annhig

As you say that you are open to more info, one tip I picked up when I was last in Spain was to use the Fork app to find restaurants while I was out and about, especially in the day. Very good value menu de dia lunches are often available and with discounts if you book ahead even by a few minutes. You can view the menu, prices, and times available and book your table, all on line. It worked very well for me in Madrid ,even in the evenings.

lymichie

annhig, Fork looks like it will come in handy when wandering around, thanks! So many times we’ve walked around in circles trying to decide where to pickup a quick bite. Fork will be a big help!

Maribel

I can enthusiastically second Revulgo's recommendation of Viavélez for lunch! We go there often for the chef's unbeatable fixed price menu of the day, served in the bar area with high tables. It's really a great value for only 21 euros and it changes daily.
https://restauranteviavelez.com/la-t...nu-de-taberna/

In the formal dining room downstairs the chef serves another, longer daily fixed menu for 35 euros.
https://restauranteviavelez.com/el-r...l-menu-diario/

Viavélez is a locals' favorite.

When a restaurant doesn't have its own booking engine, I often book on The Fork.

My favorite The Fork bargain can be found at Can Bonet, on Menéndez Pelayo, the avenue that runs on the eastern side of beautiful Retiro Park.
If you book a table for 1 pm or 1:15, which is considered quite early by Madrid standards, you receive a 50% discount. The food, the service and the atmosphere are really lovely.

After a stroll through the Retiro Park we often go to Can Bonet for lunch, and when booking ahead, are given a nice window table to watch the activities in the park.
Its sister restaurant next door, Sa Brisa, also offers a discount.
Sa Brisa serves dishes from Ibiza, while Can Bonet offers delicious rice dishes, an excellent version of pa amb tomàquet (delicious tomato bread that you prepare yourself with fresh tomatoes, bread, garlic and top class olive oil) and a great crema catalana for dessert.
Another fine bargain! (I know most of The Fork's bargains by heart--I have 1,000 "Yums" I still haven't used.

https://www.thefork.com/restaurant/c...madrid-r681881

https://www.restaurantecanbonet.com/menu/

scrb11

Are 6 nights each in Madrid and Sevilla too much? Or for that matter 4 nights in Cordoba?

Rather than day trip to Ronda, how about a couple of nights there, taken from the 6 nights in Sevilla, for example?

Is renting a car a possibility?

KarenWoo

I apologize for hijacking this thread. I notice that Maribel and Annhig recommend using The Fork for choosing and booking restaurants. I have never used them. Are the restaurants generally restaurants with good reviews? Places you have been happy with? The reason I ask is that sometimes we choose restaurants recommended on Trip Advisor and/or Yelp, and we have been dissatisfied; not very good food, poor service, etc. We will be in Scotland in June, and I will be looking for restaurant recommendations, so I will look at The Fork. Thanks!

Maribel

lymichie,
I didn't comment on the number of nights you've given to each destination and the day trip to Ronda.

The issue with getting to Ronda is that public transportation is now limited in 2023.
Damas is the bus line, with currently only 4 departures from Sevilla per day with the ride taking 2 hr. 30 min.
The train ride, one per day, takes 3 hours with a train change in Antequera.

If you consider removing the 4th night from Córdoba and add an overnight from Sevilla to Ronda, the problem will be going on from Ronda to Granada by public transportation.

From Ronda to Granada there's no direct bus (it requires a bus change in Málaga).
From Ronda to Granada by train, there are only 2 train connections, one departure at 7:58 am and one at 6:55 pm.
Both require a change from the MD (media distancia) to the high-speed AVANT in Antequera. The trip takes from 2.5 to almost 3 hr.

Just for your consideration....

Karen,
I trust the reviews on The Fork a bit more than Yelp and certainly far more than on TA (sorry!). Anything with a review score of 9 or above is usually going to be reliable. And The Fork has an "Insiders" section.

