Andalusia is one of the regions with the most delicious food in Spain. Its excellent climate and delicious raw ingredients have made it a world-renowned region for cuisine.

This article focuses on Cádiz, a province that brings charm and flair to its dishes. Value for money is one of the region’s general characteristics, and there are many different locations where you can eat well for a very reasonable price.

Here are just some of the options:

• Quilla:

• Well known for its location, in front of the Santa Catalina Castle and the beach. The restaurant aims to produce creative cuisine with a menu that has something for everyone.  The cold starter options include a delicious ‘Almadraba blue-fin tuna tartar with tomato and cream of avocado’ and ‘crispy asparagus and prawns’.

Of course, there are also typical dishes like toasted bread, delicious ‘pork sirloin, roasted peppers and goat cheese on toast’.

A special mention should also go to the ‘baked cod with garlic mayonnaise and aubergine’, as well as the ‘30-day aged Retinta beef’.

• El Faro:

• This restaurant offers an authentic Cádiz experience. This Cádiz classic has been open for 50 years and is famous for its prawn omelettes and for its local cooking methods based on “respect for the past and our maritime heritage”. The restaurant won over the hearts of Cádiz locals thanks to its ability to adapt to the times (all its batter is now gluten free) without renouncing its roots. The restaurant’s pescaíto frito, or fried fish, is served in every possible way and is the main dish on the menu, which also features seafood rice dishes.

• 

• Balandro:

• On a menu inspired by the sea and traditional Andalusian recipes, fish features just as much as meat. Your mouth will water just by reading the names of some of the dishes, such as ‘monkfish in almonds with mushroom and ham sauce’, and ‘chicken breast stuffed with ham and goat cheese in wild mushroom and bacon sauce’. And if you have a sweet tooth, you won’t be able to resist delicacies such as ‘yoghurt foam with honey and pistachio accompanied with goat cheese’, or ‘Nocilla and apricot tart with turrón ice cream’.

• 

It’s not just Cádiz capital where you can find culinary gems, and some of the neighbouring regions also have restaurants that offer the very best of authentic Cádiz cuisine.

Puerto de Santa María is very well known for its fried fish and seafood dishes, and the atmosphere in its many bars.

-Romerijo:

Perhaps the best-known restaurant in the area, with a long history spanning over 60 years. The restaurant’s fame speaks for itself, and it has a huge following of diners who come back again and again for the high-quality food and its central location. We recommend visiting this large and well-organised establishment early in the evening to avoid waiting for a table. Seafood and fried fish dominate the menu, which has nearly everything at a price that suits any budget. Many locals order dishes to take away, and you can often see dozens of people taking their “catch” back home.

The restaurant even has a website where you can order fresh produce to be delivered to your door, including lobster.

The business has turned into an empire, with establishments opened in Sevilla and Cádiz as well as the four they already have in Puerto.

–Pantalán G:

Pantalán G. is located in surroundings with beautiful views and has an extensive terrace with views over the sea at Puerto Sherry. The menu reinvents some classic dishes and offers delicacies such as crispy fried bull’s tail balls, grilled octopus with hummus and shrimp croquettes. The menu varies throughout the year, adapting to the ingredients that are in season while keeping the weather in mind to make sure diners have the best possible experience.

– El Faro del Puerto:

Open for over 25 years, this is an elegant, select restaurant with a prestigious head chef at the reins. Both the raw ingredients used, and the presentation of the dishes are outstanding, and diners can choose between eating at the bar or at a table. The menu includes interesting dishes such as the ‘Japanese amberjack tiradito’ (a kind of raw fish ceviche) that combines Japanese and Peruvian cuisine, and ‘scrambled Salicornia and white prawns’. The menu’s originality comes at a price, but if you can afford to splash out, then it’s well worth the money.

Medina Sidonia

We are now going to look at another municipality where you can eat outrageously well. The area in question is Medina Sidonia, and for starters, we can tell you it received the award for ‘Most Charming Village 2018’.

Surrounded by historical medieval walls and typical whitewashed Andalusian houses, you’ll find the ‘Show de Tapas Medina’, a restaurant that combines tradition and creative cuisine. Its dishes exude flavour, and there are some particular classics, such as the ‘Oloroso sherry venison’, and the ‘bull’s tail style beef stew’.

At Medina Sidonia, you will also find a range of other, more affordable options, such as the Ventorrillo del Carbón, one of the oldest restaurants in the province. The restaurant has two main rooms, a bar area and a terrace that can seat up to 160 people. The bar also sells local products such as rustic Andalusian bread, muffins, lards and more.

The best thing the restaurant has to offer is the special wood-fired oven for roasts, where they cook suckling pig, lamb, goat, beef and pork.

Another unmissable restaurant is Restaurante El Duque, which offers traditional dishes with a “personal touch” in an extensive menu that is frequently updated. The starters include options such as ‘bull’s tail ravioli in parmesan emulsion’ and ‘creamy croquettes with squid in its own ink and garlic mayonnaise’. It also offers creamy rice dishes such as wild partridge and wild mushrooms, meat and fish dishes, game and up to 20 home-made desserts.

The route continues with Venta de la Duquesa, a family restaurant that brings together two generations and offers a fusion of traditional cuisine with a contemporary twist representing new cooking styles.

The restaurant menu includes traditional dishes such as crispy morcilla blood sausage with cheese and pine nut sauce, wild game such as fried veal steak and fresh fish dishes such as tuna with onion. The dessert options will delight you with their ‘sponge cake in syrup with flan and chocolate’.