ribadesella, the loveliest beachside town you ever did see, basically what uber-popular San Sebastian in the Basque Country was probably like before all the tourists started arriving. Ribadesella is set around a half-moon of sand, with a river on one side leading to a sleepy port, mountains brooding in the distance.

It’s only a short car ride to Playa la Vega, where beachgoers slap along the road in their swimwear and thongs, umbrellas under arms, kids’ toys in string bags. You see them all from a patio table at Gueyu Mar, where I’m sitting today, marvelling as a parade of some of the finest seafood I’ve eaten makes its way over to us.

There’s tuna carpaccio, a single, enormous cross-section of the entire fish cut super-thin to allow diners to experience every flavour and texture. There’s char-grilled sardines served on thick-cut tomatoes with a herb vinaigrette. And there’s the imperador, a big-eyed fish also known as alfonsino or red bream, the dish everyone travels here for, grilled to that point of perfection every cook chases, served with no dressing or sides.

Inside the restaurant, chef Abel Alvarez is no rock star, no diva. He’s there by the big charcoal grill just behind the counter in an apron that’s seen better days, chatting to diners, keeping a practised eye on his fish. No airs and graces.

THE DETAILS

FLY
Qantas flies from Australian ports to Asturias Airport via Singapore and Frankfurt, in codeshare with Lufthansa. See qantas.com

STAY
Artiem Asturias is a centrally located hotel near Gijon, within driving distance of all Asturias attractions mentioned here. The five-star hotel has a pool and restaurant on site, with rooms from $208 a night. See artiemhotels.com

EAT
For reservations at Restaurante Gueyu Mar, see gueyumar.es
For information on Cabrales cheese in Asiegu, see quesosasturianos.com

The writer travelled with assistance from Turespana and Turismo Asturias. See turismoasturias.es