General Restaurant Advice for Spain

[MarcCosnarddesCloset]

I was just in the Barcelon area last spring filming a few Great Chefs episodes. We filmed at El Bulli, Neichel, Via Veneto, Abac and my favourite L'Esguard in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres where we also ate lunch. The Chef there is Miguel Sanchez Romero a self taught chef who is also the head of neurology at a local hospital where he specialises in epilepsy. He is originally from Argentina.  He has developed a new sauce base for cooking that is derived from cassava. It is odorless, tasteless and colourless. It allows him to thicken sauces without heating them or adding fat from butter or milk and the sauces do not "break". His restaurant is in an old winery abutting his home and it is open 4 days a week (the other three he is at the hospital). He has one Michelin star now but definately deserves at least another. Anyone going to Barcelona should go there for munch, it is about 30 minutes away from the city.

[Bond Girl]

Okay, I am considering escaping to Spain for a week during september, but couldn't decide where to go. Right now, the choice is between the Seville/Grenada/Cordoba circuit for tradition and historical sights and Barcelona/Bilbao for modern arts and contemporary food. As El Bulli is sold out for the season, are there any restaurants recommended for northern Spain? What if I decide to head south, are most places there so stuffy that as a single traveler, I would feel uncomfortable dining alone.

[thelastsupper]

It depends on what you want. You will be able to find really good food wherever you go. If you are looking for a top-end "Bulliexperience" type restaurant, obviously Barcelona/Catalunya or the Pais Vasco would suit you better. Unless you are going to make a pilgrimage to a certain restaurant, I'd figure out which is more pressing for you to check out: the Alhambra, Mezquita in Córdoba etc. vs. Gaudí, Tápies in Barcelona or the Guggenheim. . . Two very different experiences, but equally enjoyable (for me at least). Can you make plans to choose one with the intention of going again to the other?

Lots of people on the board, myself included, have enjoyed El Racó de Can Fabes in Sant Celoni. I can imagine how the staff would pamper a solo diner.

Come to think of it going tapeando might be somewhat awkward by yourself as it's such a social activity . . . and most of my best eating experiences in the south have been standing around drinking, long conversations.

Barcelona is full of "tradition and historical sights" by the way.

[Katherine]

I spent 3 weeks last summer in Santiago de Compostela, which is an old city, a big tourist town, but mostly European touists, not Americans. I ate all my meals alone, and never got a single look because of it. There are lots of single travelers in that city, as it's a big pilgrimage site, but I don't know if my experience would apply anywhere else in Spain. I would definitely recommend you make a trip through Galicia and stay in the old city if you're in northern Spain. Very friendly and charming.

[anil]

Okay, I am considering escaping to Spain for a week during september, but couldn't decide where to go.  Right now, the choice is between the Seville/Grenada/Cordoba circuit  for tradition and historical sights and Barcelona/Bilbao for modern arts and contemporary food.  As El Bulli is sold out for the season, are there any restaurants recommended for northern Spain?  What if I decide to head south, are most places there so stuffy that as a single traveler, I would feel uncomfortable dining alone.

Any which way you decide; you'll have a great time. The weather would be great. By mid-Sept. most of the tourists would have been gone, and stratospheric rates would have begun to come down.

Edited August 18, 2003 by anil (log)

[Bond Girl]

TLS, does getting to sant celoni requires driving? I do not have a driver's license which is a reason why I sort of avoided Catalunya up to now.

[Bux]

I've been to Sant Celoni by car, but other people have spoken of going there by train just to dine at Can Fabes. Sant Pau in Sant Pol de Mer is right on a train line from Barcelona. Girona is a town well worth a day of sightseeing and Can Roca is well worth the short taxi ride from the center of town. I would expect Girona to be easily reached by train from Barcelona. Can Fabes may be the most sumptuous, but these are all true multistarred restaurants that cater to gastronomes. I would be surprised to hear of anything but an excellent reception of a single diner at all of them. On the other hand, I can't recall any stuffiness in any of the restaurants I've liked and would recommend in Spain. Maybe some places in Madrid might come across as stuffy--maybe.

Galicia is quite interesting, but remote. I don't think the time and expense would be worth trying to include Santiago de Compostela in a trip to Catalunya. Donostia/San Sebastian and Bilboa would be better choices, but a week could be well spent in Barcelona, especially with side trip to Girona.

[thelastsupper]

Yeah, Sant Celoni is easy to get to by train, a fairly short ride from Barcelona. We stayed overnight in the Hotel Suisse about a block away from El Racó, 80 Euros, the most we spent on a hotel the whole month and a half-- but we figured it was the right occasion, cool, white marble everywhere.

Don't rule out the south though, it gets overlooked on this board. I remember Andalucía much more fondly than Catalunya, if not necessarily for food reasons. Maybe that's why it's not discussed. Bigger (more "important?") meals up north (maybe) but plenty of room to play, explore and taste down south. And ah! the morcilla in Córdoba!

