Sevilla / Seville Restaurants

[et alors]

I've been through the threads, and I haven't been lucky in coming up with recent information of eating in Seville/Sevilla (using both forms of the name in hopes of making this thread searchable).

I stayed in Seville 10 years ago, in a wonderful hidden hostel I can't find now, and I recall wandering through the streets at night, having wonderful tapas and copious amounts of sangria.

But now I'm older, and have a 9 month old daughter (who has already dined at Trois Gros!), and while tapas will be great some evenings, I'd love advice on breakfast, lunch and proper dinner, high end and low, with the only requirement being that it be tasty. I'm sure my husband and I will have at least one high-end meal to celebrate our mutual 40th year, but the rest will probably be in the moderate to cheap range...

(and if anyone wants to sneak in further advice on lodging or such, don't hesitate.

In return, I promise reports.

[Rogelio]

try Here and Here for some tips from other members.

In Sevilla the best thing to do is going out for tapas becouse the restaurant scene is not that interesting.

You can give a try to Poncio a very interesting place for modern Andalusian cooking with traditional roots.

Sadly, Casablanca, the best tapas bar has closed, but Kiki, his last manager has founded Bodeguita Casablanca. in front of the Archivo de Indias in Adolfo Rodríguez Jurado, 12, Ph 954 224 114. closed Saturdays, Sundays and august.

For deep fried fish (pescaito frito) the best place is Barbiana (Albarada,11); for the delicious tortillitas de camarones, pijotas and langostinos (king prawns). Also interesting the seafood at both Espigón, I y II (Bogotá, 1 y Felipe II, 28) great choice for all that extraordinary seafood without having to drive to the seaside. For local fish stews the place is Yebra (Fernández de Guadalupe, 8)

And for comfort food Manolo León (Juan Pablos, 8) is compulsory to sample ham and chicken croquetas, potatoe and courguet scrabled eggs and bany lamb trotters as well as jabugo ham. But if ham is what you're looking for take a trip to "LA FLOR DEL TORANZO"aka Trifón on the corner of Gamazo and Barcelona, for the thinly hand sliced ham and the delicious montaditos de picante con lomo and de lomo de orza al jerez con manzana.

[et alors]

But if ham is what you're looking for take a trip to "LA FLOR DEL TORANZO"aka Trifón on the corner of Gamazo and Barcelona, for the thinly hand sliced ham and the delicious montaditos de picante con lomo and de lomo de orza al jerez con manzana.

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How can you go to spain and not look for ham? I also am seeking cheese, wine, olives, lively markets and food related day trips.

[wgallois]

We were taken to El Bulli at Hacienda Benazuza in May and I've just located the scrawled notes which I took during the meal. Those notes simply listed ingredients, so it should have been very tricky remembering the details of the meal, but fortunately the taste memories are pretty strong in the case of many of the dishes! In terms of excitement and pleasure, I think that the meal was only rivalled for me by the first time we ate a good restaurant, Overton Grange in Ludlow, when Claude Bossi, now of Hibiscus, was there. My overriding impression of the meal was what great fun everything was, because there was such a simple thrill in admiring and then eating all the food. I should mention here that I'm vegetarian, so I was especially impressed that so many vegetarian El Bulli greatest hits were rustled up from the kitchen at short notice.

We began with whiskey sours with passion fruit and then ambled through a colossal series of tapas, the most memorable of which were oilve oil wrapped in olive skin (I loved the presentation of this and the ravioli dishes, where individual ravioli were dispensed from jars at the table), hazelnut ferreros (well, a salty hazelnut and chocolate dish that played on the idea of Ferrero Rochers), mushrooms (with massively intense reconstituted flavour, one of the few poor notes for me), parmesan (one of the few preparations I can't remember), aniseed nuts, a crispy radish concoction with great freshness and flavour, spoons of reconstituted corn with lime (like an evening of tortilla chips and beer with lime on a single spoon), yoghurt coated yoghurt balls, grilled cauliflower and rasberries (a super combination), walnuts with mayonnaise (ditto), coconut ravioli with balsamic vinegar (I adore sweet/savoury mixing, so I was in a very good place by this point), beetroot ravioli (I can picture it very well right now, but can't find any to hand in my office), a mozarella-type raviolo, and Catalan-style barbecued spring onions (calcots) with mushrooms.

This last dish probably signalled a move slightly away from experiment and more towards pure pleasure and comfort in the "main" dishes, best exemplified by the cocktail glass full of truffled potato foam, which was the kind of thing I could have polished off many times over. After the meal, my impression was that I had definitely preferred the tapas to the mains, but looking back on the meal, I realise that one of my favourite courses was a plate of green aspargus with grapefruit and piles of hot mayonnaise. I'm not quite sure why the dish was so good, but it worked amazingly well. This was followed by melon with eucalyptus and nutmeg, which somewhatfell between the experiment and pleasure styles .

