Cañabota is a 1 Michelin star seafood restaurant in the heart of Seville, and as someone who…read moreprefers a seafood focused tasting menu, this was perfect for me.
The space is actually pretty small and gives me fancy California raw bar vibes, but despite it not having that many seats, it feels very book and spacious with a full view of the open kitchen. They also have a sister restaurant, Cañabota Bar, which has an à la carte menu only.
They have two tasting options, and we went with the €150, which is the more extensive tasting. There's no set menu - they ask for your preferences and get started! They did also have à la carte, and we saw some interesting dishes off that menu go by, but everyone at the bar facing the kitchen did the tasting. It was great to watch all the details and ingredients going into each course!
We opted for champagne since it was seafood, but they have an iPad wine list. They also have complimentary house still or sparkling water, which is unique in Europe.
To start:
House sourdough: warm and crusty, with olive oil
Snacks:
- Clarified gazpacho: all the proper flavors in a clean broth
- Bonito and pickled peppers and onions
- Marinated sardine toast: lightly torched
- Snapper belly croquette
- Terrine of fish
The tasting:
1. Cod liver ice cream with olives and greens, toasted bread crumbs for texture - interesting experience, creative
2. Seafood salad with blue lobster, vinegar sorbet, oyster leaf, rich bisque, and a light foam
3. Langoustine divided into 3 parts: tail with almond and licorice sauce, for lack of a better word, guts on another piece of meat, and then the head
4. Amberjack tempura with chili pesto, which had amazingly intense southeast Asian flavors. This was a large portion to share, whereas all the other dishes were plated individually
5. Razor clams with escabeche and lemon foam. These razor clams were the sweetest and most tender ones we've had, really highlighting the natural flavor
6. Squid noodles with kohlrabi, fennel, and an amazing broth of squid innards and head. The raw squid in noodle form was buttery and tender, but the highlight was the rich bisque
7. Carabiñero: scallop prawn (similar to langoustine but hard to find) with a lemon butter emulsion placed in the head and torched
8. Red snapper (aged) with herb sauce and fried kale
9. Caviar on a goats milk ice cream with Spanish olive oil
10. White chocolate and mint cream, fennel ice cream, meringue, and 3 types of citrus: orange, kumquat, calamansi
11. Smoked peach and almond ice cream and almond crunch, peaches, whole grain mustard (yes, mustard)
Unconventionally, they do 2 seatings (unusual in Europe), so pacing is fairly quick but appropriate. It was nice to eat a tasting menu more efficiently on our last night in Spain, and while very satisfied, I wasn't uncomfortably stuffed since the seafood and desserts were all on the lighter side. Staff were great.
Cañabota was right up my alley, and I would definitely recommend it to highlight creative preparations of local seafood!