[vserna]

You divide Spain into two pretty narrow strips, with a huge lot left in the middle...

As it turns out, for art lovers, central Spain (Madrid, El Escorial, Toledo, Avila, Segovia, Salamanca, Valladolid) has the greatest concentration of great monuments and amazing museums within relatively short distances. (Never more than 120 miles around the capital.)

Any well-organized foodie will be able to eat very well anywhere in the country these days, even on the small, faraway, moon-like island of Lanzarote where I am right now. The north does have a greater concentration of fine restaurants for purely socio-economic reasons: until rather recently, southern Spain was extremely poor and lived on a subsistence diet of olives and bread, not on caramelized foie gras.

There are basically no stuffy places in today's Spain, and single diners can feel perfectly at home, and they'll receive very good service.

[Bux]

You divide Spain into two pretty narrow strips, with a huge lot left in the middle...

The problem for most of us, is not finding suggestions of where to go and what to eat, but of narrowing down our choices.

[Gerry Dawes]

"Come to think of it going tapeando might be somewhat awkward by yourself as it's such a social activity . . . "

Hardly, if bondgirl walks into a lively tapas bar, she will probably find herself very much a part of the action and if a group of Spaniards, many of whom speak excellent English, decides to take her under their wing, she will be in for some great food and a great adventure. If you are alone, go to Madrid or go to the south, where there are a multitude of tapas bars and great ones and you will never really feel alone.

[Bux]

"Come to think of it going tapeando might be somewhat awkward by yourself as it's such a social activity . . . "

Hardly, if bondgirl walks into a lively tapas bar, she will probably find herself very much a part of the action and if a group of Spaniards, many of whom speak excellent English, decides to take her under their wing, she will be in for some great food and a great adventure.  If you are alone, go to Madrid or go to the south, where there are a multitude of tapas bars and great ones and you will never really feel alone.

I have a comment and a question here. First, although I was most impressed with the tapas bars in Andalucia and their offerings, particularly in Sevilla and Jerez, I'm not so sure that the Pais Vasco is not the reigning champ of the genre in at least some ways.

My question is about the social aspect of tapas bars, and I suspect the answer not only varies from locale to locale, but from bar to bar. It's been a very long while since I've traveled in Spain alone and my observations are just casual observations, but it seems to me that conversations are far more easily struck up in pubs and bars in the US than in Spanish bars. What we've tended to observe in Spanish tapas bars is couples or small groups arriving together or meeting by plan. It also strikes me that any conversations struck up in a tapas bar would more likely be with a small group of people and not have the connotations of Manhattan singles bar--for better or worse. I also find contemporary Spaniards to be quite garrulous and open, but then again my introduction to Spain and Spaniards was at a time when Franco was ruling, so I am sensitive to the change.

Whatever the answers are, I am sure Bond Girl will find the Spanish good hosts and good company.

[thelastsupper]

You divide Spain into two pretty narrow strips, with a huge lot left in the middle...

Yes, I was responding to the question posed. It seems like BG has done some preliminary research and was interested in two specific areas. Sheesh.

I never feel lonely or uncomfortable when I dine solo as I love people watching, but you seemed to push that you may feel uncomfortable dining by yourself in certain situations. I don't know how gregarious you are and you just might find a group of folk to chat it up with-- but I wouldn't count on it. Just pessimist me, I suppose.

I would agree with vserna that Madrid is a good place to reconsider, particularly if you only have a week to spare. Flitting from city to city every couple days is not my idea of understanding a region or of comfortable traveling, particularly if you aren't driving.

[Bond Girl]

I've been to Madrid and loved the city. I was considering Andalucia because I love Flamenco and think it's Spain's greatest contribution to the arts. But, food-wise I haven't heard very much about southern spain. I've read that Seville has quite a number of good restaurants, but they are rather conservative. My original plan was to go from Mdrid to Seville than round to Grenada and Cordoba. Since, I don't drive and speak no spanish, some friends have advise me to go to Barcelona as I will find a more cosmopolitan city, better eats and feel less unconfortable being alone. The last time I was in Barcelona, I was swept up in a whirlwind of activities from total strangers, but I was a lot younger then....This time I am looking for more rest, comfort, and less adventure.

By the way as I must spent at least a night in Madrid with friends. is there a good place you guys can recommend?

[brendafaye]

So many traveling foodies! Can you recommend eating experiences for a Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Ronda and Carmona circuit? We'll have a car leaving Cordoba.

During our last trip to Spain the Mercat de la Boquera in Barcelona and El Celler de Can Roca

in Girona provided experiences we still treasure. We hope to bring home more special memories from Andalucia.

Thanks to all for the wonderful insights.

