Spain is said to have the best food! So, I tried everything.
In life travel across Spain, we learned that eating well in the country does not require a great deal of effort, whether in the farthest village at home or in major cities such as Madrid or Barcelona. All it takes is a little research before you travel to build a tremendous success in food tasting.
In today's article, we embark on a very personal journey through which we will introduce you to Spain's five cities where we ate the best in two decades of cross-country travel as a couple, north to south and east to west.
Hello! We help you plan the perfect journey with practical information and advice from within. Yes, I have been traveling all over Spain with Cecilia for several decades now, since I am a fan of travel and touring the beautiful world. Today we want to share a very special list, because it includes five cities where we have always eaten well, and those who eat well will inevitably be happier on their journeys
We decided on our list to include cities only where we were at least twice, although we went to most of the cities we will mention many more times. This article is not about one trip experience but about accumulated experiences over the years. Another decision we made was not to include Madrid or Barcelona on the list, because we believe that these two cities, given their size and the fact that they collect kitchen stuff from all over Spain, are cities that play at a different level.
But don't worry because you won't run out of information about Spain's two largest cities. Here on the blog, we will post a tapas tour of Madrid and a list of restaurants with daily menus. The same for Barcelona, through a carefully curated tapas tour through Catalonia's capital and a selection of restaurants offering specific menus.
We are sure that you should have your own list in your head, here's our list of the best Spanish food cities. From least to most. Fifth on the list is San Sebastian, San Sebastian in Spanish, in the Basque Country on Spain's northern coast. San Sebastian is a wonderful city worth visiting and is one of the most beautiful provincial capitals in Spain.
If you visit northern Spain, you have to go to San Sebastian. Donostia, as the city is also known, often appears at the top of lists of cities with the best gastronomy in Spain, largely because of the very high level of its most famous restaurants with many Michelin stars. But the truth is that apart from the starry world of food tasting, the gastronomy of the Basque Country is a very serious work, and food goes beyond becoming a social event.
The utmost expression of the importance of gastronomy can be seen in the bars of the city, with the famous pintxos. Food obtained from the sea occupies a very important place, although there is a life beyond fish and seafood. You will see on the screen the names of some bars in San Sebastian that we love so much. Excellence is one of its most distinctive properties and can be found even in a potato omelette that looks modest.
When the time comes for dessert, be sure to visit the La Viña bar to try the globally burned Basque cheesecake. In short, what do we love so much about San Sebastian and want you to love it too? It is a gastronomic scene where bars and pentus stand out carefully both in the quality of the products offered and in their presentation.
Of course, you need to know that quality should be paid for and that food prices in San Sebastian are higher than in other cities on the list. Fourth on the list is Seville, a city that charms a lot of foreign tourists visiting Spain and where we have already been dozens of times. Of all the cities on this list was the city that gave us the most work, love was not at first sight at all.
But when we learned to choose on and off the beaten tourist route, we discovered culinary art with its own personality, not reluctant to borrow delicious dishes from other parts of Andalusia and make them their own. You'll soon miss those excellent spinach with chickpeas or delicious fried cod. We have already told you what to do in Seville and also posted a video about the most typical dishes in Seville and where to find them. In short.
What does Sevilla give us that we love so much? With a delightful atmosphere and the knowledge that the search for the city's most traditional bar disciplines, we always come out very well with delicious and future foods. Third, on the menu, we go to Galicia to enjoy Santiago de Compostela food. The capital of Galicia is world renowned as the ultimate destination for one of the planet's most important pilgrimage routes, Camino de Santiago, St. James's Road.
But the delicious experience of visiting Santiago goes beyond religious pilgrimage. Local gastronomy is simply stunning and its fame has long spread beyond Galicia's borders. Seafood is the king on Santiago tables and facing the wonderful seafood dish is a great event in Santiago. You shouldn't leave town without trying the traditional pulp.
But don't be fooled, local foods aren't just about the sea. Galicia is a wet and fertile land and produces potatoes, vegetables, meat, and cheese with extraordinary quality. The price for dining is not set well in Santiago, and even lower if you follow the food and restaurant tips we share in our Santiago de Compostella travel guide.
In short, what impresses Santiago is the quality of food you'll find in bars and restaurants. It is a paradise for those who love seafood and never miss the opportunity to eat a delicious octopus or many great scallops.
Second, Cordoba, another Andalusian city on the list turned the act of eating into a superior experience. It is a city where the legacy of the traveling past is permanently accompanied, providing a unique place for gastronomic invasions. Cordoba usually places local delicacies on the table which, because they are so good, have already been adopted by other cities in Spain. The list of symbolic Córdoba dishes is not short at all. What is probably her most famous dish, Salmonego Cordobs has even its own street.
Tail bull, never miss an opportunity to try it. We cannot forget the amazing aubergine with honey, another of Cordoba's emotions. Then there are masamora, flamencin, cordoba cake. In the article we will devote to Córdoba you will find more details about the typical dishes of the city.
To sum up for us, Córdoba is a very special city where we feel great even before we start eating. But when eggplant, bull tail, or salmorejos reach the table, the experience of visiting Córdoba reaches a semi-mystical level. Córdoba is a wonderful city no matter how you look at it.
If there is one Spanish city that has stolen our hearts, it is Cadiz, Cadiz in Spanish, where we are dominated by joy once we reach the city. The gastronomy of Cadiz is just one of several reasons why our passion for Tacita de Plata, the title of Cadiz.
We have already talked about the sudden number of places to visit and discover and Cádiz, Cádiz is small but the nooks and glamorous discoveries make it a wonderful visit, not to mention the remnants of 3,000 years of history found in many parts of one of Europe's oldest cities.