From the captivating Christmas markets to the unique culture, Huelva was an amazing place to visit in Spain, however it’s the gastronomy I want to focus on next, something that left me stunned and incredibly happy.
One of the key aspects of any holiday is trying the local cuisine and so we tucked into food galore throughout the trip, therefore I want to give a shout out to all the amazing restaurants we can recommend.
Masero
The art on the wall stood out straight away, and while it was empty when we arrived, it was completely full to the brim within 20 minutes, with every table fully booked up, so make sure to contact them in advance to get a table reserved.
They have an expansive range of ‘Ibero-American cuisine’ on their menu, while they also have a tasting menu which is ideal if you want to try plenty of dishes in one sitting.
Every dish was visually spectacular, so I’ve done my best to capture this in photos below, while you should also check out our Instagram and YouTube clips on the amazing food.
Steak Iberico-Habanero
As soon as you see dry ice, it adds a level of mystery and magic to the table and instantly draws the eyes in, I just wish I could have had a bit more warning as I would have loved to have the cameras all setup for the moment they poured it on.
We were served an Iberian Presa steak tartare with green habanera sauce, yuca chips, cured yolk and broccomole. Broccomole? I had to ask as well, it’s a broccoli guacamole which was amazing mixed in with the steak.
The chips were also a lot healthier than the traditional option, being made from the cassava plant and tasting slightly similar to parsnip crisps I’ve had before.
Cheese Platter
Unlike some of the other dishes, which I have named appropriately and listed off the ingredients, I’m afraid I don’t exactly know which one this was on the menu, all I can say was that it was beyond magnificent. I kept coming back for more!
The cheese came with bread and some sweet dips, while the black cheese was simply to-die-for. I just wish I could order it back home, I’m going to have to return to Huelva for this cheese!
Tortilla Suflada
Translated, that means a ‘puffed tortilla’, while it had asparagus and truffle mashed potatoes, my mouth is starting to drool as I type.
The waiter pierced open the tortilla as the ingredients began pouring out. From what I understood, this is traditionally made with eggs, potatoes and onions, but he had managed to make the dish without any of these three ingredients. It was so creamy and delectable, a great dish to eat, but certainly filling.
Creole Empanadas
These Argentinean empanadas lived up to the original I ate in Buenos Aires, bursting with flavour and the broccomole was again an interesting addition and worked as a nice sauce.
The crispy pastry was full of mole sauce with grounded black olives scattered over the top. All three of us really enjoyed this dish, hats off to the chef.
Croquetas
How can you come to Spain and not eat croquettes? Unfortunately, back in England, we can pretty much only find a ham or a ham and cheese croquette, but here in Huelva they seemed to make so many unique flavours.
As far as I understood, ours contained prawns and kimchi. Well Raquel, who isn’t a fan of seafood, loved them, you couldn’t give better praise than that. Me, a huge fan of seafood, devoured them like my life depended on it.
Portichuelo
With a big outdoor seating area, a lively ambience and a trumpet player nearby, this was the perfect lunch time setting I could have imagined for our trip to Huelva.
Prawns
These aren’t just any prawns, they’re renowned around the world and sourced from right here in Huelva, the ‘pearl of Huelva’ as it is nicknamed.
It must be around 20 years since I last ate prawns at this point (which seems ludicrous by the end of the holiday as I had them around twice per day during the trip), but it instantly reminded me why I loved them so much as a teen.
Who cares how messy you get, this is about enjoying great tasting food and letting yourself go, while I was more than happy to tuck away and eat as much as possible.
Paella
Ok, I didn’t have a menu in front of me, but I’m pretty sure this is a paella and wow it was tasty. It burst with flavour while it didn’t take long for the plate to empty. I believe it’s a Valencian paella, containing chicken rather than seafood, but again I could be completely wrong about this.
Either way, the dish was gorgeous, it was so flavoursome, I could easily have just ordered a big plate of this and been very happy.
Steak
I missed the precise details, but I believe this was the beef tenderloin, while it came out sizzling hot and was cut in front of us. Both visually stunning and tasting impeccably good, I would return for this dish alone, let alone everything else we ate.
This was certainly the most eye-catching, coming out on the hot plate with the sizzling drawing everyone’s attention to this glorious masterpiece that tasted as good as it looked.
