Category Archives: restaurants

lalola menu preview

29 Thursday Aug 2019

Posted by in gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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I was so excited to find out this week that Lalola Taberna Gourmet had finally made the move from the far end of Los Remedios to the centre of town. In fact, just a short 11 minute walk from my house! It is located inside the very chic Hotel Palacio Conde de Torrejón, though it has its own entrance on the side. I couldn’t wait to try it out.

Then chef Javier Abascal sent me a message asking when I wanted to visit, and as I didn’t have a tour that evening I said I would see him then. I was expecting to just check things out, take some photos, maybe try a couple of tapas. But Javi had other ideas, and before long I was enjoying a private tasting menu with him, accompanied by lovely wines.

Being the Queen of Tapas does not suck.  🙂

  • Olive pâté with olive bread toasts
  • Ensaladilla with prawns, pimentón, fried eggs
  • Live lettuce salad with radishes, onions, lagarto Ibérico
  • Ravioli filled with gambas and setas, manteca sauce
  • Razor clams in Ibérico sauce
  • Braised Ibérico pork cheek with curry potato purée

galicia getaway 2019 | day 3 – ribeira sacra & ribeiro

15 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in getaways, restaurants, travel

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Thankfully our day started out not quite so early as the previous one, and the weather was overcast and slightly cooler, with the chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. The plan was drive through Ribeira Sacra, which was to be the focus of my article, visiting four bodegas in both that region and nearby Ribeiro.

First stop was family run Bodegas Cruzeiros, founded more than 20 years ago by Ramón Marcos. We were greeted by Ramón and Puri and shown the new installation – the winery has recently been moved to larger premises next door to the original. As with most producers in Galicia, their vineyards are various small plots of land scattered throughout the area, and they decided to show us Ramón’s favourite one, 400 metres up and on a 70º slope. You can see them standing at the bottom of the slope in the photo above. Then we were taken back to the winery for a tasting – I am in love with their Casa Noguedo blanco. They are still new to enotourism but have very generous hearts and are looking forward to welcoming visitors soon. This was the other of my two favourite visits.

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mantúa

10 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by in food & drink, friends, getaways, restaurants

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[read full review of Mantúa on Azahar Tapas]

Last weekend I finally had the pleasure of visiting Mantúa, which had been on my “to-do” list pretty much since it opened in 2017 as it’s owned and run by chef Israel Ramos, who also owns one of my favourite places in Jerez, Albalá. I had made plans to go with friends Ann and Paul after the Harveys sherry tasting at the Consejo Regulador.

As you can see below, everything was beautifully presented, and the service was impeccable. Can’t really recommend Mantúa enough. It has the feeling of a place with real heart, and flavours that attest to the chef’s genuine love of his region. Unpretentious and about as perfect as a meal can get.

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jason & louise

05 Friday Jul 2019

Posted by in friends, restaurants, sevilla, sherry, spain

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What a lovely to surprise when Jason @CortadoIngles got in touch to say that he and his wife Louise @ingamell would be in town this week, as part of Jason’s 50th Birthday Roadtrip. So we met up for an afternoon of sherry and seafood. Great catching up. Oh, and you can listen to Jason’s new album Distance of Hope here…

Distance of Hope – Ghosts of Granada

la raza t-raza

04 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by in events, restaurants, sevilla

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Grupo La Raza invited a group of us “usual suspects” to try out their Tastes of the World menu at brand new T-Raza (terraza) restaurant. The venue is impressive, with a cocktail bar at street level and a large terrace restaurant overlooking the river.

T-Raza will only be open during the summer months, but the space is available for private events throughout the year. You can see the menu below. I suspect I was the only one at our table who had actually tasted the original versions of these dishes (other than a poké bowl), and of course Caesar salad didn’t originate in Italy, but it was a fun evening a lovely time out.


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