If the traffic is fluid, Sitges is a 30-minute drive from the Christopher Columbus statue in Barcelona. A picturesque seaside town with a palm tree for every resident, it experiences drastic ebbs and lulls of people. Busy on the weekend and sparse during the week.
Options to eat well are as hard to come by as beachside parking on the weekend. It’s an affliction common to pretty seaside towns with a steady flow of visitors that don’t show any signs of abating. It’s probably the same reason you can’t eat well at well in ski towns – it’s a captive audience, they are coming regardless and they have to eat.
I recommend Nem whenever anyone asks- but it’s a dinky place, only opened in the evenings during the week and impossible to get a reservation at (although you can usually get a seat at the bar if you arrive before 20:30).
Now I’ve got another one. La Zorra de Sitges. The more clever amongst you will figure out their name is Arroz spelled backward. Rice is what it’s all about here. A good looking restaurant, perfect for eating lunch in so that freckles of sunlight can sparkle quietly around you. Or in the evening when strings of lights replace the daylight. There is an open kitchen with a reassuring number of bodies moving swiftly about (restaurants in Sitges can often be understaffed). The rice is cooked to order, so you have to give it about 20 minutes. It comes out in a thin layer, not more than a 3 grain of rice stack. Around the outer edges, there is a crispy bit, sucarrat, that grates loudly as you attack it with a spoon.
The chef, Pablo Albuerne has only one goal: to be brazenly irreverent with regards to the canon of how rice should be. And around these parts, there are so many opinions on how it’s best, on who has the most authentic version – regardless that the one constant with regards to recipes is that they will evolve and change. The most popular rice dish is one with figs, truffle paste, and chicken. (pictured above)
I prefer La Zorra for lunch. In the evening there are only 2 rice dishes to pick from and the lights are functional eroding the daylight charm of the place.
La Zorra de Sitges
Passeig Marítim, 1-3
08870 Sitges
restaurantelazorra.com
facebook.com/lazorra.sitges.restaurante/
More rice on Foodie in Barcelona:
Barracuda
Kaiku
La Barra de Carles Abellan
I really enjoy your blog! However, I have to disagree with you on one thing. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Sitges over the last 5 years and there are many very good restaurants. I do love Nem’s and usually go when in town. Last time in Sitges we went to restaurant El Pou which can be as good as Nem but also requires a reservation. Corazon de Agave is a restaurant serving real Mexican food not Tex mex or California burritos. Chai Tandoori is a really good Indian restaurant. There is a new place called Merci which has fantastic fish and chips among other things. The main thing is to get away from the overpriced tourist places along the strand!
I am looking forward to trying La Zorra next time in Sitges. Thanks for the heads up
Hi Thomas,
You are right! I forgot about El Pou and I know the boys. I haven’t tried Corazon de Agave but again, I’ve met the woman who owns it and have been meaning to try it. Haven’t heard of either Merci or Chai Tandoori but have noted them down. Thanks for the recommendations.
No problem. Going back to Sitges over Xmas and hope to try La Zorra and Fismuler in BCN.