San Lorenzo is another neighbourhood in the north of the Casco Antiguo. For my purposes I’ve defined it as the area between the river, to the west, and Alameda square, to the east. The barrio takes its name from the famous church Iglesia de San Lorenzo www.visitasevilla.es in the Plaza de San Lorenzo.
My Google map of the city here, barrio locater map here.
Just opposite the church is a very famous tapas bar…
Eslava (Intermediate A), 3 Calle Eslava, www.espacioeslava.com, closed Monday
This is my second most favourite tapas bar in Seville after Puratasca (see my Triana post). In 2017 I came with my friend John who loves it here, and he should know having lived in the area for many years. I was too busy chatting to grade the food, sorry. However I do know we had the Pimiento Merluza (hake with peppers), Boquerones Blancos (white anchovies), a half racion of Navajas (razor clams), Caballa (mackerel), four beers and two glasses of Protos for €28.40, which is pretty good. There’s also a restaurant next door but it’s a bit pricey so I haven’t been yet, but I will one day.
After this we went around the corner to a couple of other places…
Casa Rafita (Low Intermediate C), 80a Calle Miguel Cid
Haute cuisine it ain’t but you can get decent, wholesome food at a reasonable price in this bar de barrio. We had some monster king prawns and some deep fried aubergines in sugar cane syrup. All good (B).
After this we went next door to…
Galeria Taberna Anima (Intermediate B), 11 Calle Marqués de la Mina, www.facebook.com
This flamenco bar which was in full swing when we arrived. The choice of drinks is quite limited but the music and atmosphere is great. This brandy (C+) was a new one on me. Dog rough brandies are a sign of authenticity I always think!
John also wanted to take me to Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo antiguaabaceriadesanlorenzo.com at 53 Calle Teodosio, but it was closed that night.
In 2018 I spent a lazy Sunday walking around Seville, starting here…
Bodega San Lorenzo (Intermediate A), 5 Plaza San Lorenzo
A good option for a Sunday when many places are closed. It scores well for atmosphere and history (over 150 years) as much as for the food. The tapas here are very traditional and they serve wines from the barrel. I love the Oloroso Sherry which is some of the best I’ve ever had (A), and the semi-sweet Vino Naranja is great too (B+). I still have a way to go before I can fully appreciate Manzanilla though (C). I need to go back to try their sweet Moscatel, the only barrel wine I didn’t try.
I really like the Montadito Melva con Pimientos, a small sandwich with a filling of a small type of tuna and a strip of red pepper (B+) and the Morcilla con Queso de Cabra, black pudding with goats’ cheese (A). The stuffed pepper, Pimientos del Piquillo con Bacalao was just okay (B-) but the Huevas de Bacalao, cod’s eggs, was a first, and my last as I couldn’t finish it (D). It’s not that I don’t like cod roe, when I was a child my Norwegian grandmother would often spread my bread with ‘kaviar’ cod roe paste which I still adore to this day (it’s still very popular in Norway). This was a very different kettle of fish eggs though and not easy to like. Thankfully a tapa of Queso Zamorano, a sheep’s cheese from Castilla y León, finished things off nicely (B). You have to order everything at the bar, or at least you did on the Sunday I went. The man and woman on the bar may seem a bit serious but they’re actually very nice, they’re just concentrating while they multi-task at lightning speed.
More places in San Vicente next…