Seville is an incredible city.
The architecture is outrageously stunning.
There’s Seville Cathedral, the largest gothic church in the world…
the Alcazar of Seville, a royal palace which you might recognise from Game of Thrones…
the vivid blue tiles of the Plaza de España…
and the wooden canopy of Las Setas.
It’s all just so beautiful.
The weather is tasty too. When we visited in mid-October the temperature was in the mid-twenties.
Crucially, the food and drink is gorgeous. In fact, I think it’s pretty much on a par with San Sebastian,
the best food city I’ve ever visited.
Tapas culture is where it’s at. We’d visit a bar for a couple of plates of food and a drink before moving onto the next place. Small beers cost around €1,50 whilst a glass of wine or sherry was between €2 and €3.
Here’s a rundown of where we ate. We didn’t have a dud meal.
A massive thanks go to
Soliciting Flavours,
Seville Tapas and Owen from
Bar 44 whose tips were invaluable.
Espacio Eslava
Calle Eslava, 3, 41002 Sevilla
Eslava serves a mix of modern and traditional tapas.
A light funky boletus mushroom cake (€3,10) was topped with creamy mushroom sauce, gooey slow cooked egg yolk and a caramelised wine reduction. It was a lovely balance of sweet and savoury.
I could have eaten Eslava's sticky, yielding honey glazed ribs (€3,10) with rosemary all day long. It seems like everyone else was of the same opinion as they sold out within twenty minutes of opening.
A lush terrine was made with finely sliced courgette and peppers (€2,90)...
croquetas were stuffed with silky bechamel and jamon (€2,90)…
and corking little sardines (€2,90) were paired with a fresh salsa.
La Azotea
Calle Conde de Barajas, 13, 41002 Sevilla
The contemporary tapas served at Azotea really are brilliant.
Fall apart tender pig cheek braised in red wine (€6) and buttery potato gratin with tangy goats cheese sauce was an indulgent combination.
Filo parcels (€4,75) were loaded with whipped goats cheese, plump prawns and leeks topped with a creamy tomato sauce.
Ethereally light and crisp toasted cristal bread (€5) was drizzled with first rate olive oil and flavour-packed tomato concasse.
Salt cod (€6,50) was perched on mashed potatoes flecked with smoky sobrasada and scattered with intense trompette mushrooms.
Tradevo
Plaza Pintor Amalio García del Moral, 2, 41005 Sevilla
Tradevo serve modern tapas and cocktails in a funky space. We had a lovely pair of citrus-packed sherry (€7) and pisco sours (€7,50).
Filthily good deep fried sushi rice (€9) was topped with salmon, avocado and wasabi.
Impressively boned chicken wings (€4,25) with smokey chipotle mayonnaise were seriously addictive.
A pretty cannelloni of thin avocado slices (€9) was stuffed with a fine dice of sweet prawn, red onion and refreshing apple.
Bodeguita Romero
Calle Harinas, 10, 41001 Sevilla
This bar is known for their montadito de pringa (€2,50), a stonkingly good toasted sandwich loaded with shredded slow-cooked pork and soft black pudding.
But their battered tender aubergine (€2,20) drizzled with sweet molasses was seriously good too…
and so were their salt cod loaded croquetas (€3) …
and their yielding pork cheek (€3,70) bathed in a meaty sauce and sat on a handful of bonus chips.
Blanco Cerrillo
Calle José de Velilla, 1, 41001 Sevilla
On the Saturday afternoon we visited Blanco Cerrillo, hoards of people thronged the alley outside, mostly eating one type of tapas.
Their boquerones en adobo are legendary for good reason - plump briny anchovies are coated in uber-crisp grease-free batter with a hint of lemon. They’re the perfect snack to accompany a cold beer and a bargain at around €2 a plate.
Palo Santo
Plaza de La Gavidia, N.º 5 - B, 41002 Sevilla
Anywhere that serves manzanilla (€1,80) on draught is going to be a keeper.
We ate delicious little morsels of breaded iberico pork (€4,50) served with hella good smokey paprika mayonnaise.
Pan fried baby squid (€3,50) came with a big flavoured squid ink sauce, fresh pepper salsa and smoked mayonnaise.
Hops and Dreams
Calle Jesús del Gran Poder, 83, 41002 Sevilla
This craft beer bar has a lovely selection of Spanish brews. Dry-hopped Xino Xano Berlinerweisse (€3,20) from Cyclic Beer Farm and a juicy New England IPA (€3,50) from Cerveza Malandar were both lovely.
Their Tamil curry croquetas (€3,80) were also immense. Packed with complex spice, coconut, chilli and tender chicken, they were a first rate example of fusion cooking.
La Flor de Toranzo
Calle Jimios, 1, 41001 Sevilla
This buzzing place seems to be all about two things, Rioja Alta wine and mini toasted sandwiches. In fact there’s a bloke whose sole job is hammering out toasties.
