Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

RESTAURANTS

12 restaurants in Spain you need to dine in least once in your life

For globe-trotting foodies, this is the ultimate bucket list: the best restaurants in the world chosen for their elegant dining rooms and delicious cuisine.

Published: 8 August 2019 09:01 CEST
12 restaurants in Spain you need to dine in least once in your life
Amelie Vincent with Joan Roca, one of the 12 restaurants in Spain she included in her book. Photo: The Foodalist

In a new book, 150 Restaurants You Need To Visit Before You Die (Lannoo Publishers), foodie, author and influencer Amélie Vincent, travels the world to choose the best dining experiences and of course that included a stop in Spain where she chose 12 Spanish eateries.

Six of them are located in the Basque Country, another four in Barcelona and one in Girona, and the last in Madrid.

Let’s take a look ar her choices.

Etxebarri in Atxondo, Basque Country


Photo: Anders Husa

Writing about the chef Victor Arguinzoniz, Vincent writes “He is one of the most respected and inspiring chefs of his generation using exclusively the fire, live coal. And embers from oack and vines to cook the very best of the regions ingredients.

Nerua in Bilbao, Basque Country


Photo: Andoni Epelde

Housed in the legendary Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, overlooking the river, Michelin starred Nerua serves innovative Basque cuisine in a sleep contemporary setting with fresh white walls and swirl-backed chairs.

All the audacious dishes by Chef Josean Alija are served on simple white plates with just two or three ingredients, using Mediterranean produce to which he is not afraid to add unusual flashes of inspiration, like green coffee essence, pumpkin seed praline and ‘spicy marzipan sand’.

Mugaritz, Errenteria,  Basque Country
 


Photo: José Luis López de Zubiría / Mugaritz
 

“You will be surprised by dishes that make sounds and appetizers that melt in the mouth,” writes Vincent on her reason for including this restaurant on the list.

“Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz’s philosophy is to balance his theatrical instincts with technical cooking and to touch on all of the senses by playing with perceptions,” she writes.

Elkano in Getaria,  Basque Country


Photo: Amelie Vincent
 

“The best time to visit Elkano is in April or May,” writes Vincent, “when wild Atlantic turbot is at the peak of its season and you can hear chef Aitor Arregui’s passionate stories about the fishing season and the work they do with the local fisherman.

Azurmendi in Larrabetzu,  Basque Country


Photo: Amelie Vincent
 

Perched on a  hillside, Azurmendi tells the story of the Basque Country’s finest produce through an all-encompassing culinary experience.

“This environmentally friendly restaurant recycles its own waste, as well as harvesting rainfall and cooling itself using geothermal energy,” she writes.

Arzak in San Sebastian,  Basque Country


Photo: Amelie Vincent

Another restaurant in the Basque Country, this time in San Sebastián, Vincent says “It is beautiful and quite unique to watch a father and daughter combination in a kitchen.”

El Celler De Can Roca in Girona, Catalonia


Photo: Amelie Vincent

Celler de Can Roca the Catalan restaurant has scooped the title of Best restaurant in the world several times, and maintains three Michelon stars is not surprisingly on the list. Run by the three Roca brothers, who blend their skills of chef, pastry chef and somellier, it is considered one of the best restaurants in Spain.

Disfrutar in Barcelona, Catalonia


Photo: Adria Goula

Disfutar meaning enjoy in Spanish is a beautiful Mediterranean restaurant in Barcelona, with clay ceramics and a white dining room that flows out onto the terrace, referencing the small fishing villages of Catalonia.

It is here where you can enjoy the spheres that look exactly like olives but which are filled with mandarin flower essence, a famous dish inherited from El Bulli.

Enigma in Barcelona, Catalonia


Photo: Pepo Segura

Albert Adrià, brother of world-famous chef Ferran and former El Bulli chef is behind the restaurant “located in a majestic space that combines Japanese minimalism with vintage science fiction, Enigma is definitely not a conventional restaurant.

“Diners do not remain static during the unique experience: they move through the seven  distinct dining spaces, each one with its own theme, from La Plantxa, featuring a teppanyaki-inspired set up with a flat-top grill, to the 41º cocktail bar.”

Hoja Santa in Barcelona, Catalonia


Photo: Amelie Vincent

“Hoja Santa is the perfect place to discover the savour of cactus nopal juice mixed with an oyster, pinapple, lemon and olive oil”.

Another restaurant opened by Albert Adrià, here Mexican chef Paco Méndez showcases the very best of what contemporary Mexican cuisine has to offer, thanks to his experience at El Bulli and Tickets.

Koy Shunka in Barcelona, Catalonia


Photo: Pedro Cortacans

“At Koy Shunka, local products are prepared in an inventive Japanese way,” writes Vincent of this gourmet Japanese eaterie in Barcelona's Barrio Gótico. “The main selling point is the produce which is precisely cut and cooked with purity and simplicity”.

DiverXO in Madrid


Photo: DiverXO

The author warns that “to book one of the 30 seats at DiverXO, the hottest restaurant in Madrid, is  not without challenges.” But those luckily enough to secure a reserveration “will have a surprising Spanish-Asian arty performance in a wittily decorated room.”

For more take a look at the '150 Restaurants You Need to Visit before You Die', Amélie Vincent, € 25,99, published by Lannoo Publishers and available HERE

 

 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SPAIN EXPLAINED

Why don’t Spaniards use kettles?