But..The Fork isn't my first source because there are so many (hundreds) of restaurants now on The Fork that it can sometimes be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Instead, I follow the Spain professional food critic blogs, their Twitter and Instagram feeds for my sources and also always use the Repsol guide for choosing my dining (and to a lesser extent the Michelin guide for their Bib Gourmand recommendations for good value).
But I admit to being picky.
Revulgo and I agree, certainly, on his selections. (I used to follow a certain "Juan Doe" on the now departed Chowhound. )

www.guiarepsol.com

When I see that Guia Repsol has given a restaurant a nod, a simple "recomendado", or a "solete" for a good value, casual spot or even a "Sol" (a 1 "Sol" restaurant like my favorite, La Catapa in Madrid, is not nearly expensive as a 1 star Michelin, ime, and we dine there at high tables in the bar).

So these are my sources. If I see one that's bookable on The Fork and not on the restaurant's own web page, I use The Fork.

annhig

KarenWoo - I've not used it much in the UK but certainly I've had very good results in Spain and eaten at restaurants that most probably I'd never have tried otherwise. And I'm heartened by the fact that Maribel also finds it so useful. I've also used Open table with some success.

KarenWoo

Thank you, Maribel and Annhig, for your responses. I will check out Open Table for Scotland, too. I need more resources than TA and Yelp. Probably won't even try them for our Scotland trip.

Maribel

Karen, lymichie and Ann & others,
Although Guía Repsol is only in Spanish, to search all of their recommended restaurants, let's say, In Madrid, just click on the menu on the upper left side, then click on "Comer" (to eat), then in the Busca de Restaurantes de la Guía, insert Madrid,
but choose ¨Madrid Localidad¨ rather than "Madrid Comunidad Autónoma" or "Madrid Provincia", and you should see all the guide's recommended Madrid city restaurants, from ones with a Repsol sun ("sol"), to "soletes" to just "recomendado".

Way down on the long list, if you click on "Casa Mortero", one of our favorites, serving very classic but updated Madrid cuisine, you'll see the opening hours, its exact location (just steps from the Thyssen Museum), estimated price/p (€35) and the direct web link.
Casa Mortero is also a Michelin Bib Gourmand for good value.

lymichie

scrb11 your thoughts on the number of nights in Madrid, Sevilla and Córdoba are understood, but we tend to travel a bit slower. It’s interesting to see the big important sights, but it’s also interesting to meander and wonder around the town with no real agenda (I like to go into grocery stores and see the different products). I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea… . I do thank you for suggesting adding a night or two in Ronda… we’ll rent a car if there’s something we really want to see… it’s not out of the question.

Maribel, thank you for the rundown on logistics to Ronda. Your reply will save me hours. We might simply skip Ronda this trip and concentrate on Sevilla.
And Guía Repsol! Big surprise, I’ve never heard of GR. Sounds like quite the resource!

Karen, so happy you asked about Fork. Couldn’t agree with you more… Yelp and TA, we have been disappointed many times, but keep referring to them…? Fork will be so very handy when out and about, but very interesting learning about Guía Repsol… and how to use the site effectively! No such thing as hijacking… just broadens the information pool!

Maribel

I LOVE wandering in grocery stores and especially indoor markets.
My favorite do-not-miss real markets (where the locals actually shop rather than glorified food halls) in Madrid are the Mercado Antón Martín near your Catalonia Las Cortes at the metro stop Antón Martín and the lovely Mercado de la Paz in the Salamanca district, at the corner of Lagasca and Ayala.

We actually have lunch in both---downstairs at the Mercado de Antón Martín at Sincio and LaLópez Bar and at Mercado de La Paz at Casa Dani that serves one of the best versions of tortilla española in town, that has won awards. It's a favorite of the top Madrid chefs and was recently featured on the Discovery Plus series, "José Andrés and Family in Spain".

And in Sevilla, the Mercado de Triana, on the other side of the Guadalquivir River. If you have any interest, the Taller Andaluz de Cocina does nice, easy cooking classes there.
https://tallerandaluzdecocina.com

A review from my friend Shawn of Azahar Seville-
http://azahar-sevilla.com/tag/triana/

KarenWoo

While in Seville, we had lunch at the Mercado de Triana. It was delicious and a bit strange. According to my notes, we ate a lot of seafood and mushroom dishes. The only item I didn't like (along with our friends we were traveling with) is the plate of conch that my husband ordered. They were in their shells and we were given strange-looking forks, with short tines and one very long tine to dig the conch out of their shells. My friends and I didn't care for the taste, but my husband loved them. And there was a surprise in one of the conch shells, a hermit crab! We love to try different foods but I might not like everything. My husband will eat just about anything.

