Great tapas restaurants in Seville, Cordova & Granada in Spain?

Question

Looking for good tapas restaurants to visit in April in Andalucia, Spain. Anyone live there or been there on vacation who can recommend good places to eat in either Seville, Cordova or Granada?

Also, any good tango & salsa bars?

Thanks :)

Answer 1

I know this doesn't answer your question (and I apologize), but the food in spain was not that great (I've been to all 3 of those places, and it's hard to find a decent meal).  Everything is greasy and drowned in olive oil.

The only place I tasted good tapas was in the Basque country (specifically in San Sebastian - the food seems to be of better quality there).

That said, a guidebook might help (for andalucia).

Answer 2

Tapas are EVERYWHERE in Sevilla, we hardly ate in Córdoba, and in Granada, they wouldn´t serve tapas before about 8:00 PM.  

We went to a great place last Spring in Sevilla, near the Cathedral.  Right across the plaza from the Giralda.  All I can tell you is that there were a bunch of bull heads on the walls, and it was on a corner, just as you would enter the Barrio Santa Cruz.  

In Granada, we found ourselves eating at a little Pastelería on Gran Vía whenever we wanted to eat during off hours, and there was a great little sandwich shop around the corner from the statue of Isabel and Columbus, on the left, almost to the Plaza Nueva (Big help, aren´t I?)  Just follow your instincts.  

The thing to remember is, if you can´t get tapas, you can still almost always get a bocadillo of Jamón Serrano, and that´s just as good any day.

Oh, yeah, if you want to get off the beaten track just a bit, at the north end of the Jardines de Murillo (Sevilla), just outside of the Barrio Santa Cruz, on the far side from the Cathedral, was a nice little tapas bar called Santa Cristina.  My friend who lives there likes it because it´s especially inexpensive, but, then, I didn´t find a lot of places charging much more than 3€ for a tapa in Sevilla.

We also rather liked a little place on calle Arfe called San Francisco.  They had good tapas, raciones and a little pastelería, too.  But if you really want the best pastries...do NOT miss La Campana on the north end of calle Sierpes.  It´s a definite favorite.  Have a Trufa for me!  (this is still in Sevilla - sort of my second home).

Tango and salsa?  Not very likely.  Not really big, there.  But there are discos, everywhere.

Also (still in Sevilla) on calle Arfe (about a block from the Cathedral in Arenal) is one of the best restaurants in the city:  La Isla.  A bit rich for my blood, but if you want a splurge.

Bar la Giralda has a great reputation.

If you want to go off the beaten track, a little more to the North, about a block from the Palacio de las Dueñas (home of the Duchess of Alba, the most titled woman in Spain) is Bar El Rinconcillo, one of the oldest restaurants in the world, and 50 years older than that place in Madrid, which claims to be the oldest in Spain.  Around the corner from there, at Plaza Sta Catalina, is the undisputed best Heladería for dessert.  It´s called los Reyes.  

Without a doubt, La Campana is NOT to be missed if you like pastries and sweets.  It was founded some 125 years ago, and the clerks all dress like 1880s or 90s or so.  But I recently heard that their formerly homemade ice cream is now Ben and Jerry´s.  Not so exotic.

However, mostly, we just ate wherever we were when we got hungry.

And yes.  I once lived in Sevilla.  Unfortunately, even then, I pretty much (and in all my travels through Spain and the rest of Europe) ate wherever I happened to be.  Most places serve tapas, and you can tell for sure, because they have many of them sitting in glass cases on top of the bar.  Also, there may be an inscrutable blackboard/easel outside the door, or above the bar.  But keep inmind that they write a little differently there, and you may not be able to decipher the handwriting; you may just have to guess.

Definitely have paella.  You can often get it as a tapa, and it often isn´t available after about 2:00 PM.  If you are feeling adventurous, try Riñones (kidneys), Hígado (pork livers), Calamares, Pulpo a la gallega (octopus sort of ceviche style with a lot of salt) or pulpo a la romana (octopus with a tomato sauce), boquerones are great (large anchovies), and I like them best fried, but you can get them with escabeche sauce (like ceviche), or just with vinegar.  Squid, calamar or chipirones, en su tinta in a sauce made with the ink, is also really tasty.  Enough ideas for you?  

¡Buen viaje!

OH! and for a really good guidebook: DK´s eyewitness Spain or Andalucía would be a great one.  Aside from having really good information, they have EXCELLENT photography.

Answer 3

I live in Spain and there are loads of interesting tapas bars everywhere. I always like to explore whilst on holiday and go look for yourself. You won´t be disappointed. The food in Spain is a higher quality than the UK. I´m from the UK and I love it here in Andalucia. There are just too many to recommend.

Answer 4

Oh my jeepers,creepers! Sue has the best, most informative answer on this subject I think anyone will ever find!!! I just got sooo excited. I'm spending one of those, Summer semesters in Spain, this next Summer 2008. I will be headquartered in Sevilla. Already I don't want to come back!! If you are still in Espana ,end of May through 1st week of Aug., maybe we could rig up some kind of fun thing where you would leave a little trinket hidden somewhere in Seville, then I would find it after you have gone. I know, I like silly little things like that. Sorry, no answer to your tapas question, but I'm sure we all will know 1 year from now!!!!!

Answer 5

Dont worry, in these places are a lot of bars or restaurant where you can eat and drink good and more cheap.

Answer 6

i m sorry i m not.