Pudding was tiramisu four ways, which was not quite my thing as I'ver never really got tiramisu and the dish seemed slightly pedestrian compared with the imagination of earlier courses. Petits fours included marshmallows, chocolate mints and great-looking chocolate coral. We drank Muscadet and Rioja, but to be honest my mind was almost always on the food. Service was good: friendly, unstuffy and efficent. I've no idea of the cost as it was a treat, and what an amazing privilege to be taken there. This was a truly unforgettable meal and one of the best aspects of it was that not only was it a sensual pleasure for hour after hour, but it also made one think a great deal about food, and not just in a cursory manner but in a way that affects me even now when I'm cooking, remembering the ideas, tastes and combinations which made it such a great experience.

[et alors]

I am here and have found two nice tapas places-- casa paco, which is uneven, but one block from my apartment ,) and cafe europa which is quite good, esp. the crepe de bacalao, and the partige pate. will follow up on the rest soon.

also found the market on ferria where i got the most unbeliablely wonderful little pears. no idea what they are, except sweet and juicy.

[podolski]

I am here and have found two nice tapas places-- casa paco, which is uneven, but one block from my apartment ,) and cafe europa which is quite good, esp. the crepe de bacalao, and the partige pate. will follow up on the rest soon.

also found the market on ferria where i got the most unbeliablely wonderful little pears. no idea what they are, except sweet and juicy.

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Try Sol y Sombra (at the end of Calle Castilla) and ask for Solomillo con Ajos.... I forgot the name of a small restaurant near Plaza Altozano (could be Chema?) serving nice Sea Bass & Almond Croquettes

[et alors]

is casablanca gone? I couldn't find it-- ended up eating at vino and tapas, because they had tables-- makes a huge difference with my daughter. Tapas were quite nice!

[Rogelio]

is casablanca gone? I couldn't find it-

Let me quote myself from three posts above.

Sadly, Casablanca, the best tapas bar has closed, but Kiki, his last manager has founded Bodeguita Casablanca. in front of the Archivo de Indias in Adolfo Rodríguez Jurado, 12, Ph 954 224 114. closed Saturdays, Sundays and august.

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[et alors]

Sevilla roll up September 2006

made of various folks comments, with my own opinion as I try to verify.

Sorry about the confusion with the now defunct Casablanca-- this was the first time I've been able to sit down and sort through everything. Travelling alone with a baby (my husband is off in Nerva with his nasa cronies shooting x-rays through rocks)... well, I'm a bit disoriented. I would like to shoot myself in the head for saying this, but thank god for starbucks, where I can sit Amelie down to crawl while I use the computer... upstairs at Plaza San Francisco I can pull chairs around to make a make-shift playpen, and they even have an outlet. (for those who care, plaza alfalfa and plaza cristo de burgo have wifi, but not baby-friendly. Try bouncing a crabby baby on your knee while drinking sangria surrounded by out of uniform drag queens, tourists and happy families-- that's alfafa 10.)

Anyhow, back to food-- someone who writes guidebooks must read this forum-- I was surprised how many were in my Knoff Citymap Guide.

TAPAS Bars

Considered the best bet in Sevilla

El Riconcillo-- personally I adored it, great food even off-hours, great service, gorgeous old decor and they allowed Amelie, my 10-month old baby to sit on the bar while we ate tapas together (she liked jamon-- I'm scared.) The spinach-garbonzo was surprising and addictive. Amelie thinks so also.

Barbiana -- Stopped in on a thursday lunch, and it was packed with locals. No wonder there were no tourists-- from the outside it was nothing much, no tables ouside, no tables inside for that matter except two tall bar tables with no chairs. Lots of men in suits, women dressed nicely, everyone chatting, everyone knew echother, the bar man, the lotto sellers... I plunked Amelie on the bar, and ordeed a tinto verano-- but over the crowd the barman couldn't here properly, and I replied "si" as I alwas do and got a terrific dry rose.I ordered the required shrimp tortilla (more a fritter than anything else, but GREAT) and then asked the barman for another tapas. Amele tried to feed a cracker to a fellow patron. The barman choose somehting, a bit of fish and potato -- both delicious. Amelie ate half the potato and flirted with everyone in the room. Toward the end of the meal, a fellow carrying a michelin red guide came in-- he spoke english and confirmed this was the best spot in centro. A gulleter, or merely a wise man?

El Espignon IyII

Manolo Leon

Yerba

Sol y Sombres

Estrella

Manolo Leon

Cafe Europa- I think the crepe of bacalao and the partige pate puts it in the running. The Salmorego is a favorite of amelie's-- she has learned how to dip here.

