The 20 best restaurants in Spain

Bilbao

This intimate, light-filled riverside spot seats just 25 people, but if you get a chance to pull up a chair at Mina, jump at it. Chef Álvaro Garrido is an absolute master of seasonal ingredients and flavour.

Jaén

Singlehandedly putting Jaén on Spain’s gastronomic map, Bagá is an essential destination: a small dining room dedicated to reinterpreting local products, with plenty of surprising but harmonious combinations along the way.

Valencia

Young chef Vicky Sevilla has converted a fifteenth-century stable into Arrels, a truly great restaurant. Her veg-heavy take on affordable haute cuisine is firmly rooted in the land surrounding the ancient town of Sagunto, just north of Valencia.

Getaria

It’s worth a trip to the Basque coast just to eat Elkano’s turbot, cooked to perfection on the traditional parrilla grill. And while you’re here, don’t miss the kokotxas: fish stew made from the tender throats of fish.

Cádiz

The sea has shaped the history of Cádiz, and it remains the most significant influence at the city’s best restaurant. Seafood sausages, salt-water cooking, seaweed desserts, fish-skin latticework - there isn’t another restaurant like Aponiente.

Madrid

Estimar's Rafa Zafra is one of the world’s great seafood chefs, cooking the finest fish in a thousand ways – fried, steamed, grilled, salted and stuffed – and always to millimetre precision. Make sure you leave room for the egg flan: it’ll be the best you’ve ever had.

Madrid

The Chamberí neighbourhood of Madrid is known for top-end dining, but Lakasa trumps every one of its esteemed neighbours. Proprietor César Martín is a true chef’s chef, famous for his sensibility, knowledge of produce, and sense of balance and seasonality.

Málaga

Whatever the market brings, that’s what they cook at La Cosmopolita, a backstreet spot in Málaga’s old town. Sit back and go with it: the stews are legendary, and the Russian salad is storied.

Madrid

A veritable maestro of raw fish, chef Ugo Chan wields his knives to stitch together Japanese cuisine with cañí – Spanish Gypsy – influences. 

Barcelona

Martin Berasategui achieved the huge feat of becoming the first restaurant in Barcelona to win three Michelin stars. His tasting menu at Lasarte is a proper bucket-list treat.