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Tasting menuPoniente
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.
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AndalusianCorredera
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.
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AndalusianSan Basilio
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.
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AndalusianJuderia
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.
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AndalusianCorredera
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.
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AndalusianCentro
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.