‘Deconstructed Omelette’
Ok, this isn’t called a deconstructed omelette, but it was the way it was explained to me and I couldn’t think of better wording for it. By far the most mouth-watering dish of them all, I loved this meal!
The gooey eggs, the soft potato, the little bites of meat and the creamy texture, you have to give this dish a go (my apologies for not knowing the name).
We also had some brilliant jamon slices which were so finely cut, it’s almost a talent in itself, offering the perfect starter and kept us nibbling away while talking about the local events that took place.
The owner came over to us who seemed friendly and thoughtful, while each person working here was a credit to the restaurant as they were always eager to help in any way they could. I’d definitely recommend heading here for some lunch on your visit to Huelva!
Juan Jose
Maria told us about a restaurant with the greatest Spanish omelette in the world and I immediately looked over at Raquel, whose smile was beaming from side to side, as this is her favourite dish in the world.
Raquel spent some of her teenage years growing up in Spain, while her mum is Spanish and she was brought up on this dish. However, whenever you eat it in England, it’s always a bit dry, but they make sure to cook the eggs for slightly shorter so it remains moist.
Well I can certainly say this lived up to the reputation, we were all politely eating a slice at a time, but I could tell Raquel was holding back when really she wanted to pour it all on her plate.
We also had jamon slices, because ‘when in Rome’, it would be rude not to eat jamon, especially when it’s this good!
The restaurant had a very traditional feel to it, with pig legs hanging up and red wine placed on the wall, as well as the occasional decorative plate.
They served a local delicacy of clams, which were cooked in plenty of garlic and oil, the perfect combination. I must have eaten about 15 of these and I can certainly say they’re worth trying if you visit Juan Jose.
Our final main dish was another seafood, now it’s a little blurry, but I believe Maria said it was monkfish, while it had a mild, sweet flavour. I was relieved it was on the mild side (not a fan of the smellier ones like mackerel), while it tasted somewhat similar to a thick piece of cod, but with a slightly meatier texture, another great dish from Juan Jose.
We might have been completely full, but there is always space for a sweet dessert at the end! They had a few cakes available and we had both a cheesecake and another which I can’t name but was like a flan. Both were gorgeous and were very quickly eaten, I don’t know how we walked back afterwards!
Mar De Altura
We ate at Mar De Altura on our final night, located on Av. Martin Alonso Pinzon, where all the Christmas lights were and the Christmas music blasting out at set times.
They had plenty of options, including salads, stews, montaditos, grilled meats and fresh fish, so plenty to pick from, while our kind and friendly guide María helped to pick some unique dishes we hadn’t eaten yet on our visit.
We ate a prawn potato salad, much like a dish I’ve commonly eaten back home, which brought back memories of the food I used to eat when I was younger, which was very nice.
Something that certainly stood out and was different to anything I’ve ever eaten before was a local fish cuisine, in appearance my guess would have been scallops, but I believe its grilled cuttlefish roe.
They were cooked in copious amounts of garlic (ah I love garlic), olive oil, a bit of lemon and I believe there was some oregano I tasted. I was captivated by this dish, certainly the star of the night. This is another dish I will have to look out for now I’m home, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen in England.
Eating steak is always a winner, while Raquel was craving something potato based so they were nice enough to make up some Iberian steak with chips for us.
Sizzling hot and cooked to perfection with the ideal amount of seasoning, this was a great dish that left us full and content.
Tarteria Las Alemanas
I’ve so far focused on lunch and dinner, but if you fancy eating breakfast out (or fancy a sweet treat), then you might want to head to Tarteria Las Alemanas, The German Tart Shop.
The fridge along the right hand side was full of cakes on show, all incredibly tempting if it wasn’t 10:30 in the morning. But it was the wholesome breakfast we came for.
Initially, our plan was to visit Le Petit Cafe down the road, but it was completely full, while this place was the perfect alternative and had room to sit so we were beyond happy.
Serving up toast with butter and ham, a great tasting coffee (I’m a harsh critic on coffee and this place passed the grade so all smiles from me) and a freshly squeezed orange juice.
Considering the 20,000 steps we had to come, we had actually already eaten breakfast at 8am but we were more than happy to tuck into this additional meal to keep our energy levels up.
I have done my best to guide you on all the best places to eat in Huelva, however you also may want to take a look at the tourist board’s recommendations, as they’re expertise on this subject is second to none and they’ll keep on top of new restaurant openings and events you have to look out for.