Abantal (Seville)

The peak of fine dining in Seville

Steamed large red prawn, sauté rice and tomato

There are not great numbers of fine dining restaurants in Seville, I would suspect that is largely down to the fact there are so many high-quality values for money tapas bar and restaurants around the city already, so is there much point of fine dining? Abantal is the only Michelin starred restaurant in the city, located not too far from the city center. Chef-owner Julio Fernández Quintero's cooking style is based on modern Spanish cuisine with a touch of Middle Eastern inspiration, as Seville, along with the whole of Southern Spain, has been occupied by the Arabs in the past which had a big influence to the local cuisine development. The restaurant itself is small, with around 10 tables across the contemporary dining room, and two tasting menus (a standard one or a longer one) to pick from.

Canapes

Tomato sponge, cod fish, black garlic and pepper

Oyster, corn, apple, dill

Seafood stew, monkfish, seaweed

Cod, chickpeas

Iberico pork Oreo

I opted for the grand tasting menu which contained 13 dishes. It had a lot of "stew dishes" but at a really refined level, I especially enjoyed a modern-looking seafood stew dish that contained smoked monkfish, white prawns and seaweed, it was a pool of seafood umami delight and the freshness of the prawns was second to none. The signature dish fake Oreo was an upper-class pork sandwich with rhubarb jam, the sour fruitiness element almost acted like apple which worked well with the meat. The giant steamed red prawn on saute rice was seafood heaven, the rice absorbed all the richness of the prawn juice, it was loaded with intense shellfish flavour and cooked to the perfect moist texture. 

Stewed pig trotter, beans

Guineafowl, mushroom, vegetables

Wild mushrooms, sesame, egg, coffee

Fennel, apple, coriander

Pineapple, white chocolate

Yogurt, strawberries, lavender

Raspberry, cardamom, lemon

Abantal was indeed pretty special, the fine dining element and the art of presentation easily deserve its Michelin star status. The restaurant has taken full advantage of the stunning local ingredients and turned them into high level, innovative dishes. All the dishes I have tasted were very enjoyable, and Abanal was easily the best in Seville when I don't factor in a budget in mind. I rounded off my Seville trip with a dinner at Abantal and it was indeed the perfect ending.



Food 4/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£90

Calle Alcalde José de la Bandera, 7, y 9, 41003 Sevilla, Spain

https://www.abantalrestaurante.es/