A glass or two (€2,70) of the delicious red was ace paired with the ridiculously light, soft and crisp toasted rolls filled with the savoury saltiness of roquefort and jamon (€3,20) or spreadibly spicy sobrasada (€2,50).
La Brunilda
Calle Galera, 5, 41002 Sevilla
This modern bar is brilliantly busy, probably something to do with their high ranking on T***advisor. It was full within fifteen minutes of opening.
Our order went AWOL but it was more than worth the wait when it was rediscovered.
A juicy mini beef burger (€4,80) was served medium pink, seasoned with soy and topped with a killer curry mayonnaise. It was accompanied by a mound of sweet potato crisps.
Tender squid (€5) was served with light and crisp migas (crumbs) flecked with egg and tomato, and pearls of saline herring roe.
Iberico pork shoulder (€5,50) came with super soft sweet potato, the crunch of pistachio and a savoury yet creamy Idiazabal cheese sauce.
Vineria San Telmo
Paseo de Catalina de Ribera, 4, 41004 Sevilla
Combining the traditional and the contemporary, we had some cracking plates at Vineria San Telmo.
The king of spring rolls (€5,90) was loaded with deeply meaty oxtail stew. It was super rich and super good.
A well-crusted and well-flavoured piece of Argentinian steak (€6,30) was joined by thinly sliced fried potatoes loaded with garlic and red onions, and a creamy mustard sauce.
Pan-fried marinated artichokes (€5,60) had a vinegary hit which was nicely balanced by crisp and fatty pieces of ham.
Enrique Becerra
Calle Gamazo, 2, 41001 Sevilla, Spain
Enrique Becerra, the patron of this old school tapas bar and restaurant, surveys his territory from a place at the bar.
A brick pastry parcel (€3,80) was filled with flakes of salt cod and sat in a pool of cool ajo blanco, punchy with garlic and rich with almond.
Warming spiced and loosely textured morcilla (€3,50) was perched on toast with an oozy fried quail egg.
Mrs G is addicted to Russian salad (€3,60) and this lovely example, flecked with prawns, came with an extra blob of mayonnaise for good measure.
Palo Cortao
Calle Mercedes de Velilla, 4, 41004 Sevilla
This funky bar serves a big range of sherry by the glass. I had a couple of glasses of deliciously light manzanilla en rama.
Tuna tomato (€5) was an intense tuna pate cleverly enrobed in sweet tomato jelly. Crunchy soil provided textural contrast.
Sauteed chanterelles (€8) in a meaty and shroomy sauce were accompanied by a perfectly runny slow cooked egg.
Maquila
Calle Delgado, 4, 41002 Sevilla
Maquila is another great shout for excellent craft beer and tidy tapas. They make Son Brewery beers in house and their session IPA (€2,40) is a belter. It's got a massive hit of juicy chinook and is very crushable.
These guys really know how to fry stuff. A mountain of grease-free breaded chicken pieces (€4) came with guilty pleasure tandoori mayonnaise.
Squid croquetas (€3,20) were loaded with light bechamel laced with squid ink.
Sal Gorda
Calle Alcaicería de la Loza, 17, 41004 Sevilla
The teriyaki style oxtail (€4,50) was just amazing at this tapas and craft beer bar. The yielding beeeeefy flesh was bathed in a thick meaty, soy-twanged sauce and sat on top of creamy mash.
A piece of suckling pig (€3,90) was gorgeously thin and crisp of skin but the fried potatoes underneath were slightly limp and tepid.
Las Terasas
Calle Sta. Teresa, 2, 41004 Sevilla
This charming bar with its old photos and hanging hams dates back to 1870.
Nutty and fat-meltingly good jamon iberico de bellota (€10) looked like a plate made of meat.
Plump boquerones (€3,50) in vinegar with a good drizzle of olive oil were as good an anchovy as I’ve ever eaten.
La Cata Ciega
Calle Zaragoza, 15, 41001 Sevilla
At this teeny tiny tapas bar we had addictive as heck Russian salad (creamy potato salad flecked with tuna - €2,50).
Soy marinated tuna was enjoyably rare in parts and well done in others and served with seaweed spaghetti (€3,80)
Casa Morales
Calle García de Vinuesa, 11, 41001 Sevilla
This old skool tapas bar is a proper looker. It dates back to 1850 and there are huge stone urns in the rear bar where they used to store wine.
A slice of warm, light and fluffy tortilla with a golden crust and the sweetness of onion (€2) was lovely with a couple of ice cold beers.
La Esperanza
Calle San Jacinto, 89, 41010 Sevilla
We nipped into La Esperanza in Seville’s Triana district for a Sunday morning plate of freshly fried hot churros and thick chocolate (€3). This was the breakfast of champions.
The Details:
We flew direct to Seville with Easyjet from Bristol airport.
We stayed in the centrally located
Apartments Tempa Museo (€100 a night), nothing was more than around a twenty minute walk.
