Sevilla / Seville Restaurants

[vserna]

I admire your steadfast effort to eat well in Granada, Jesús...

[JesusBarquin]

I admire your steadfast effort to eat well in Granada, Jesús... 

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And, what else could I do...? I learned as a kid that it's a hard life and guess it gimmie strength in such difficult tasks,

BTW, last saturday I ate at Cunini and everything we tasted was very good: quisquillas, cigalas, prawns' ensaladilla, jamón, assorted fried fish, local ice-cream (from Los Italianos) and cakes... I mean, quite better than simply OK, as I said not too accurately in my previous message.

[vserna]

We may tend to overlook Cunini because it's been there forever and is just a "raw materials" restaurant, but possibly this is a style that we'll grow to appreciate increasingly as the overall supply of fresh raw materials of quality continues dwindling!

[SBonner]

My wife and I just got back from several weeks in Spain and highly recommend these two restaurants in Sevilla. They are both on the same street and next door to each other on Felipe II street.

Restaurante Victor and Di Vinum.

Both offer dynamite wine lists and complexly favoured tapas, 1/2 racions, and racions.

Try the regional cheese plate and home made ice creams at restaurante Victor. The wine list at Di Vinum has an extensive selection of regional Spainish wines grouped by Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva. Stellar Cava selection as well.

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner

Vancouver

[pedro]

Nowadays, when you see a wine list arranged by the old concepts of Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva you should read it with a pinch of salt. It takes you back to the age when there was barely one region which produced good wine, Rioja. The mentioned system specifies for each category the minimum amount of time that a wine has to spent in the barrel and in the bottle before making it available to the consumer.

Fortunately, the situation has dramatically changed, and you can find wines comparable to those made in Rioja in almost every corner of the country. More often than not, those wines can't be classified according to the aforementioned criteria, since every Denominación de Origen (D.O.) has its own rules and even though there are some that do classify wines in the referred categories, the periods of time will vary amongst them.

[SBonner]

Pedro,

Great point in reference to the wine list catagories. I should have mentioned that fact in my posting. The restaurants in question also did list their wine selections and vintages as good, excellent, and outstanding as well when they were not Rioja's or Ribero's. In any case the restaurants were great.

Cheers from Vancouver.

Stephen

[JesusBarquin]

Haven't eaten at Restaurante Victor, but agree that Di Vinum is a very good choice in Sevilla, and not only because of their outstanding wine list, prices and service.

[marktynernyc]

what about the food?

I am going to Jerez and Sevila for Holy Week - already have a tentative list of restaurants but would like to hear about the food you ate. Please divulge.....

[Bux]

what about the food?

I am going to Jerez and Sevila for Holy Week - already have a tentative list of restaurants but would like to hear about the food you ate.  Please divulge.....

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I trust you've also done a search on "Seville" and "Sevilla" to see what's already been posted on eGullet. Sevilla is not all that well known for its restaurants but it is famous for its tapas. We found an incredible variety and stopping at a bar was always an interesting experience and usually a tasty one.

[adt]

I'm going to be in Granada this weekend, I was wondering if anyone has any up-to-date gastronomic recommendations in or near the city?

I tend to go for 'creative cuisine', rather than 'rustic authenciticy' and unadorned plates of sea monsters, so Iberos y Patagonicos sounded interesting from other threads, any recent visitors?

Mirador de Aixa also sounded interesting, as did FM bar - but perhaps a bit seafood oriented? Or, anywhere new?

[JesusBarquin]

Then you should probably choose Iris or/and Iberos. Do not forget to tell us your view, please.

FM is indeed "a lot" seafood oriented, and the right place to eat delicious unadorned marine monsters... But, in case you do not plan to eat crustaceans, a plate of RAF tomatoes (possibly the best you can find anywhere), and a couple of dishes of Espardenyas and Puntillitas, followed by a couple of dried Bacalaíllas would do very well. Together with a plate of Invasores, that was our last meal there a week ago. The place is to my mind a must.

Buen provecho.

