Abantal is the only Michelin starred restaurant in Seville.  It is a mild contemporary design with lots of blond wood, double clothed large tables and nice linens.  Steel covers one wall and interesting light fixtures provide the place with plenty of light (maybe a tad too much except for photos).  Soft background music during part of the evening helped give a bit more room hum to the fairly casual crowd.  They offer 2 tasting menus (about 10 or 13 courses) with optional wine pairings.  We chose the longer tasting and the wine pairings.  The tables are widely spaced with only 10 tables filling a fairly large space.  Service is efficient and friendly with good English spoken.  The chef, Julio Fernández Quintero, did come out of the kitchen to visit with his guests.  

 

Amuse bouche start arriving as you look over the menu and wine list.  Cheese biscuits were very short and crumbly – excellent.  Paprika sticks  were thin and crispy.  Avocado cream was nicely seasoned and smooth.  A tomato foam square was served on a cracker that could not have been any crisper.  Another good one.

 

A number of bread options were brought out including fig, garlic, white and cherry.

 

The razor clam  was on a very delicate cracker and topped with cauliflower cream. The clam had absolutely no grit and was nicely tender.  The cauliflower was a subtle taste that went well for a great start to the Grand daily chef tasting menu.

 

A French oyster was served with sweet potato, citrus and spiced infusion.  Some kernels of puffed rice added a bit of crunch to the silky sweet potatoes. The oyster was briny and velvety.

 

Spinach cream was plated with broccoli cous cous, white aspargus, artichokes, beet root and peas.  The cous cous broccoli was very interesting.  The beet chip had coconut overtones and added a crisp component.  Lots of tastes and textures and perhaps too many made this one nice but not outstanding.

 

Red tuna tartar was on eggplant jelly with roasted onion gel and cucumber emulsion.  Some white cherry tomatoes and black olives rounded out the plate.  The cherry tomatoes had been dried to a crisp. The tuna was cut into a reasonable size chunk but the tomatoes were the star of this dish for flavor.

 

A steamed large red prawn was served on sautéd rice with aioli on the side.  The perfectly cooked rice was left with a nice amount of chew but was not a long grain wild rice.  The aioli mixed well with the prawn.  A nice course made even nicer as they brought out a bowl of lemon water and a fresh napkin afterwards.

 

Sea bass was served with snow peas, pork dewlap and squid ink.  The squid ink made up the sauce and worked well with the perfectly cooked delicious bass.  The snow peas were fun and tasty and were a good combination with the bits of pork waddle.

 

Brown bean cappuccino was topped with a potato foam and was quite good.  It was very smooth and nice.  It made me channel basic comfort food.

 

Caramelized lamb sweetbreads and Moorish cream was amazing.  Beet root made up the brown dots on the plate and the sweetbreads had been cut into small bites.  Their caramelization was perfect to leave the bits tender and moist and then they were infused with the tasty sauce.  A yum here.

 

Spiced potato, oxtail, truffled egg yolk and mushrooms was a rich and heavy dish.  This was a traditional Andalusian dish that was fun and tasty.

 

Wild rabbit, hummus, quince, mushroom and breadcrumbs combined for another tasty dish.  Some chickpea cream and wild mushrooms added to the slightly sweet overall taste.  The rabbit was in bound in a circle with lots of good stuff underneath.  Tons of flavor and a good variety of textures made this one a well balanced success.

 

Passion fruit cream, frappe mint and chocolate was not sweet but fruity.  The mint was in a sorbet and the chocolate in chunks of bread.  It was totally refreshing and the right balance of tart and sweet.  Call it good.

 

Fennel frappe, coriander sponge cake, apple sorbet and lemon made up the first real dessert.  Some lemon meringue bits added a crisp component for a fun combination.

 

Chocolate, curry, hazelnut, pumpkin-vanilla was the last dessert.  A chocolate biscuit was filled with a creamy ganache and studded with espalma walnuts.  Cream of pumpkin and vanilla were the dots and underneath the biscuits.  Another good one.

 

In Michelin style some final treats came out with the check.  Delicious almond muffins, coffee crisps and black currant with honey marshmallows nicely ended a fine meal.