Also: Restaurants in Cordoba
The restaurants worth a reservation in Córdoba, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
The restaurants worth the trip in Córdoba. bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
Bodegas Campos has poured in Córdoba since 1908, a warren of patios and barrel-signed rooms off Calle Lineros serving rabo de toro and salmorejo.
OrderRabo de toro, the dish the house has cooked for over a century.
TipAsk to walk through the barrel rooms before you sit; the signed butts are a century of visiting names.
Casa Pepe de la Judería has fed Córdoba since 1928, a taberna downstairs and a roof terrace upstairs that looks straight at the Mezquita tower.
OrderMazamorra, the almond-and-bread ancestor of salmorejo.
TipThe roof terrace is the reason to come, so ask for it when you book rather than taking a ground-floor table.
Casa Rubio sits against the Puerta de Almodóvar gate in Córdoba, a 1920 taberna renamed in 1932 and now three floors deep with a wall-view terrace.
OrderBerenjenas con miel de caña, then the tortilla de rabo de toro.
TipIt closes Tuesday and Wednesday, which catches out visitors who assume a Judería taberna opens daily.
Casa Mazal cooks the Sefarad and Al-Andalus traditions inside a fourteenth-century Judería house in Córdoba, with no pork anywhere on the carta.
OrderWhatever the kitchen is running from the Sephardic side of the carta.
TipIt closes on Wednesdays, and bookings run through a dedicated reservations line rather than the main house phone.
La Taberna del Río works a corner off Córdoba's Paseo de la Ribera, rotating art on the walls and a summer roof terrace above the Guadalquivir.
OrderThe rabo de toro risotto, the kitchen's own crossing of two traditions.
TipThe kitchen runs straight through from 13:00 to midnight, rare in a city that closes between services.
Astoria Casa Matías cooks spoon stews, dehesa meat and seasonal vegetables in Córdoba, well away from the Mezquita crowds on Calle el Nogal.
OrderWhichever guiso de cuchara is on; the stews are the reason locals drive here.
TipOnly Wednesday to Saturday runs past 18:30, so plan a dinner here midweek at your peril.
Amaltea has cooked on Córdoba's Ronda de Isasa since 2000, a Mediterranean kitchen built on garden vegetables and Andalusian extra virgin olive oil.
OrderAsk what the vegetable dish of the day is; that is where the kitchen puts its effort.
TipIt runs separate vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free cartas alongside the main one, so say what you need when you sit.
El Churrasco has grilled Iberian pork over oak charcoal on Calle Romero since 1970, its churrasco cordobés arriving with red and green Arab sauces.
OrderThe churrasco cordobés, grilled pork loin with the house red and green sauces.
TipThe house occupies a fourteenth-century Judería building; ask for a table around the patio rather than the front rooms.
El Caballo Rojo cooks the Mozarabic register of Córdoba a few steps from the Mezquita, a tapas bar below and dining rooms above on Cardenal Herrero.
OrderWhatever leans Mozarabic on the day's carta; this kitchen built its name on that revival.
TipIt is steps from the Patio de los Naranjos, so book ahead for lunch; the bar takes walk-ins that the dining rooms cannot.
Bodegas Mezquita keeps its Céspedes kitchen open all day at the foot of the Mezquita, plating salmorejo, caliphal aubergines and Pedroches oxtail.
OrderBerenjenas califales, aubergines sauteed in Pedro Ximénez.
TipThe kitchen runs straight through from 12:30 to 23:30, which makes this the Judería fallback when everything else is between services.
El Envero cooks contemporary seasonal food out on Calle Teruel with a wine list renewed as often as the menu, a locals' room away from the Judería.
OrderThe daily suggestions; the carta itself changes twice a year with the seasons.
TipIt sits in a residential quarter north of the centre, so pair it with an evening walk along the Vial Norte rather than the monument circuit.
Casa Palacio Bandolero fills a sixteenth-century palace facing the Mezquita, cooking white gazpacho, salmorejo and artichokes in Moriles wine.
OrderAlcachofas al Moriles, artichokes braised in the local wine.
TipThe two patios are the reason to come; on a summer night ask for the terrace beside the Mezquita entrance rather than an interior salon.