[adt]

I'm afraid my Spanish isn't too hot, but google tells me these are, respectively, sea slugs or "the stomach of the sea cucumber", "tiny whole squid, fried", unknown (dried fish I assume?) and "invaders". All sounds pretty monsterous - but then again, one of my companions will definitely go for that.

Which is the most upmarket/expensive of iris and ibericos, and which is the most modern in cuisine?

Thanks for the advice btw.

[adt]

Which is the most upmarket/expensive of iris and ibericos, and which is the most modern in cuisine?

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Iberos, sorry.

[JesusBarquin]

"the stomach of the sea cucumber",

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Right.

"tiny whole squid, fried"

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Right, but I prefer them "a la plancha"

(dried fish I assume?)

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Right

"invaders".

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Munida rugosa. A lot of information in Google. Sorry, but I am travelling in minutes.

You're welcome btw and have a nice stay in Granada.

[JesusBarquin]

I forgot: Regarding Iris/Iberos, I prefer the first (which is also a bit more 'modern'), but my last meal there wasn't as good as previous experiences. Regarding price, more or less the same: around 25/30 EUR a three courses meal without wine.

[adt]

Thanks. We went to Iris in the end, and had a very enjoyable meal. The style of food was surprising similar to many places in the UK (perhaps a reflection also of my menu choices), but there were some distinctly Spanish influences, for instance in a watermelon amuse in a gazpacho vein, and in their olive oil ice-cream. The latter was rather unusual, transplanting a vividly strong olive oil flavour into a dessert, rather than the ‘dessert concept’ of ice-cream into a savoury dish, and I enjoyed it enormously.

Other courses were less unusual – a good monkfish carpaccio, lukewarm, sliced extremely thinly and edged with black olive, and an interesting but not entirely successful main of cod with 'caldo de lumbre' and pistacio. This was a bit of an authenticity-of-flavour concept dish, served on uncooked grapes in a subtle ‘its own sauce’ broth. The dish was lifted by an excellent mint oil, which was redolent of eucalyptus, but which was unfortunately inadequate in quantity.

I also sneaked a bit of a companion’s tuna with ginger, pineapple and sesame rice balls, this was a prettily presented little distillation of pure Chinese takeaway – and the worse for it, to my mind. The dish I really liked the sound of, turbot with an artichoke and scallop foam, was unfortunately only on the old English menu they managed to dig out for us (I should remark that the staff were very friendly and patient regarding our wholly inadequate Spanish – although ‘fire broth’ proved a bit beyond our powers of comprehension). Have you tried the turbot, is it as promising as it sounds?

[JesusBarquin]

Sorry, but I have not tasted that turbot. The other main courses you have mentioned, yes, and I agree with many of your points on them.

BTW, let me add frankly -not only to you and not meaning to be unkind- that I find a little bit annoying not knowing the name of the person with whom I speak.

¡Salud!

[adt]

BTW, let me add frankly -not only to you and not meaning to be unkind- that I find a little bit annoying not knowing the name of the person with whom I speak.

Sorry - I've improved my signature. slightly. (I did look at pithy quotes, but all the ones I could find made me feel queasy. one day...)

I stopped giving my full name on public posts since google got hold of an embarassing post from my youth and left it at the mercy of future employers and anyone else I might wish to decieve.

[JesusBarquin]

Thanks, Ian

[sarah w]

Have just returned from 5 days in seville, thoroughly enjoying the people and tapas. We stayed at a lovely hotel very near the giralda...Probably the best location for us on a city break (i have often booked a little out of town unintentionally)

http://www.hotelalminar.com

We spent most of our eating time in and around Mateos Gago, i mixture of touristy and bustling with locals Tapas bars..

All highly enjoyable, nibbled on dishes such as

- Rollitos De Berengenas y Gambas (Aubergine wrapped prawns fried)

-Habitas Baby Enchorizodas(Baby Broad Beans + Chorizo)

And Croquetas De Queso Manchego,Tortilla with Tuna & Salsa Rojo, Salamejro, Oxtail stew, Montaditos- Pringa

The best bar for atmosphere we found was the teeny La Goleta, Mateos Gago 20

The Man that runs it is full of spirit, the son of a famous flamenco singer

They serve simple drinks incl Vino Najanja...