Lymichie, I understand your love of visiting grocery stores. We will pop into a few grocery stores and will definitely visit markets, indoors and outdoors. If we can, I always add some extra time for just meandering. We oftentimes buy some of these food products as gifts for ourselves and family at home.

Maribel

I forgot the links
https://www.sinciomadrid.com
https://lalopezbar.es
https://www.casadani.es

lymichie

Ha! Thank you… people think I’m nuts for perusing grocery stores… It’s fascinating to me to see the different foods, packaging and here goes, toothpastes! Thanks for the links and locations, Maribel, I always try to find the local markets, too. That makes it sound as if we’ve traveled a bit, we’ve not. Some to Mexico, and there it’s easy to find the local markets. I’m not the most adventurous diner; luckily we’ve had some great meals from the food stalls! Some not… but fortunately, like Karen’s husband, my husband will eat anything… so nothing goes to waste!

THANK YOU ALL!!!
Keep any and all thoughts coming!

lymichie

My contribution…
Ornament of the World written by Marie Rosa Menocal
(also on PBS)

scrb11

Do you go to the chain supermarkets or to the specialist gourmet shops?

lymichie

Generally the chain markets and small neighborhood markets.
I also like to visit pharmacies.… different sunscreens, lotions, salves..

Maribel

Just a correction about the Mercado de la Paz and the new José Andrés and Family Go to Spain series. A sequence was filmed at the market but not at Casa Dani, although Casa Dani is one of the chef's favorites.

I was thinking of the segment in Casa Dani that was part of the "Somebody Feed Fred" Madrid episode.
José Andrés & daughters bought their leg of jamón ibérico at La Boulette in the market (if it was Joselito Gran Reserva, it probably set him back about 500 euros--we just purchase 100 gramos there!)

https://www.laboulette.com/laboulette.asp
https://www.mercadodelapaz.com


In Córdoba he and his daughters had eggplant drizzled with cane honey at Casa Pepe de la Judería, another chef favorite, at Calle Romero 1.
https://restaurantecasapepedelajuderia.com.

Thanks for your contribution! I have the book in my library but haven't seen it on PBS.

scrb11

The small chain markets like Carrfour Express or Casino mini mostly carry packaged goods and some produce and meat.

But the "hypermarkets" or "ipermercado" near freeways will have big sections of some prepared foods and bigger produce and meat departments.

Then if you look on Google Maps for supermarkets, some cities will have gourmet stores with local foods like cured meats and cheeses.

That's talking about Europe in general, not just Spain.

As Maribel points out the larger cities have these big markets of course with meat, seafood, etc. though I've never eaten in those.

Maribel

lymichie,
Most first time visitors want to take a stroll through the always bustling Mercado de San Miguel, adjacent to Madrid's Plaza Mayor, which is an iron structure from 1913, modeled after Les Halles de Paris, and turned into a gourmet food court, sort of a smaller version of Lisbon's Time Out Market. It's not where the locals do their day-to-day grocery shopping, but it's become a tourist magnet.

Another real life indoor market also with great small eateries, the "real deal", is the Mercado de Vallehermoso (metro: Quevedo)
https://mercadovallehermoso.es

but closer to the Catalonia las Cortes, within reasonable walking distance, you have the newly revamped Mercado de San Antón on Calle Augusto Figueroa in Chueca.
The Madreamiga stand there sells killer almond croissants and the Charcutería de Octavio sells the finest of Spanish cheeses (Olavidia Quesos y besos--"best cheese in the world" for 2021 from The World Cheese Awards, plus dozens of other labels) .
https://www.mercadosananton.com.
https://lacharcuteriadeoctavio.com/productos/quesos/