Last minute food advice please!! Leaving Friday for 1st Spain trip!!
 

Hi!!
We are two fairly well traveled New Yorkers (mid 20's) leaving for our 1st trip to Spain on FRIDAY and would really appreciate it if you could help us out with some top food reccs!

**FYI:
We're going for 2 weeks: Madrid (4 nights inc. 2 daytrips to Segovia, Toledo), Seville (4 nights inc. a day trip to White Villages), Granada (3 nights, 2 days), & Barcelona (5 nights inc. a day trip to Montserrat).
**

I know there are a ton of detailed restaurant postings for each place, but we are now down to the wire, getting confused but don't want to spend hours in each city reading menus trying to decide! PLEASE HELP US =)

...can you recommend your top 3/few food favs for each city?

We really want:
--restaurants/tapas with jaw dropping views or unique specialties
--love tasty street eats & nicer sit downs, but have become pretty discerning as NYers :(
--on this trip we we would really prefer more cheaper but still tasty eats! (ie up to 60 euros w food & a drink/ea, unless the place is just too awesome to miss ;).
--I'm allergic to seafood, but we're game for anything else & love chocolate/sweets.

In Seville: http://www.vineriasantelmo.com/ and concentrate on the daily blackboard specials (though the menu items are good as well). Lovely wines/tapas/outdoor seating. Conveniently located in barrio Santa Cruz. We were directed there by a local - only to find out later it's #1 on Tripadvisor. Highly recommended.

If you go to the box above titled view by country and click on Spain you will many topics that address this subject. There is wonderful advice there including Maribel's recommendations.

In general you can have fabulous lunch bargains in restaurants all over Spain. Many excellent restaurants would serve a three course lunch with drinks included for some 15-25€.

Maribel has excellent suggestions for all your places, but I add three of my more low key favourites in Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona.

Madrid:
Txirimiri in Calle del Humilladero, 6 gives you an idea of why the Basque kitchen is considered among the best in the world. In the midst of one of the best tapas/restaurant districts in town, in and around Calle Cava Baja in La Latina.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ri-Madrid.html

You should also try the excellent salmorejo, a somewhat thicker variant of the tomato/vegetable soup gazpacho, in Según Emma just behind the newly reopened gourmet-oriented San Miguel food market. http://11870.com/pro/segun-emma
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ma-Madrid.html

Watch the sunset over the Guadarrama mountains from the terrace at El Ventorrillo in the Vistillas park. Great pollo al ajillo, some say the best in town. Map, video and some pictures: http://11870.com/pro/restaurante-ventorrillo

Sevilla (a fabulous tapas scene, all these places also have a restaurant part):
Eslava: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/category/eslava/
Enrique Becerra: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...rique-becerra/
Bodega Díaz Salazar in the vibrant Arenal area, one of my absolute favourites in town: http://www.minube.com/fotos/rincon/1...slideshow-mode

Barcelona:
Two great tapas bars inside the Boquería food market in Barcelona, just off Las Ramblas. One of the very best food markets in Europe and the food and atmosphere at Pinotxo and El Quim de la Boquería is as good it get.
http://www.worldsofflavorspain.com/node/745
http://www.elquimdelaboqueria.cat/

Traditional catalan food and great atmosphere at Can Culleretes from 1786, the oldest in town: http://www.culleretes.com/

And one more thing, the fabulous flamenco dancer Rocío Molina premieres her new performance in the beautiful Lope de Vega Theater the night you arrive in Sevilla, on the night of the 17th. New York Times recently presented her as "one of the finest soloists in the world today". Some 80 tickets left: http://www.generaltickets.com/
Molina on Canal Sur some months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYaY4zZgTas

The next night, in a totally different setting, Adela and Rafael Campallo dance at Casa de la Memória in the middle of the Santa Cruz District. Popular with tourists, but this is also the real deal. Adela, one of the rising stars of the flamenco scene a few years ago, quite recently returned to stage after a serious car accident, and her brother Rafael is one of Spain's finest male flamenco dancers. Accompanied on guitar by another brother, Juan. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Andalusia.html

Silvermist:
When in Segovia,don't miss lunch at Restaurante Asador Jose Maria; wonderful roasted pig,and unforgettable tarta segoviana,one of the better sweets I ever tasted.
Plus,read ekscrunchy's reports on Madrid,Segovia,Toledo,Pedraza and more,those reports are best if you are interested in food(prices are always included,which turns thetips even better).
Enjoy your trip!!!

