Pao Varo has brought a little corner of Barbate to Sevilla with his market bar La Almadraba. The name refers to the annual sustainable bluefin tuna catch that happens once a year off the coast of Cádiz and, as well as creating a fresh tuna feeding frenzy across Andalucía for a few weeks, it also results in spectacular tinned, smoked and otherwise preserved products by elite companies such as Herpac, La Chanca and El Ronqueo.

At La Almadraba you can snack on wonderful mojama (aka tuna “bacon”), tuna pâté, tuna loin in lime juice, tuna belly in olive oil, tuna confit in pork fat, tuna in sherry… well, you’re getting the picture. It’s pretty much all about the tuna. Which goes great with local wines and sherry from Cádiz on offer. Plus, if you like what you’ve tried, you can buy it to take home.

Bread/Service Charge: 0€

Feria Market, stall 49-50 (north side of the market)
Feria 98
Tel 670 31 37 99
Open 12.00 – 23.00  Tuesday – Saturday
12.00 – 17.00 Sunday
€ € €

Food 8 | Wine 8 | Service 8 | Ambiance 8

matrimonio: anchoa and boquerón

tuna ventresca preserved in lime juice

cured sardines with warm seaweed goat cheese

smoked tuna loin

mojama (aka tuna “bacon”)

cured bacoreta – like mojama but less lean

ijada de atún (ventresca) in olive oil

owner Pau Varo

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Updated September 2021

This charming “taberna” is run by Charo Álvarez, whose family also has a restaurant in Zahara de los Atunes, both of which specialise in dishes made from Almadraba tuna caught off the Cádiz coast. Perfect for tunaholics as there are many tapas and main dishes featuring tuna, but the menu also includes a variety of salads, beef (retinto), fish and rice dishes. The “atún morillo a la sal” and risotto de ortuguillas are not to be missed.

Over the past few years La Sal has been a constant winner in the annual Ruta de Atún tapas competition held in Zahara de los Atunes during the Almadraba season. Be sure to try at least a couple of these (they are clearly marked on the menu). The #TDAtún, a selection of 6 perfect tuna bites is, well, perfect. And the McDraba Around The World – a tribute to the migration route of the bluefin tuna – is both surprising and delicious.

New for 2024 is the Tuna & Sherry Tasting with 7 tuna almadraba dishes paired with sherry wines from Bodegas Lustau and Sánchez Romero (see below). You can also choose the menu separately but (of course) I recommend the sherry pairings. Reservations required.

There is a nice selection of wines by the glass and the service is very good. The restaurant itself is beautifully restored. Wonderful ambiance.

NEW: La Sal Bar has just opened around the corner, a more casual setting with a lovely terrace.

Bread/Service Charge: 1.50€ PER PERSON

Doncellas, 8
Sevilla
Tel 954 535 846
Open: 13.00 – 16.30 / 20.00 – midnight
€ € € €

La Sal Restaurante & Tapas
Urb. Atlanterra Playa, 73
Zahara de los Atunes
Cádiz

Food 9 | Wine 9 | Service 8 | Ambiance 9

ensaladilla

salmorejo with mojama and seaweed-infused olive oil
ajoblanco with smoked herring and trout roe

marinated sardines on toast

calamar tartare with citric and green pepper vinaigrette

#TDAtún
Bottom: cold bites
tuna loin tataky with soya sauce and leek
tuna tartar with green sesame, wasabe and onion
tuna al romero (rosemary) with confit peppers and orange olive oil
Top: hot bites and “dessert”
solomillo “a la sal”, wrapped in seaweed
tuna sperm with Lustau East India cream sauce
crunchy mojama wrapped in chocolate

Mcdraba por El Mundo
tramezzino bread from Italy, Mediterranean white garlic,
bluefin tuna from Zahara de los Atunes with French onions,
sesame and wasabi oil in the form of a mini hamburger,
Japanese wakame seaweed with chive oil,
fried seaweed of the Cadiz estuaries, sea lettuce,
Mexican crunchy red pepper and crispy Barbate mojama,
finished with a seaweed oil ‘oleum viride’, made in Cádiz

Tuna & Sherry Tasting
• Tuna belly in escabeche
Manzanilla Papirus – Lustau
• Tataki tasting – descargamento, tarantelo y ventresca
Manzanilla Gabriela Oro – Barrero
• Tuna in manteca with cumin and evoo on brioche (Manu Jara)
Fino Perdido – Sánchez Romate
• Tuna loin brochette in tempura, miso sauce and bonito flakes
Palo Cortado Escondido – Sánchez Romate
• Tarantelo with wasabi breading and stir fried veg
Amontillado Olvidado – Sánchez Romate
• Trampantojo Atunero (tuna sperm and foie gras, cream sherry sauce)
East Indian Cream – Lustau
• Mojama and orange truffles with wasabi sorbet

ortiguilla (sea anemone) risotto with parmesan and oloroso

tuna belly with bulger wheat

tuna in tempura with bonita flakes

grilled tuna morillo

tuna morillo paired with this excellent Alion 2013

morrillo de atún a la sal (tuna collar baked in salt) with Asian noodles

leche frita with dulce de leche icecream

Antonio (front of house) and owner Charo Álvarez

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Updated January 2024