Terra Olea is chef Paco Villar's tasting-menu room in northwest Córdoba, three seasonal menus, Flos to Terra Olea, reading the province through its larder.
OrderCibarium, the middle menu, is the sensible first visit before committing to the full Terra Olea.
TipSole Torres runs the dining room; dinner is Friday and Saturday only, so any other day means the 14:00 lunch seating.
La Cazuela de la Espartería cooks taberna standards beside Plaza de la Corredera, salmorejo, flamenquín, pisto and rabo de toro across its salons.
OrderThe pisto, the vegetable stew that Córdoba's tabernas use to measure each other.
TipSunday is lunch only and Saturday dinner starts at 20:30, an hour later than on weekdays, so check the clock before you set out.
Mesón San Basilio serves Córdoban home cooking around a patio in the Alcázar Viejo quarter, fried aubergines, salmorejo and rabo de toro leading.
OrderBerenjenas fritas first, then the rabo de toro.
TipIt sits in the patios district of San Basilio, so pair lunch here with the whitewashed courtyard streets rather than the Mezquita crowds.
El Rincón de Carmen slow-cooks old-style rabo de toro and fries homemade ham croquettes around a Córdoban patio on Calle Romero in the Judería.
OrderRabo de toro a la antigua, the kitchen's stated signature.
TipThe patio seats fewer than the two dining rooms combined, so name it when you book; the house sources from the Sierra de Córdoba.
Taberna Salinas has run off Córdoba's Corredera since 1924, an azulejo bar backed by wine casks and a patio full of plants and old paintings.
OrderThe salmorejo, the version most cordobeses measure the others against.
TipIt shuts on Sunday and does no dinner on Saturday, which trips up weekend visitors constantly.
Casa El Pisto has stood on Plaza de San Miguel in Córdoba since 1880, a bullfighting taberna where the pisto with a fried egg is the house test.
OrderPisto casero con huevo, the plate that gave the taberna its nickname.
TipThe operator lists lunchtime hours only, so treat this as a midday stop rather than a dinner plan.
The Plateros silversmiths' guild still runs this Córdoba taberna on Calle San Francisco, thick white walls set around a patio under a skylight.
OrderA copa of the house Oro Viejo with whatever tapa the bar suggests.
TipThe staff swap every round plate on the table for a square one when a coeliac sits down.
La Taberna de Almodóvar pours fino en rama over a wooden bar in central Córdoba, with salmorejo and flamenquín run as the everyday counter order.
OrderSalmorejo first, then the flamenquín, in that order and no other.
TipSunday is lunch only, and the kitchen shuts firmly at 16:30 before the evening service.
Taberna La Montillana has traded on Calle San Álvaro in Córdoba since 1948, bull heads on the walls and Montilla-Moriles wines behind the bar.
OrderMazamorra, the almond purée that predates salmorejo in this city.
TipThe kitchen rotates a recommendation board, so read it before ordering off the printed carta.
Taberna La Viuda works the San Basilio side of Córdoba with more than thirty plates, cheese-stuffed flamenquín among them, and citrus-cured tuna.
OrderThe flamenquín de queso, the house rewrite of the city's fried classic.
TipSan Basilio wins most of the patio prizes in May, so book here well ahead during the festival.
Taberna Góngora is the family taberna on Conde de Torres Cabrera in Córdoba, adapting most of its carta for coeliacs on a separate chickpea-flour fryer.
OrderRabo de toro, then boquerones, both at taberna prices.
TipIt closes Tuesday and Sunday, an awkward pair that catches out anyone planning a long weekend.
El Astronauta cooks mezze and a full plant-based section in central Córdoba, a vegan moussaka and vegan burger alongside the standard carta.
OrderThe vegan moussaka, or the mezze spread if there are several of you.
TipThe operator publishes no hours, though the Córdoba directories agree it shuts on Sunday, so phone ahead before building a plan.
Sojo Ribera runs latest of anywhere in Córdoba, a mixology room and river terrace on the Paseo de la Ribera that holds on until 04:00 at weekends.
OrderA house cocktail on the terrace before the room turns into a club.
TipClosed Sunday to Tuesday, and the summer schedule starts later than the winter one.
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