Tapas restaurants in Europe
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A
Los Coloniales
It might not look like much from the outside but trust us; this is something very special. It’s hard to pick a favourite dish as everything is outstanding, but we’d never turn down a plate of chorizo a la Asturiana, a divine spicy sausage in an onion sauce served on a bed of lightly fried potato. To follow up try the aubergines in honey. There is another, inferior and more touristy branch, Taberna Los Coloniales, on Calle Jimios near the cathedral.
reviewed
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B
Cerveseria Catalana
The ‘Catalan Brewery’ is good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Come in for your morning coffee and croissant, or wait until lunch to enjoy choosing from the abundance of tapas and montaditos (canapés). You can sit at the bar, on the pavement terrace or in the restaurant at the back. The variety of hot tapas, salads and other snacks draws a well-dressed crowd of locals and outsiders. It has expanded the premises to deal with demand.
reviewed
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C
Tapas Barinn
Indecisive types will have a tough time at this outstanding tapas bar, with over 50 different dishes on the menu – a thousand possible combinations! Alongside familiar Spanish nibbles such as mixed olives and patatas bravas, you’ll find Icelandic ingredients turned into tasty titbits – puffin with blueberries, saltfish, and pan-fried lobster tails. Expect to spend around Ikr3900 per person for a full meal.
reviewed
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D
Comocomo
At this much buzzed-about spot, pintxos (Basque tapas) such as octopus or bite-sized ham sandwiches, glide past on an 80m-long sushi-train-style conveyor belt, and are colour-coded for easy identification (purple for pork, blue for fish and so on). But most diners’ eyes remain fixed on the passing fashion parade outside the big picture-windows.
reviewed
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E
La Casa del Abuelo
In Huertas, La Casa del Abuelo is famous for gambasa la plancha (grilled prawns) or gambas al ajillo (prawns sizzling in garlic on little ceramic plates) and a chato (small glass) of the heavy, sweet El Abuelo red wine; they cook over 200kg of prawns here on a good day.
reviewed
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F
Inopia
Albert Adrià, brother of star chef Ferran, has his hands full with this constantly busy gourmet-tapas temple. Select a pintxo de cuixa de pollastre a l’ast (chunk of rotisserie chicken thigh) or the lightly fried, tempura-style vegetables. Wash down with house red or Moritz beer.
reviewed
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G
Txakolina
It calls its abundant Basque pintxos (tapas) ‘high cuisine in miniature’ – the first part is true, but these are some of the biggest pintxos you’ll find and some are a meal in themselves. It does wonderful things with seafood and potatoes too.
reviewed
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H
Escalon
Tapas has taken Bergen by storm and no-one does it better than Escalon. The friendly young waiters are happy to make suggestions on wine selection and the tapas are tasty and the closest you’ll find in Bergen to what you’ll get in Spain. Highly recommended.
reviewed
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I
Bar Tapas
A phalanx of 30 tapas - boquerones (anchovies)to octopus salad to garlic chicken - report to duty behind glass along the bar of this convivial Iberian outpost. Write down the numbers, then sit back with a jug of sangria and wait for your tasty morsels to arrive.
reviewed
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J
El Pintxo's
Antwerp's first pintxo (the Basque version of tapas) bar has a cool, sober interior lorded over by a big red bull. The pintxos variados dinner menu includes five cold and four warm servings - great for satisfying those who want to test the lot.
reviewed
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K
El Rincón del Rafa
Descend the steps into this basement restaurant and find yourself in a little corner of Spain, complete with mouthwatering tapas, posters depicting bullfighting and the kind of buzz more in keeping with Madrid than Manchester. It's always packed so book ahead.
reviewed
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L
Bodega Santa Cruz
Forever crowded and with a mountain of paper on the floor, this place is usually standing room only, with tapas and drinks enjoyed alfresco as you dodge the marching army of tourists squeezing through Santa Cruz’s narrow streets.
reviewed
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M
La Guingette
On weekends especially, drop by La Guingette, when locals congregate for board-game tournaments, French tapas, and a drink at the boat-shaped timber bar. It's across the river in the village-like quarter of Trentemoult.
