If you have recommendations for a great meal (specific dish) and restaurant followed by a few good (great is good too!) local casual places (tapas bars, etc) that would be great! Been going through previous entries and many possibilities although I’m not sure if the season will affect what to get there…
Thanks in advance, Rob
Ronda: El Lechuguita, recommended by our own Ziggy and yours truly
Córdoba: *Taberna El Pisto (everything, especially their salmorejo & mazamorra), Ermita de la Candelaria, La Cuchara de San Lorenzo (gambas al ajillo), Taberna Salinas, Casa Pepe de la Judería (helado de aceite de oliva), Taberna la Montillana (great Andalusian wine list), Taberna Almodóvar and Garum for the best salmorejo.
Sevilla: Just follow Shawn Hennessey’s recs, which ever are closest to your lodging and follow her on Substack, at “Bite Size Sevilla”. She is a great friend of many years, a 30+ year resident of Sevilla, sherry educator and our constant guide to all things gastronomic in Sevilla.
Granada: Bar FM is a must for the finest shellfish straight from the Motril pier (take a taxi), Taberna la Tana for a wide selection of wines, Malvasía (ditto), Los Diamantes if you’re up for fried fish, Oliver for rice dishes, St Germain for tapas near the cathedral.
Andalusian specialties
Cold soups such as salmorejo, porra antequerana, ajo blanco, mazamorra
Ox tail, rabo de toro
Churrasco at the venerable El Caballo Rojo, Córdoba
Eggplant with honey, berenjenas fritas con miel
Flamenquín
Artichokes prepared with Montilla-Moriles wine, alcachofas a la montillana
Fried fish in general (in the north they braise, in the south they fry)
The sweet treat in Córdoba is pastel cordobés.
2 specialties of Granada
Remojón, a cold salad of cod and oranges, of Arabic origin, as are many Andalusian dishes
Tortilla de Sacromonte ? an omelet of potatoes, eggs and calf brains.
The much loved Granada sweet treat, piononos of Santa Fe that you’ll find at every bakery, including López Mezquita, l
which also sells other pastries of Arabic origin such as pastela moruna.
If you’re up for a splurge treat, try a small jar of caviar from Río Frío. We toured their plant in May on our drive from Granada to Estepona and sampled all 3 versions along with champagne. Great 2-hour tour that they
snail season in Córdoba is late Feb through March and in Sevilla after Holy Week.
The cold soups you’ll find all year long.
The Iberian ham you’ll find in Córdoba is from Los Pedroches DOP.
Maribel! Thanks so much! This is great info!
Rob
Another good one in Ronda besides El Lechuguita is Casa Mateos
Seville: Amara, Blanca Paloma, Bodeguita Romero
Cordoba: Garum 2.1
Worth stopping in Jaen for the food scene, including the excellent MangasVerdes
Ditto to Amara in Sevilla with a very accomplished Basque chef, Bodeguita Romero, ditto for its pringá and Bodeguita A Romero fir its yummy piripi sandwich, casa Morales for virtually anything on the menu, very easy on the wallet and where my friend Shawn holds her sherry classes, la Barra de Inchausti for its wonderful sopa de galeras and La Barra de Cañabota and Salmedina for impeccable crustaceans from the piers in Rota (same purveyors). Your fine choices in Sevilla are almost unlimited for noshing.
Alsi ditto to Garum 2.0 in Córdoba (best salmorejo) that is nicely off the beaten, trodden tourist trail of the Judería on the way to the lovely Julio Romero de Torres art museum, Córdoba’s native son portrait painter. Delightful upstairs dining.
Thanks, Ziggy!
Thanks again, Maribel!
Tragata is the Michelin-rated sibling of the ** Bardal (both under Chef Benito Gomez) in Ronda. It’s more or less elevated standard tapas fare at somewhat reasonable prices (given the provenance). I remember it very fondly, although it’s been a minute.
I just had a meal at Garum 2.1 yesterday. Neither me nor my husband liked it. The only delicious dish was their complimentary tortillas. The rest had no taste except the taste if salt.
Tragata is still very good, I just dinned there twice in a row. Highly recommended
Did you have their salmorejo?
Ziggy and Maribel and others-Any recommendations for a guided tapas tour in Granada?
In Granada I highly recommend Betula Nana. It doesn’t get much recognition around here, but it should. It was by far our favorite meal in Granada. It’s tiny, so reservations are a must.
@RSchwim
For a guided tapas tour I can recommend Granada Tapas Tours, the original tapas tours company run by long time Granada resident Gayle Mackie
But I wouldn’t miss taking a short taxi ride on my own to Bar FM for the finest shellfish straight from the Motril pier.
One can reserve online, even for 1 person. But it´s closed Sun-Mon.
@ssinny95
I’ve put Betula Nana on my list to try…haven’t yet been.
Re Cordoba-We have one day there. Having lunch at Bodega Mezquite Cespedes. What would you choose for dinner other than Garum 2.1 between Taberna El Pisto, Ermita de la Candelaria, La Cuchara de San Lorenzo, Taberna Salinas, Casa Pepe de la Judería or Taberna la Montillana? These recommended by Maribel.
EL PISTO and LA CUCHARA DE SAN LORENZO were memorable for me. Gambas al Ajillo at the latter were superb. At EL PISTO, to for the salmorejo, mazamorra (another cold soup,) fried eggplant and, probably, anything on their menu. If I had to take every meal of my stay there, I’d be happy! And the atmosphere is fantastic… One tip would be to do some reading beforehand so you do not have to ask tons of questions of the waiters. They are kind, but very busy.
@RSchwim
I would actually skip Bodega Mezquita Cespedes, which I don’t feel is nearly as chow worthy as the others on your list, as it’s more of a tourist driven place. There are several Bodegas Mezquita in town, all appealing to visitors, but..
personally, I much prefer La Cuchara de San Lorenzo (for their gambas al ajillo), Taberna Salinas, Taberna El Pisto (an absolute classic) and Taberna Montillana has an excellent all Andalusian wine list. La Ermita de la Candelaria is both elegant, refined, beautiful and charming (in a former convent with very nice service and memorable decor). I would absolutely make it a priority at night.
About Garum 2.1, although it received a so so review here on HO just recently, I’ve had nothing but fine meals there, and I believe that Ziggy enjoined it as well, if memory serves. One of the best salmorejos in town.
