We just spent five days in Seville, walking the city, seeing the sights, taking a day trip to Jerez—and eating tapas. If ever there were a city with a tapas bar on every corner, Seville is it. In fact, maybe two on every corner!
Five dinners, two lunches, and not a bad choice in the lot, although we have favorites. And, including a glass of wine, a couple of small beers and sometimes coffee and dessert, the totals ranged from 16-26€ including tax (about $21 to 34) for two people.
We had quite a variety of these little dishes, usually four per meal. Solomillo de cerdo (pork loin) with different sauce preparations, egg-and-chorizo and egg-and-potato delights, curried spinach with chickpeas, duck leg confit, ox-meat sliders with several sauces, fried hake, eggplant with honey, Spanish cheeses…well, that’s the point of tapas, right? Small plates of whatever you feel like having tonight.
We picked our places partly from online recommendations, and partly from where we were at the moment—mostly in “our” neighborhood near the Alameda de Hercules in an area of the city older than the modern city, and newer than the ancient. Among the most helpful guides was the good-for-almost-everything-Seville exploreseville.com, run by an American long-time resident.
Here’s our list, with some notes. Oh, and by the way: check times and days. We found some places closed on Mondays, and others whose kitchen closed from 4 to 8 pm. Others are open all the time, and nearly all have outside tables.
Antigua Abaceria de San Lorenzo
Calle Theodosia 53 at Calle Alcoy. Tel: 954 380 067
This one was totally an accident (the two places we had picked nearby were both closed Sunday night and Monday night…and they weren’t). It’s a tiny place, with perhaps 3-4 tables in 4 tiny rooms that are mostly filled with bar space, storage, a tiny kitchen space and a lot of neighbors. If we lived there, it would probably become “our place.” Some of the best: a slightly spicy scrambled egg dish built around local chorizo; a soup of cooked tomatoes, red peppers, bread and garlic; a salad with tuna, and thinly-sliced local chorizo.
Bar Alcoy 10
Calle Alcoy 10 (duh&hellip
Tel: 954 905 702
We ate here on the third try; the first two times (Sun. and Mon.) they were closed and we ate across the street at Antigua Abacerria…both nights! Our favorites: pork loin in Gorgonzola sauce over potatoes (a real sauce, not just melted cheese) and dorado with Mediterranean vegetables and flavors.
Bar Gonzalo
Calle Alemanes 21, near cathedral, Tel: 954 223 595
This one is directly across from the courtyard entrance of the Cathedral. Tapas on the terrace are 30c more than at the bar. Location is everything, but we did enjoy a potato basket filled with eggs and pork shreds and a small sandwich (bocadilla) of sliced pork—with really great fries.
CafÉ-Bar el Ambigu
CalleFeria 47, Tel: 954-381-015.
Kitchen closed 4 to 8 pm. Our picks: Duck leg confit in rich brown sauce, Andalusian chorizo cooked in cider.
Casa Paco
Alameda de Hercules 23, Tel: 954 900 148
Right on the Alameda. We specially enjoyed swordfish with orange wine sauce, asparagus gratin (green and white, with bÉchamel), scrambled eggs with potato and onion.
Taberna Coloniales
Calle Fernandez y Gonzales 36, near the Cathedral. Tel: 954 229 381
Super-popular around lunchtime…expect to wait a bit. Our choices: Fried hake (fairly heavy breading) and chicken manjar blanco, a dish that uses a custard-like sauce.
MORE TravelGumbo blogs on Andalucia:
- Visiting the Alhambra
- Granada, Spain: A Walk Through the Historic Albaicin Neighborhood
- The Alcazar of Seville and the Puzzling Palace of Peter I
- The Alcazar of Jerez: A Window into History
- Cordoba’s Great Mosque-Cathedral