The tapas menu is short but perfect..The floor is covered in sawdust and the proprietor breaks into song often..Be warned the only servicos is a small cupboard for men !!

http://www.footprintguides.com/Seville/Tap...d-Drinking2.php

Our only dissapointment was Egana Oriza, we were quite looking foward to a different kind of meal...When we arrived at the restaurant we were very impressed by the place, a stunning dining room Indeed

But the staff attitude immediately startled us, the lady who lead us to our table (very near the front)proceeded to sit and cut stuff out of the paper, yawn etc..It became apparant that when she required the attention of the floor staff she made a peculiar noise..Obviously a lot better than yelling but it became quite annoying

The Maitre D was sullen, the only positive people were the mature "runners" but they were dressed like they worked in a British B&B

Also very strange that they came and took our wine order !!

Over to the food

Nibbles arrived, Tasty Olives,Capers and Garlic

Then an amuse of Bread slices and some kind on paste/pate..Sorry to be vague but we were not quite sure what it was..No explanation was made

For starter we had the Ajo Blanco (very tasty) And the Partridge salad..The confit Partridge was good but the accompanying Pistou/Ratatouille was over sweet

By now having got very use to 3-6 tapas between us a night this meal seemed huge !!

For mains i had the Hake with Salsa Verde, very good fish..Insipid watery leek soupy sauce with no sustanence

Andy my partner Had been intrigued by some of the local dishes on the menu, a tripe stew and casserole..He had asked the maitre D if there was anyway that he could buy a sample size portion of the tripe stew additonally (as he has never had tripe) We advised that this was not possible as portion size is already set???

Surely this stew would be in a big pot bubbling away, how else would you make tripe edible..??

Anyway he went for Lamb which was nice but again served with the sweet Ratatouille/pisto

We shared a very good dessert of a slightly jellyfied orange sauce, sorbet and chocolate rocks

The whole meal with Aperitifs,2 x wine, coffee was £95 incl service (135 euros) so not bad but we really we expecting more

We discussed that if we had such a stunning building that we would make so much of the surrounding,service and food...

Maybe we have become to use to the French style of service but even in Bruges where we ate at a relaxed Michelin venue it didnt feel as sloppy as this

Otherwise Sevilla is a vibrant city with so much going on you would never get bored and getting a flight for £35 Return from the UK has surely got to get you packing your bags !!

XX

Edited October 26, 2005 by sarah w (log)

[Roger]

Your experience at Egaña Oriza seems to reflect the opinions of a number of people that I know who have been there recently. It appears that the restaurant is on a downward trend and is no longer a better option than places such as Salvador Rojo and Poncio. In fact, I ate at Poncio last Saturday and had one of the best meals ever there.

[sarah w]

Doodles, i wish i had known before

We did look at Salvador Rojo but it was shut when we walked past and Egana was already booked

Next time eh !!

Thanks

x

Edited October 26, 2005 by sarah w (log)

[fung jiao bao]

I agree with bux that Sevilla is amazing for Tapas, and not so much for restaurants. So my reccomendations are for Tapas - Enrique Bercera, and Casablanca.

These two places are not anything like the Hacienda of el Bulli, but are honest representatives of traditional Spanish Tapas.

Jerez de la Frontera is only an hour away, Andana is a good restaurant there.

[Pranian man]

The restaurant behind the tiny tapas bar Casablanca (Zaragoza, 50) is a delight, and fantastic value.

Is medium-high end (but not quite alto cocina) Andalusian cuisine but perfectly executed with the best ingredients and the odd creative flourish. It would be my first port of call in Seville.

As already mentioned, the tapas bar is supoosed to be very good as well, but does get very crowded.

[vserna]

An interesting alternative if you have wheels is just a few miles outside Seville in the new La Boticaria country hotel (on the Alcalá de Guadaira-Utrera road): the Molino Blanco restaurant is welcoming, luxuriously vast, and offers Mikel Uría's delicate Basque-Andalusian cuisine (with such things as a salad of onion-topped cuttlefish, monkfish medalions with black olives or a sweet rice soup with tangerine sorbet. Rather better than Seville's so-so overall culinary level.