La Gala sounds like it might be Italian but it actually means spicy clams in Qingdao dialect. 辣蛤蜊 is the mandarin for this dish in case your Qingdao dialect isn't quite up to snuff.
We were advised to try la gala by Marcus, our guide with Qingdao Adventures. We slipped over to Peninsula Seafood next to our hotel on the first night and fell immediately in love with the dish. The dish isn't so overly spicy that you can't enjoy the delicious clams that are fresh from the sea. We asked the waitress for the coldest Tsingtao beers she had. After a few mouthfuls of spicy clams, nothing tastes as good as a glass of ice-cold beer. These Qingdao folks are doing something right!
