Tapas
Sevillians go out for tapas as if were a ritual, that is to say, they usually go out for a walk and chat with friends and they stop at bars to have a drink and a tapa, that entails having small portions of food ("tapas") from a long list of dishes. A tapa is just an individual portion and it is customary to accompany each drink with one. If you want to share a larger helping, then order a ración (ration) or media ración (half ration).
When you enter a bar, you will often find a list of tapas displayed somewhere on the wall, but the most usual is for the waiters to recite the list of dishes at a traditional, considerably speed. Don’t feel embarrassed and ask them to speak slower: many Spaniards also find it difficult to understand them all at once!
Most of the bars have their own specialities, but there are some tapas that you will find almost every-where and you will become familiar with their names. Tortilla de camarones, small flour omelette with tiny shrimps, ensaladilla, salad made of mainly of boiled vegetables and mayonnaise, and pinchito moruno, small pieces of barbecued meat (pork or chicken) with a very spicy sauce, are a must on most menus. The word montadito usually means a small fillet or some type of sausage in a toasted bun, and gazpacho is a cold soup made up of cucumber, tomato, green pepper, bread, onion and garlic.
Some bars offer different types of deep-fried fish, like boquerones (a type of anchovy), calamares (squid), puntillitas (small squids), or a dish called fritos variados where a sample of each are presented on the same plate.
After the Organ Concert by Maestro Ayarra, you can start your tapeo. Santa Cruz District is near the Cathedral, where you will find a lot of tapa bars with a wide variety of drinks and food. Try some Spanish jamón (cured ham) at Casa Román (Plaza de Los Venerables), taste some of the stews and casseroles at Giralda (Mateos Gago, 1), or at Belmonte close by in the same street.
Near the Plaza Nueva, you can have sea bass with amontillado (pale dry sherry) at Enrique Becerra (Gamazo, 2.). At Casablanca (Zaragoza, 50), one of the treasures of tapeo, worth mentioning are noodles with seafood, omelette with whisky and chickpeas with prawns. Nearby, try jamón at Mesón Sevilla Jabugo (García de Vinuesa, 52), and montaditos at Las Infantas (Arfe, 36). Not far from there, try some of the tasty tapas that Casa Pepe Hillo offers (Adriano, 24), or take a trip into the cuisine of a neighbouring region, Extremadura, at Jamón Real (López de Arenas, 5, and Pastor y Landero, 22).
It is worth to mention the excellent Andalusian cuisine of Burladero (Hotel Colón. Canalejas, 1), and the oxtail stew and the lenguado a la buena mujer (sole fish), that you can try at Las Piletas (Marqués de Paradas, 28).
Remember: In Seville nobody will expect you to pay straight away. It is typical to note down customer’s bill on the counter with chalk; when you are ready to leave, the waiter will add up the figures written on your side of the counter and accept your money.
"The intimate enchant of Seville is in what she explains us about her past... The antique alleys tell their secrets in the night hours, and nothing is comparable to the grave melancholy of her gardens...". (Rubén Darío)
