Your FAVORITE restaurant in Madrid, Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona and WHY?
 

As we approach our trip to the above cities I have read so many forums and guides about restaurants. I also believe great food is not necessarily determined by price, michellin stars, or (forgive me) foam, although each can contribute to a great dining experience. So now I am asking those of you who are so very familiar with the dining in these cities...What is your favorite restaurant and why? Which restaurant (or Tapas bar) should absolutely not be missed in the city you are responding to? All I ask is that you describe the experience you had and share with us why it stood out.

What's it worth to you? Forgetting everything else, you can check two sources, Maribel's Guides (www.maribelsguides.com), Chow Hound (chowhound.chow.com/topics/390350) or Gerry Dawes (www.gerrydawesspain.com/).

Wow, the world in three sources! Unfortunately, the Gerry Dawes link says page not available.

There is a restaurant in Barcelona, that I stumbled upon about 20+ years ago, probably because of a Fodors recommendation, Called the Brasserie Flo.

It's a small group of restaurants, mostly in France. This restaurant serves French and Catalan food.

Set Portes (listed in Maribels above) has more than decent food. Much better for dinner than lunch.

I like it because of both the ambiance and the food. I've been there every time I return to Barcelona, and have recommended it to friends and coworkers since, who also rave about it. Check it out.
http://www.brasserieflobarcelona.com/ingles/index.html

Beautiful restaurant in an old factory building, at the top of the Ramblas. Some friends of mine went there last year, so it's still going strong. Guaranteed, no foam.

That should have been Gerry Dawes, An Insiders Guide: www.gerrydawesspain.com/

It was simply meant as an opportunity for the many of you, who are so helpful and pasionate about the various subjects found on this board, to express what dining experiences stood out in the cities that I will soon be visiting. I have found that talking 'food' often provides stimulating conversation and the rest of us would be the beneficiaries of it. So in answer to your question Robert2533, it worth tons! And I will check out the guides you suggest, although I am somewhat familiar with Maribelsguides. BTW, what are some of your favorites?

Thanks, Rastaguytoday, for the Brasserie Flo suggestion.

I like Cinc Sentits and Windsor in Barcelona, but there are dozens of others you can add to the list, in all price ranges. If you'd like an interesting wine bar, you can try Monvinic. And if you get out of the city, then there is Carme Ruscalleda's Restaurant Sant Pau.

Sevilla is a little different, but Egaña Oriza is always good, and Taberna del Alabardero would be at the top of any list.

We've had several good lunches at restaurante Oliver in Granada, and the Parador is always good for lunch or dinner after touring the Alhambra. Besides, we get Amigos points.

Madrid has far too many to list, but La Manduca de Azagra has always been good stop for lunch. There is a small restaurant in the Salamanca district where we've dined quite well the last couple of years, MEATing. Dassa Bassa would also be on my short list, and the Poncelet Cheesebar was a real fine earlier this year.

El Ventorillo in Madrid for perfectly fine, traditional food and fabulous views. A great garlic chicken and the sunset over the Guadarrama mountains in the beautiful Vistillas park is hard to beat: http://11870.com/pro/restaurante-ventorrillo/media

Cal Pep in Barcelona. It tells all that you have to get in line some 15 minutes before opening time both for lunch and dinner to be sure to get a place at the bar where all the action is. Divine seafood, monkfish, the best tortilla with aioli ever etc. etc: http://www.calpep.com/ingles/ingles.html

In Sevilla, I have a soft spot for more than 100 yrs old Bodegas Diaz Salazar, both for the atmosphere and the great tapas: http://www.minube.com/fotos/rincon/1...slideshow-mode
http://www.bodegasdiazsalazar.com/

Bsarcelona-Cerveceri'a Catalana

In Barcelona we enjoyed Ciudad Condal on Rambla Catalunya. A great restaurant/tapas bar. It has a friendly atmosphere and delicious tapas. We sat on high stools at little tables next to the tapas bar looking out onto Rambla Catalunya and enjoyed our tapas and cava. A Spanish gentleman recommended Ciudad Condal to us and he was right on about it. Here is a link to a restaurant website with reviews. http://www.bcnrestaurantes.com/eng/b...=ciudad-condal

I forgot to mention a restaurant that we enjoyed enough to go back twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. La Gloria de Montera was a modern restaurant with a nice ambience and good food. Here is a link to their website. You can also read reviews on tripadvisor and yelp. http://www.lagloriademontera.com/

Maybe because it's so late (or early) for me, I forgot to mention that La Gloria de Montera is in Madrid.