[Bux]

Sevilla: Explore the vast richness of tapas. La Taberna del Alabardero was lovely, but we were not impressed with the food at all.

Cordoba: We greatly enjoyed El Churrasco. Elsewhere on eGullet, I mentioned their annex and wine celler and noted who to ask for a tour of it. It's worth the short time it takes.

Granada: The best recommendation we had, was closed. We chose a nearby place from the Michelin and it was okay at best.

Ronda: Tragabuches is the place. Creative food.

The one less known place we we'd recommend highly was Hacienda el Roselejo near Arco de la Frontera. It's hard to find and on the Villamartín-Ubrique road. the Campsa guide lists it as being in Arcos, while you will find it under Villamartín in the Michelin guide. We were there this spring. It appears that a young couple has taken it over quite recently. We had an excellent lunch here and I think the place has potential to be a real star.

I don't know your complete schedule, but the waterfront pier in Sanlucar de Barrmeda has a bunch of seafood restaurants that are worth a lunch. I don't have enough experience to recommend one from the other. Check out the refrigerator displays and pick one if you get there. By all means order the local Manzanilla, a particularly dry wine similar to a fino sherrry and enjoy it with the seafood, not just as an aperatif.

Can Roca is a very special restaurant. I don't know that any of our experiences in Andalucia quite matched it, but our trip was still a gastronomic joy.

[annieb]

It will still be quite warm in Andalucia in September, if that is a consideration. It does get overlooked a bit on this board, but Cordoba and Sevilla are wonderful places to visit. Granada is a little less approachable, and there are many explanations why that may be so.

An overlooked gem is Cadiz. While it does not have any world class tourist sites, it does have a great location and is easily the friendliest town I have visited in Spain. Excellent tapas, have not eaten at any destination restaurants there, great vistas. It is refreshing in having flat sidewalks (due to rebuilding after a natural disaster a few centuries back) and a grand cathedral that is atypically unadorned (due to the customs house--ie taxes levied on goods from the "New World" being transferred to Seville post-construction but pre-decoration). My husband and I spent the days before and after the millenium there, and were charmed.

Girona is a lovely town and easily accessible by train from Barcelona, about 80 minutes perhaps, and many trains daily.

[Metroarea]

Can anyone recommend any restaurants somewhere in the region of Marbella or Malaga. Within fifty or so miles of either would be perfect.

[vserna]

You can find a lot in past discussions here. For instance:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry205962

Best restaurants within 50 miles of Málaga and Marbella: Tragabuches (Ronda), Café de París (Málaga), Adolfo (Málaga), El Higuerón (Fuengirola; peculiar Andalusian-Asturian combination, with the renowned Oviedo chef Fernando Martín at the helm), El Roqueo (Torremolinos), La Meridiana (Marbella, Spanish and Italian cuisine), La Hacienda (Marbella), Taipan (Marbella; one of Spain's best Chinese restaurants), La Finca (near Loja on the Málaga-Granada road), Noelia (Antequera). Mesón El Copo (Los Barrios, near Algeciras).

[Hungry Traveler]

Hi vserna

We'll be in Marbella in September...

Can you give us an idea of the "price range" (in Euros) for these restaurants ?

We're not "Fancy Restaurants" people

Could you recommend restaurants in the €10 to €20 range ?

Thank You !!!

[CFW]

I would also love suggestions for restaurants in and around Nerja.

[vserna]

Could you recommend restaurants in the €10 to €20 range ?

I hate to say so, but I couldn't, except for tapas places. Eating well in a regular restaurant for 10-20 euros was possible in another time, in another Spain. You have to go up at least to the next level, 20-30 euros, to get anything culinarily attractive.

[pedro]

Víctor, don't you think that it's still possible to have some good daily menus at lunch between 15-20€? Not easy, but possible.

For instance, in Asturianos you could do fairly well having some fabes to start with, followed by veal cheeks.

[Hungry Traveler]

Víctor, don't you think that it's still possible to have some good daily menus at lunch between 15-20€? Not easy, but possible..... For instance, in Asturianos you could do fairly well having some fabes to start with, followed by veal cheeks.

Pedro:

Those prices and menu items would work for us !

We can have our main meal during lunch and concentrate on daily specials.

Then something like tapas for dinner.

Gracias !!!

[Hungry Traveler]

Re: "I hate to say so, but I couldn't, except for tapas places. Eating well in a regular restaurant for 10-20 euros was possible in another time, in another Spain. You have to go up at least to the next level, 20-30 euros, to get anything culinarily attractive."

Hi Vserna:

Hmmmm....

Have prices sky-rocketed that much ???

We were there in May of 2000 and ate well in the "€10 to €20" range.

But... back then, the US$ was much stronger

We even dined, in that range, on the Ramblas in Barcelona.

Tsk... Tsk !