excited_confused

So, I have been doing a bit of research on restaurants/menus for our upcoming trip to Barcelona/Madrid/Seville/Malaga and am running into a bit of a problem. We are not big on meat. We do eat chicken and seafood but just fish and shrimp, not too much other seafood. So that's my problem!
Can anyone suggest restaurants that would have a good variety of chicken and seafood options along with some vegetarian ones? Our longest stay is in Barcelona. We are staying in the Barri Gotic so any recommendations in the area and in any of the other cities we will be visiting would be much appreciated. Looking for medium priced restaurants, Thanks!

kimhe

Of course tons of restaurants that meet your requirements in all these cities, but here are some suggestions for medium priced restaurants with great fish, chicken and vegetarian options.

Barcelona.
Family owned Ca l'Estevet. I recommend the tomato salad - much thanks to the very rich Vinagre de Jerez -, the Barcelona speciality Bacalà a la llauna (bacalao with beans) and the wonderful grilled chicken with prunes. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Catalonia.html

And Can Culleretes from 1786, the second oldest restaurant in the country and in the Barri Gótic. Plenty of vegetarian and fish dishes and also chicken with ratatouille: http://www.culleretes.com/en/home

Madrid.
Emma Cocina close to Plaza Mayor or the best grilled chicken in town at Casa Mingo:
http://emmacocina.com/
http://www.casamingo.es/home.html
La Trucha (The Trout), just off vibrant Plaza Santa Ana, has got the classical Spanish garlic chicken (pollo al ajillo), and lots of fish and vegetarian dishes: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ha-Madrid.html
Almost nobody eat as much fish as the madrileños, so you should be fine.

Sevilla:
Excellent tapas, prawn brochette, fried hake, grilled tuna, the delicious Sevilla speciality spinach with garbanzos at Las Teresas: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...8/las-teresas/
Close by Modesto or 3 de Oro should also be very much what you're looking for:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html

Málaga.
Fish and seafood heaven, it's all around you. I recommend traditional El Cortijo de Pepe for both the honest food and great atmosphere. Plenty of fish, vegetarian and egg dishes and also a chicken casserole: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html

ribeirasacra

"Almost nobody eat as much fish as the madrileños, so you should be fine."mmm Galicians, Basques? etc

nytraveler

Yes, but be aware that in Spain many of the fish dishes are clams, mussels, lobster-type things, squid, octopus etc. You can certainly get fish - but do learn the names of the various foods - so your aren't stuck in tourist places with English menus.

kimhe

ribeira,
Galicians, basques, malagueños, gaditanos etc of course also eat a lot of fish and seafood, but the 33.000 m² Mercado Central de Pescados in Madrid was at least the second largest fish market in the world after the Tsukiji market in Tokyo as late as 2008:
http://www.worldsofflavorspain.com/madrid
http://www.mercamadrid.es/index.php?...d=16&Itemid=47

excited_confused

Thanks all for all the suggestions! I am a bit of a finicky fish eater unfortunately, do not like to see skin, tail, eyes etc! Some of the pictures I saw on reviews etc were so too appealing to me

Robert2533

The freshest and best seafood, as ribeirasacra says, comes from the the north, where it dominates most menus. Of course what we get in Madrid isn't bad, with only a couple of hours travel time between arriving in port and being delivered to the market. That's one of the amazing things about fresh fresh and shell food in Spain, nothing is more than a few hours away.

ribeirasacra

I am sorry to say that one huge building does not mean all of the fish is eaten in that one city. And one huge building does not mean that it is the same as all the small ones along the coast combined. I don't have figures to prove all of the small ones outsell the larger Madrid building. But seeing as this is where the fish is landed it is my educated guess that more fish is sold on the coast than in Madrid.
Madrid from the Galician coast is over 6 hours in a car, and will be more in a refrigerated truck.

kimhe

<one huge building does not mean all of the fish is eaten in that one city>
132 million kg fish and seafood is annually sold through the fish market in Madrid, and even though much of the distribution systems in modern food industry are inscrutable, all that fish and seafood is brought in here for the reason that much of it is consumed here. Spain is on top in fish and seafood consumption in Europe with some 27 kg pr. capita pr. year, and people in the Comunidad de Madrid consume a little more than the national average with some 28 kg pr. capita and year. So I think it's fair to say that "almost nobody eat as much fish as the madrileños".
http://www.madrid.org/cs/Satellite?c...=1159289986958

"Madrid fish consumption well above Spain’s average" (2014): http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2014...pains-average/

Ackislander

"I am a bit of a finicky fish eater unfortunately, do not like to see skin, tail, eyes etc! "

You could have a problem.

I remember eating baby eels in Spain, so young that they were translucent and their most prominent feature was their eyes.

Unless you can see the fins, tail, skin, how do you know you are getting what you are supposed to be getting? It could be any anonymous, boring white farm- raised fish like tilapia.

You can avoid this by mostly eating tapas. You can order a small portion, see if it acceptable,then order more.

You are not alone. We saw a German woman in Dubrovnik removing ever trace of fish-ness from a plate of fried whitebait which is normally eaten head, tail, and all.

excited_confused

Yes Ackislander, that's what I am afraid of! And tilapia is just fine with me I don't like my fish to be fishy!!