In Madrid I like Posada de la Villa. Very traditional food and decor.If you like roasted lamb this is the place.

Like the poster above for tapas I also like Ciudad Condal in Barcelona very much. My sister swears by their sangria with cava(I havent tired that yet).

I would certasinly take Robert and kimhe's advice. They are more experienced than me.
Some of my experiences include:
Madrid Casa Lucas on Cava Baja is reasonably priced great food. Sevilla, I like Enrique Becerra for great Andalucian food. His son has a more modern place I believe called Becerrita. In Granada I loved Chikito for it's old school Granaino ambiance and character. I'm sure there are better gourmet places though. I'd love to try Roberts suggestion of Oliver. Barcelona I thought Cal Pep was overated but a unique Barcelona experience. Although locals still go there there are so many tourists lining up every night due to its mention in guidebooks. Cuitat Comdal was a great choice for tapas or full meals. Don't forget to have breakfast in La Boqueria at Pinotxo or Quim for a great Barcelona experience. As always maribelsguides is the best source for those cities.

I used Maribel's guides and had the best meal at Los Cuevas in Sevilla (actually across the river, near Triana). We used my poor Spanish to say "what's good" and ended up with wonderful dishes, lots of wine, sangria, after dinner drinks...

Our favorite restaurant of all time (not just in Europe or the US) was in Barcelona at Comerc24. The chef did training under Ferran Adrià (of El Bulli fame) and follows some of the same epicuriean surprises. The dishes delight you not just because they taste amazing but because they surprise you. What you think is a soft boiled egg turns out to be chilled cream, what you think will be warm is chilled (intentionally)...etc. They had a last minute opening at the bar and we dined for 2.5 hours. I can't say enough about it!

http://comerc24.com.mialias.net/rest...e.php?lang=eng

They also have a "sister" casual place called Tapas24 which is also superb.

kimhe, I would never go to a restaurant with menus translated into English-screams and is full of tourists-the demise of Botin!I'll grant you that the views are great but would never eat a meal there,maybe a beer or tinto de verano out on the terrace!
I am reluctant to name my favorite little restaurant but here goes:
http://www.restaurantecasamarta.com/home.asp
It's location is very close to the palace and thhe menu del dia is just great and last year it was 12 euros.If it's full-only one waiter- take a stroll towards the palace and then check back.It's spotless with starched white tablecloths and napkins,love the olives and in all my visits I've never had a bad meal!The owner who seats you,remembers my visits envery year.Never heard/seen tourists there,my kind of place!

Madrid: Sobrino de Botin

why i loved it: not only is it the oldest restaurant in the world (according to Guiness book of world records) but the menu is mostly unchanged since it's inception in 1725. The roast suckling pig was DELICIOUS. Everyone raves about it and i was glad i tried it out. Succulent juicy pork with crispy skin. Yum!! The dining areas downstairs looked very old and even cavernous. How would it feel to tell your friends that you ate at the oldest restaurant in the world?

Botin has steadily gone downhill since the owner's son took over.Pretty much caters to tourists nowadays,
The Botin restautant-an exact duplicate- in Miami had to close..................

Chapla, that's sad to hear. Last time I was in Botin was in 2006 and it was still IMO very good.

Chapla,
Agree, Casa Marta in Madrid is just great for traditional Madrid food at very reasonable prices and the best atmosphere. The menu del dia is a bargain: photos/videos: http://11870.com/pro/casa-marta/media
gastronomyblog: http://gastronomyblog.com/2010/07/01/casa-marta-madrid/