Any word on Antigua Bodeguita? -- it was jam-pcked at lunch today.

RESTARAUNTS

Poncio

As-Sawirah

Egana-Oriza is generally considered going down hill.

I spotted El Mata-- very attractive menu, including carpaccio of gambas. Anyone tried it?

FINE DINING

"La Alquería at Hacienda Benazuza is a fine restaurant in delightful surroundings, very well run by Ferran Adrià alum Rafael Morales and closely monitored by Adrià himself. The menu is somewhat more conservative than Ferran's own at El Bulli, but still first rate stuff."

Starting to feel this is required.... we have wheels, when my husband brings them back from Nerva friday.

as for markets, the one on Ferria by Ominium Sactorium provided the great pears

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleganthack/237608658/ . there is one at plaza de construction-- er-- plaza de constition as well, perhaps slightly better but also harder to spot.

I will continue editing and updating...

Edited September 8, 2006 by et alors (log)

[et alors]

more on flickr....

La Mata has am ambitious chef, but it's hit and miss now. This dish, watermelon a la placha, was awesome though.

Cafe Europa was my favorite for tapas. And the kitchen is open all day.

Lourdes Lbarra, the chef is extraordinary. She's catalan, and she has defiantely transformed the place into something special.

location, phone

lomo de bacaloa

crepe bacala

sormorillo

Edited September 25, 2006 by et alors (log)

[et alors]

Also, what are these?

[Rogelio]

more on flickr....

La Mata has am ambitious chef, but it's hit and miss now. This dish, watermelon a la placha, was awesome though.

This is an El Bulli classic.

And this are chanquetes (Aphya minuta), almost forbiden baby little fishes that are delicious deep fried.

[jakob nielsen]

Hi there,

my girlfriend and I will be going to Sevilla in July, and are looking for recs on good tapas places.

We would also like to try at least one of the top end places in the area. Besides Sevilla we will definetly also go to Granada and maybe Malaga.

We have a car so all suggestions in the area will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jakob

[Rogelio]

Please, take a look at all this threads:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...9512&hl=seville

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...1851&hl=seville

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...0086&hl=seville

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...5954&hl=seville

[jakob nielsen]

Is a place like Tragabuches still top notch?

[Rogelio]

Is a place like Tragabuches still top notch?

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Indeed, but Ronda it is miles away from Sevilla.

Edited June 20, 2007 by Rogelio (log)

[jakob nielsen]

Yeah, I know,

I think we'll get a car take a tour sevilla-ronda-malaga-granada, or something like that.

Any advice, outside the old postings

[Reignking]

Granada? Wonderful place -- I've been there twice. The wonderful thing about that town -- other than the Alhambra and the view of the Sierra Nevadas -- is that they give you free tapas with every drink that you order. And they were good, too -- mimi-omelettes, croquetas, etc. I stayed around the plaza at the bottom of the road leading up to Alhambra -- Plaza Nueva.

In Sevilla, I stayed near the cathedral; the food was still good, but not as memorable as Granada's.

[docsconz]

I'm not sure if this was on the previous threads, but one place you may want to check out in Sanlúcar La Mayor near Sevilla is ALHUCEMAS . Miguel Palomo is a master of the fryer.

[docsconz]

For top-end places near Sevilla, I would choose La Alquería, a taste of elBulli in Andalucia.

[tracyinfrance]

We are heading off to Seville for 5 days and have looked through all the links that have been posted for dining in the city, but all seem quite old. Can anyone please let me have a top 5 dining and top 10 tapas spots in town! I read somewhere that Egana Oriza was going off the boil, is this still the case? Thanks very much

[Rogelio]

Abantal and Salvador Rojo seem to be the best options nowadays for modern style andalusian cooking as well as Ab Zait and San Fernando 27 and La Flor de Toranzo (Trifón) and Becerrita for traditional tapas and cooking.

There is always Hacienda Benazuza (El Bulli 2) and Alhucemas, both in Sanlúcar La Mayor a few miles away from Sevilla.

[Thesorus]

We are heading off to Seville for 5 days and have looked through all the links that have been posted for dining in the city, but all seem quite old.  Can anyone please let me have a top 5 dining and top 10 tapas spots in town!  I read somewhere that Egana Oriza was going off the boil, is this still the case?  Thanks very much

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I can't really write about specific places, but I has a lot of fun walking around and trying as much as I could do in 2 days in Sevilla.

I posted a 2 day report on "the other board" about Sevilla, might not be exactly what you are looking for, but there it is :

==========

(pictures available at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesorus/sets...57600908159961/

The previous night at Citra in Madrid (see other thread) left me with a splitting headache. I arrived in Sevilla, found the hotel and slept for a couple of hours! woke up, found the first drug-store I can find, bought aspirins and few minutes later I'm feeling as normal as one can.

