La Candela, Cadiz, Spain: Popular Restaurant is Good, Not Great
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La Candela, Cádiz: A local hero with hits and slips
La Candela, 7 small plates, 1 bottle of wine: €58.10 excluding service (US$64, £50). La Candela, Calle Feduchy, 3, 11001 Cádiz, Spain. Find the latest information on LA Candela's Website or call Tel: +34 956 22 18 22
Written by Liam Collens // Find other reviews here.
La Candela is a favourite with Cadiz locals offering good food & affordable wine. The casual vibe covers most occasions, yet the food is inconsistent.
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
The Lows
La Candela: The Experience
Spanish food, and especially Andalusian food, enjoys that beautiful and treasured position of being Mediterranean in both heart and soul. It celebrates seasonality and regionality. Spanish food respects traditions bequeathed between generations but dares to forge new paths and experiment.
Travelling actually presents the opportunity to eat my way through countries and cultures. I possess an insatiable appetite hell-bent on grazing from one end of the street to the other. Diet be damned when I am in your town.
Local food is the most tangible insight into local culture and way of life from my perspective. The obvious juxtapositions are self-evident: affordability, diet, techniques, even mealtimes. This means going to the Mercado Central Cádiz to witness a jumble of iced clams adjacent to silvery slivers of fresh boquerones (a type of anchovy). Locals queue and swarm around blanched langoustine and snails adorned with ice and lemon wedges. Markets tell you what local residents want daily, what they make at home and what is available on their land and off their shores.
Travelling actually presents the opportunity to eat my way through countries and cultures. I possess an insatiable appetite hell-bent on grazing from one end of the street to the other. Diet be damned when I am in your town.
Local food is the most tangible insight into local culture and way of life from my perspective. The obvious juxtapositions are self-evident: affordability, diet, techniques, even mealtimes. This means going to the Mercado Central Cádiz to witness a jumble of iced clams adjacent to silvery slivers of fresh boquerones (a type of anchovy). Locals queue and swarm around blanched langoustine and snails adorned with ice and lemon wedges. Markets tell you what local residents want daily, what they make at home and what is available on their land and off their shores.
The Cádiz Restaurant Scene: A Downloadable Guide
Cádiz is spoiled for solid restaurant options. You can download my Google Maps Guide here for a walking tour of eats and attractions. Dining at other Cádiz restaurants, including Código de Barra and Restaurante Balandro, refreshed my memory on Spanish food. Yet, I could not tell you if anything I ate was indigenous to Cádiz or ‘all-purpose Spanish’.
The hunt for a local restaurant led me to La Candela: a frequent hit highly recommended across multiple sources. EatGoSee Sr chaperons me for the short walk through old Cádiz also in the quest for small plates and big reds.
The hunt for a local restaurant led me to La Candela: a frequent hit highly recommended across multiple sources. EatGoSee Sr chaperons me for the short walk through old Cádiz also in the quest for small plates and big reds.
Pork cheeks, the size of a child’s fist are lovingly nurtured by slow cooking and disintegrate at the mere touch of a fork.
La Candela: The Space & Vibes
Our 8.45 pm reservation reveals that we are ‘out of towners’ unaccustomed to the Spanish culture of eating dinner at times when other Europeans are firmly tucked in bed. La Candela’s obscure entrance means we pass it twice before cautious nudging the door open. Unbelievably, La Candela is already half full, an optimistic sign. And with local diners at that. The unmistakable purr of staccato rolling Rs over the music. It’s an unpretentious space for residents who want to eat well without getting more formal than their favourite jeans.
Immediately La Candela invites you into a signature homely, eclectic space. It is clear why locals love La Candela. It begs you to bring your friends, stay, drink wine, nibble and come back. A homely dining space of solid sideboards, mismatched chairs and round tables all the better to bring together large groups. Vintage-style coffee and suga cans are laid on wicker placemats with floral-painted plates. The traditional meets the modern as an albino dreadlocked, mounted mask with crimson eyes pierces across the room. This theme of then and now would transcend to the menu.
An elevated bench faces the bar and decoratively-painted kitchen where diners witness the creative cooking process. The restaurant seating makes room for groups, couples and solo diners all have a place here.