If there’s one thing that Brits, Irish, Aussies and other tea-drinking foreigners find frustrating about Spain, it’s the absence of kettles for their morning ‘cuppa’. Esme Fox explores why the Spanish don't really care for kettles.

Published: 23 August 2024 11:02 CEST
Why don't Spaniards use kettles?

The British are known the world around for being big tea drinkers. In fact, the UK Tea & Infusions Association (UKTIA) says 84 percent of the UK population drinks tea every day. In Ireland, the average person drinks six to seven cups a day, whereas Australians also love a brew or two but are big coffee drinkers as well.

Logically, tea-drinking foreigners coming on holiday to Spain or even moving here will more than likely want to keep up the same habits.

I’ve lived in Spain a long time, so I’ve swapped my morning tea for a coffee. As a Brit however, I’ll still have at least three teas throughout the day while I’m working. A kettle is still an essential piece of kitchen equipment for me. 

It’s not just that Spanish people don’t have kettles in their kitchens, there aren’t very many used anywhere. It’s rare that hotel rooms will have kettles here, even in luxury five-star ones.

Coffeemakers on the other hand are very common. And what’s even more strange is that many hotels will provide tea bags, but no kettle to make the tea with, perhaps expecting you to use heated water from the coffee maker instead. Not ideal as the tea will often have a faint taste of coffee too! 

READ ALSO: 14 unusual foods you won’t believe are eaten in Spain 

My parents-in-law have even specifically booked hotels on the basis that they’ve stated on their website that they have ‘tea and coffee making facilities’, only to be very miffed and disappointed when they arrive and find no kettle in the room.

This is a fact that very much annoys other friends and family who come to visit too. In fact, it’s been so much of an issue that we’ve now bought a separate travel kettle for guests to take to hotels with them and make their morning tea.

If you’re working in Spain, it’s unlikely that your office or co-working space will have a kettle either. I’m lucky that I work from home and have regular access to a kettle, particularly in winter when we drink several cups a day and use it to fill our hot water bottles at night.

The debate about kettles in Spain has come to light once again because of an Australian guy who went viral on TikTok after he posted a video asking Spaniards why nowhere ever has a kettle, saying that he has to boil his water as if he lived in 1488.

While that’s a strong exaggeration, the point still stands that not many Spaniards have kettles. If they do need to heat water, then they will do so either in the microwave or on the stove top.  

While it clearly bothers Brits, Irish and Australians, it’s likely that it doesn’t concern The Local Spain’s American readers, who are used not having electric kettles back home. Stove-top kettles are more common there or they simply go without. 

Many Spaniards don’t see the need for having a kettle to boil water faster when they already have a microwave or kitchen hobs. Photo: Jsme MILA / Pexels

Tepid water heated up in the microwave just doesn’t cut it, and also has a completely different taste to water boiled in a kettle. Boiling it on the stove is a better option, but it takes so long compared to just flicking a switch on a kettle.

The general consensus online for the lack of kettles in Spain is that Spaniards aren’t big tea drinkers and simply don’t have the need to boil water on a regular basis.

Instead, coffee is the breakfast drink of choice. According to a survey by Spanish franchise chain Café & Té, 63 percent of Spaniards over the age of 15 have at least one coffee a day.

Spaniards may not have a kettle, but it’s very rare to find one that doesn’t have some type of cafetera or coffeemaker.

READ ALSO: Why do many Spanish apartments not have balconies? 

In Spain, tea is something that’s drunk perhaps as a digestive after dinner, it’s not really something that’s consumed in the morning or even throughout the day.

And the teas Spaniards do drink here are different to the strong black English breakfast or builders style tea we have in the UK. The most typical here are herbal or Chinese style teas, which are actually referred to as infusiones (infusions) rather than teas or té.

While black teas, as well as some British brands such as PG Tips and Tetley’s are available in Spanish supermarkets, they’re often a bit watery and tasteless – most Brits I know try to stuff a few boxes into their suitcases when they come back from visiting the UK.

Many big cities in Spain do in fact have a handful of specialised tea shops where you can find a great selection, but again they will mostly be herbal teas and blends with added dried fruits and spices. The Andalusian city of Granada is in fact full of them – left over from its strong Moorish heritage. It even has many Moroccan-style tea rooms. 

It’s worth noting that kettles are actually readily available in many stores in Spain, it’s just that not many people buy them.

You can purchase them at many places including El Corte Inglés, Mediamarkt, Hipercor and Carrefour, as well as Amazon online. They’re known as teteras eléctricas or hervidores de agua in Spanish.

Tea is actually becoming increasingly popular in recent years in Spain – albeit – mostly the herbal kind.

Recent data shows that the consumption of infusions and teas in Spain in hotels and restaurants rose after the pandemic to 91 million cups per year. And one in three Spaniards between ages 15 and 75 say that this is their preferred drink.

I very much doubt that tea will surpass coffee as Spaniards’ morning drink of choice, but if it is indeed becoming more popular, there may be hope for kettle-lovers yet.

While it may still take a while before you find a kettle in your Spanish hotel room, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that more Spaniards see the benefits of having a handy hervidor de agua at home. 

SHOW COMMENTS