Thanks so much for the tips! A few random questions about Madrid & Seville...

1. Flamenco--do we need to book a flamenco show before we leave or can we do it when we arrive in Seville next Weds? (We'll be there Weds May 18th, leaving Sun May 22nd)

2. Same question about booking a white villages tour or a car to do it ourselves--can we just book when we get there? Are there any tours under 50euros/pp?

3. San Isadoro Festival will be the weekend we arrive (May 14th)...what should we expect/look out for in Madrid this weekend? Should we go to Segovia on Sunday to avoid crowds? (we were going to do Segovia on Monday)

4. Is there anything important in Madrid, Segovia, or Granada that is closed on Mondays?

I've made two trips to Spain so far this year and wrote detailed reports about eating in Madrid, Barcelona and Granada, as JElopez kindly notes above. (Thank you, JE!) I will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding any places that I mentioned. Since it will be a holiday weekend, I would make restaurant bookings as far ahead as possible. Your hotel can do this for you.

I also wrote a report here that includes one dinner in Segovia but this was a few years ago. (The dinner was at Jose Maria which I recommend)

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...inter-2011.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...k-in-spain.cfm


Most museums in Madrid including the Prado, are closed Mondays. Exceptions include the Reina Sofia.

You can visit the White Villages, or at least one or two, on your own from Seville--you do not need a tour. But perhaps someone here can give details in case you do decide to go with a tour. We rented a car at the Seville train station, as it was easier to get out of the city from there as opposed to a center-city location. But we spent 2 nights in Arcos, rather than do this as a day trip. That trip (to Seville/Arcos/Jerez/Sanlucar) was about 8 years ago, more or less so I am not up to date on restaurants. The tapas scene there is great, though.

Flamenco show in Madrid
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1876&tipo=5

Tapa contest in Madrid: glass of beer + tapa = € 2.40 until May 15
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...15-Madrid.html

San Isidro festivities in Madrid
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...11-Madrid.html

An indulgence not to miss in Madrid: chocolate & churros at San Ginés
http://www.gomadrid.com/rest/San-Gines.html

Traditional Madrilenian tapa: patatas bravas (potatoes with spicy sauce). Try it at Las Bravas, Calle Espoz y Mina 13.
http://www.lasbravas.com/historia_en.html

Do you dare to eat "oreja a la plancha" (grilled pig's ear)? Try it at Las Bravas.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eja_de_Oro.jpg

Regarding flamenco at Casa de la Memória in Sevilla, you can only make reservations one day ahead. The Campallo performance on Weds. would probably be so popular that they do two passes (at 9 and 10.30 normally). Book ahead or be there as early as possible.

[email protected]
phone: 954 560670
http://www.casadelamemoria.es/info.htm

Leonor Leal, who dances on Thursday, is also very much up there. Here on Spanish national TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZba_...eature=related

Great flamenco in Madrid when you're there!!!
On the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th one of the most promising up and coming female flamenco dancers in the world Belén López performs at Corral de la Morería. Close to the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace. Recommend to go for the midnight performance, usually more spontaneous and unpredictable.
http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/lan...t-tourism.html

Belén López toured New York, Washington, Boston, Florida, London etc last year. She can be stunning. Here in another Madrid tablao:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hbhk...eature=related

... and on the 15th, there will be a local dance festival as part of the San Isidro celebrations in the Vistillas Park from 6.30 pm. Just outside Corral de la Morería (where Belén López performs later in the night). Here you also find one of the nicest outdoor restaurants/cafés in Madrid, El Ventorillo (see above): http://sanisidro.esmadrid.com/musica-en-las-vistillas/

You can watch the best flamenco in Madrid. Maybe "Cambio de tercio" is not the best flamenco performance on stage now, but it might works as indroduction to the various styles of this dance.
Other shows at theaters:

Carmen
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1903&tipo=5

Calé
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...cal=177&tipo=5

Spain dances flamenco
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/cargarBus...al=1228&tipo=5

Great tapas in Sevilla, Enrique Becerra and Bar Estrella. In Granada Bar Los Diamantes, free tapa w/ every round. In Madrid Casa Lucas on Cava Baja has great food at good prices but there are hundreds of great places in Madrid. Maribel's guides is the bible.