An Unforgettable Restaurant

Summary

The author shares a memorable dining experience at Taberna Salinas in Córdoba, highlighting the restaurant's ambiance, affordability, and exceptional cuisine, including signature dishes like codfish and orange salad and fried eggplant.

Abstract

The article recounts the author's unforgettable meals at Taberna Salinas, a historic restaurant in Córdoba, Spain. Despite initial concerns about the cost due to its Michelin star, the restaurant offered surprisingly reasonable prices alongside high-quality food. The author enjoyed both dinner on Saturday night and lunch on Monday, savoring dishes such as orange and codfish salad, flamenquin, lamb chops, and fried aubergine, paired with an excellent bottle of Syrah. The restaurant's decor, adorned with tiles, wine barrels, and art, contributed to a classic Córdoba dining atmosphere. The service was notable, with waiters remembered from a previous visit and accommodating the author's request to wait for a table. The Lonely Planet's endorsement of the restaurant's traditional atmosphere and helpful staff is echoed in the author's recommendation to visit Taberna Salinas.

Opinions

The author was pleasantly surprised by the reasonable prices at Taberna Salinas, given its Michelin star status.
The quality of the food, particularly the codfish and orange salad, flamenquin, and fried eggplant, was deemed exceptional.
The restaurant's ambiance, with its classic Córdoba decor, added to the dining experience.
The service was memorable, with the staff recognizing the author from a previous visit and being attentive to their needs.
The author highly recommends Taberna Salinas, emphasizing the delicious food and traditional atmosphere.
Despite its popularity with tourists, the restaurant maintains a genuine feel, as noted by both the author and the Lonely Planet.

Restaurant meals are special when I travel on a budget

One of the illustrations on the wall All photos by Stacey Mulcahy

I’ve just written about Córdoba as part of my A-Z of favourite travel destinations and remembered this wonderful restaurant. Stacey had a recommendation for a restaurant that wasn’t too far away so walked there. We’ve only been having two meals a day but here we are lining up for our third. The Taberna Salinas was full so we were invited to wait in the bar until a table became available.

Dinner on Saturday night

The food — codfish and orange is one of their signature dishes

I had noticed a Michelin star rating on the window and thought the meal would be expensive, but was pleasantly surprised by the prices as well as the quality of the food. We ordered orange and codfish salad, and flamenquin and lamb chops (a change from pork) and possibly the best bottle of red we’ve had in all of Spain. To top it off, we ordered desserts; homemade custard and egg yolk with syrup. Both sound ordinary, but they were both AMAZING! We were given a liqueur to finish. Not normally a fan of liqueurs, but this was really delicious, a little like an alcoholic prune juice.

The wine

Lunch on Monday

They were fully booked and had a lineup outside the door but I persisted. I told the maître d’ that we had eaten dinner here on Saturday night and had tried to ring to make a reservation and we were happy to wait in the bar until a table became available. When I gave Stacey’s name, he remembered us — Estacey.

The fried eggplant

More delicious food. Spinach and pinenut croquettes, flamenquin (again), and fried aubergine (eggplant). The aubergine was definitely the tastiest I’ve ever had — coated with a very thin layer of batter — mmm — I’m making myself hungry. And another bottle of the same bottle of Syrah we had on Saturday night. We ordered homemade custard for dessert but unfortunately didn’t have time to stay to eat it. Would I recommend Taberna Salinas? You betcha!

Desserts on Saturday night

Here’s what the Lonely Planet says: 
A historic bar-restaurant (since 1879), with a patio and several rooms,  Salinas is adorned in classic Córdoba fashion with tiles, wine barrels,  art and photos of bullfighter Manolete. It's popular with tourists (and offers a five-language menu), but it retains a traditional atmosphere and the waiters are very helpful. Not least, the food is very good, from the orange-and-cod salad to the pork loin in hazelnut sauce.