I will not really do a restaurant by restaurant report of Sevilla, first, I did not always note the name of the restaurant of Tapas Bar, second, I did only Tapas Bar and no real "sit-down" restaurant.

I did try to eat a much as possible different food, but since it was very warm, I ended up trying Gazpacho at different places and eating ham at pretty much every place!!!

I also ate, after seeing it in Barcelona and Madrid, Morcilla (sp?) (black pouding/boudin noir), and I liked it, I would not eat it every day or week, but i was surprised in the taste. I ate Bacalau, I ate Ham, I ate, well, I ate everything I could find.

I also ate Churros with Hot Chocolate for breakfast, WOW, it's sooooo gooooodddd!!! once in a simple cafe near the Corte Ingles, and in a real Churreria near the Mercado calle Feria.

Speaking of the market itself, I liked it, smaller (by a wide margin) than the Boqueria in BCN, but full of life and full of good looking produces, meat and fish and sea-food.

I drank a lot of beer, a lot of Tino De Verano and a good amount of Sherry and Manzanilla, I'm certain most of them were generic bar Sherry and Manzanilla, but they were all good.

The Tapas bar themselves were very fun and I liked the "vibe" of most of the places, even at the more touristic places. I tried to only drink at those places, and if I wanted food, I just walked away from the main streets to find bars that were more in sync to what I wanted in Sevilla.

One place I really liked, "Antigua Abaceria Puerta Carmona S.l." (that's the name on the outside of the bar), tended by to women at the time, I should have asked to take a picture of them, not that they were "supermodel" but they were nice and they looked like they were enjoying what they were doing, taking the time to slice the ham, place it on a parchemin paper on a wooden plate, take the time make me and all the other clients feel welcome to their bar.

There were other nice places; one should not be afraid to go in, use sign language if you cannot be understood and try as much as possible the food they offer you.

I wish I could have stay at least 1 or 2 days more in Sevilla, I really love the city, I loved the architecture ( the street covered in "cloth", the Moorish architecture of the Alcazar, the "very" small streets, ...).

And mostly, the fact that I was lucky enough to be able to ear some real flamenco in a small bar, sang and danced by locals, no costumes, no "bells'n'whistles", only the guitar and the singing and the dancing.

In short, Sevilla is a city where the expression "Tapas Crawl" takes its real meaning, I could eat as little or as much in as many or as few Tapas Bar I wanted to do in one day, and the fact the city is quite small, I cannot get lost, or if I get lost, I could find nice hidden gems.

After 2 weeks of eating, drinking, dancing and be a real tourist in Spain, I was quite spent, and my feet were telling me horror stories that I did not want to hear !!! the last few hours were spent in airports, airplanes, airport hotels and airports restaurants and airplane from Sevilla back to Barcelona and over the atlantic back to Montreal.

The morning before the flight, I decide, what the heck, let's finish this trip on a good note, bought a bottle of London "Authentic Blue Gin" and got myself an orange juice and cava to make myself a mimosa!!!! people looked strangely at me!!

And the final meal I got from this trip was ... I will let you guess ... it's a rice dish ... and I did not even eat it in Spain... maybe next year!

=========

Max.

[bcnchef]

We are heading off to Seville for 5 days and have looked through all the links that have been posted for dining in the city, but all seem quite old.

I highly recommend Casa Maera. Simple, traditional food cooked by the charming wife of the owner. They feature fish and shellfish from Isla Cristina.

The restaurant is closed on Sunday nights and on Mondays. I am not sure if they are open in August, I suggest calling ahead.

Let the owner guide you through the menu (which is "sung", there was no printed menu when we were there). They basically offer whatever is fresh, and whatever his wife happened to cook that day (incredibly, she is alone in the kitchen).

When we went we had several fantastic dishes including:

- Revuelto de Bacalao (bacalao omelette with crisp potatoes)

- Albóndigas de Choco (cuttlefish "meatballs" -- incredible)

- Garbanzos con Langostinos (the star of the night -- chickpeas with langoustines)

The owner was a taxi driver for many years and, if the mood strikes him, will entertain you with corny jokes and hilarious stories all night long.

We laughed for hours and ate like Kings.

Casa Maera

Regla León, 23A

+34 93 434 3605

[vserna]

Garbanzos con Langostinos (the star of the night -- chickpeas with langoustines)

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Small correction - despite the names' similarity, langostinos are not langoustines. They are shrimps - tiger shrimp from Spain's eastern and southestern coasts.

Edited July 30, 2007 by vserna (log)