reviewed
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N
La Panxa del Bisbe
With low lighting and a hip, young feel, the ‘Bishop’s Gut’ is a great place to indulge in some gourmet tapas, washed down with a fine wine, like the Albariño white from Galicia, for a surprisingly modest outlay.
reviewed
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O
Gorki
A popular upmarket tapas bar with pavement tables and a modern interior full of wine-barrel tables and stools. Creative tapas have a more sevillano twist and the clientele is young and trendy.
reviewed
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Bolero
About 30 different tapas are the mainstay of this sprawling bodega. Rustic wooden tables and candlelight transport you straight to southern Spain, as does the beer garden's brio.
reviewed
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Lechuga
In this calm retreat, vegetables reign supreme and the chef does wonderful things with them, such as hummus, Indian-style bhajis and various inventive salads.
reviewed
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R
Bocaito
Bocaito, at Chueca, is a purveyor of Andalucian jamón (ham) and seafood and a favourite haunt of film-maker Pedro Almodóvar.
reviewed
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S
Poë
British-Angolan Poë offers Brazilian favourites such as feijoada or chicken stew with polenta, and a trendy multicultural vibe.
reviewed
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Baco y Beto
Chueca is a stellar tapas barrio (district). A brilliant choice is Baco y Beto.
reviewed
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Tapas Bars
The narrow streets and small plazas south of La Seo harbour some great tapas bars - ideal for lunch-time snacking or cooling off with a beer on a warm evening. On the cosy Plaza de Santa Marta, Cervecería Marpy and Casa Vitorinos II have bar-top treats in plenty, while Casa Domino offers hams and montados (toasted baguette slices topped with Cabrales cheese, among other tantalising spreads).
There's another string of tapas bars towards the southern end of Calle Heroísmo (most open until midnight). Still more snacking options cram Calle Moneva, off Calle de Zurita east of Paseo de la Independencia, where El Calamar Bravo churns out the fried squid sandwiches and La Mejill…
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Spezerei
This small Vinothek (wine bar) and Mediterranean tapas place specialises in Spanish fish tapas (€6.90 to €9.90), focaccia and panini (from €4.70) and quality wines to wash them down with. And what a selection of wines it is too! About a dozen can be drunk by the glass and several hundred by the bottle, including four house varieties. The wall is full of them, mostly from Austria, and in summer you can enjoy by the bottle or glass, sitting outdoors soaking up the sun. (Karmeliterplatz is on Taborstrasse – not to be confused with nearby Karmelitermarkt.)
reviewed
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Estado Puro
A slick but casual tapas bar, Estado Puro serves up fantastic tapas, many of which have their origins in Catalonia’s world-famous El Bulli restaurant, such as the tortilla española siglo XXI (21st-century Spanish omelette, served in a glass). The kitchen here is overseen by Paco Roncero, the head chef at La Terraza del Casino and who learned his trade with master-chef Ferran Adrìa. Most of the tapas involve spectacular variations on traditional Spanish themes. There’s a funky indoor area and outdoor tables (often reserved and with higher prices).
reviewed
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W
Pingvin Tapas & Vincafé
Definitely one of our favourites and it seems we’re not alone. This warm restaurant-bar offers a brilliant selection of 30 ‘tapas’ (it’s not so much a place to order dishes to share among a group, but more an individual tasting-plate approach). Make your selection and sit back to enjoy taste sensations such as figs wrapped in Parma ham, smoked duck breast on coleslaw or prawns cooked with sun-dried tomatoes and chilli. There’s a superb wine list, plus lunch-friendly one-stop dishes such as soup, sandwiches and burgers.
reviewed
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X
Gaissa
The upstairs restaurant of the Hotel Santa Claus is split into two attractive areas. Elegant Gaissa has a short menu aimed at visitors and served from a semi-open kitchen. Service is willing but error-strewn; the dishes are petite and reindeer-heavy but feature some great creations, such as spot-on reindeer rillettes and slow-roasted lamb that falls off the bone. Adjoining it is ZoomUp, a bar with salads, pastas, steaks, ribs (€13 to €19) and snacks like potato wedges, in a more casual atmosphere aimed at pulling a local crowd.
reviewed