The broad menu offers traditional Spanish dishes such as homemade croquettes (€5) and Las Bravas de la Candela (€1 per person). A modern touch appears with potato waffles, thin pork, fried egg and chipotle mayo (€5.30, $6, £4). Yet the kitchen ventures into a number of Asian influences. Softshell crab, kimchi, guacamole, sweet Thai chilli and wakame (€10.20, $11, £9) and deep-fried mussels Vietnamese rolls with pickled vegetables and Japanese mayo (€8.30, $9, £7). Lastly, a nod to Moorish influences with a falafel kebab with mint, yoghurt and smoked tomato (€7, $8 £6). 29 menu items straddle their sharing plates (€1-€15, $1-$16, £1-£13), starters (€7-8.30, $8-9, £6-7), fish courses (€9.70 – 14.50, $11-$16, £8-£12), meat courses (€8.50 to €37, $8-$41, £6-£32) and finally desserts (€4.80 – €5.30, $5 -$6, £4-£5). La Candela also seeds the option of a separate cheese menu. An impeccably labelled menu highlights allergies and a modest option of, arguably, five vegetarian dishes. The prices are impressively modest with 21 options under €10 a dish including sharing plates.
La Candela lays out a generous wine menu celebrating regional white, red, rose, sparkling and sherries.
16 of the 40 listed wines are available by the glass starting at a mere EUR2.70 ($3, £2) with sherries coming in at €6.80 ($8, £6). This is staggeringly good value. Our Garum is a warming versatile companion blending Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Verdot (€16, $18, £14). What I would not do to have this wine selection at these prices available in Dubai. Sigh.
La Candela’s does embody that proposition that keeps a foot in both the old and new world of Spanish cooking. It does not attempt gastronomic acrobatics like Código de Barra. We all have that friend that does really good home cooking occasionally surprising us with something more ‘chefy’. La Candela finds that spot where certain dishes are decidedly more within its comfort zone while others are still work in progress.
The traditional offerings are simple, familiar and rich in nostalgia. Anchoas mariposa en aceite de oliva (butterflied anchovies in olive oil, €3.60 each, $4, £3) are pungent fishy slivers dredged through peppery olive oil. The pan con tomate (grilled bread with fresh tomato, on the house) is an unfussy reminder of what sweet, seasonal tomatoes and homemade bread can achieve. The homespun mood finds another light touch with a cloth draw-string sack of toasty surtido de pan (assorted bread) is casually handed to us (€2, $2, £2).
Our carrilleras de Cerdo (Iberian pork cheeks with smoked cheese foam and quince, €8.50, $8, £6) is gusty, rib-sticking cooking. Pork cheeks, the size of a child’s fist are lovingly nurtured by slow cooking and disintegrate at the mere touch of a fork. The fruity amber quince puree and fresh milky smoked cheese brighten a wintery dish. You can comfortably share this dish, but may not be so inclined after the first bite. Mr EatGoSee Sr and I diplomatically carve up the spoils between us.
La Candela is not aspiring for faultless perfection. The purpose is to revel in the company of friends while the restaurant furnishes you with food and wine. The kitchen will brave new dishes: some land, some fall. A daily special of zamburi con manzanas verdes y algas commonly pairs roasted scallops in their shell with raw green apple (€2.80, $3, £2). The sweet scallops are overpowered by the tart green apple and earthy mineral seaweed leaving the scallop M.I.A. A pan-roasted green apple would play harmoniously with the subtle scallop. The seaweed could be left for another dish for another day.
The ensalada queso de cabra (€7.60, $8, £7) is a lesson in why salad dressing should always play Best Supporting Act. This goat’s cheese salad with nuts, crispy corn and honey vinaigrette is violently drowned in a bath of astringent vinaigrette causing the goat cheese fight for second place. The salad is an uncharacteristically clumsy dish which took some forgiving working through the other courses.
Our duck ravioli with pickled mushrooms is improved the pickled mushrooms and demi-glace style sauce (€2.80, $3, £2 per piece, recommend 2 per person). Golf-ball sized ravioli stuffed with meaty duck threads is generously slicked by demi-glace and brightened by pickled mushroom pieces.
Immediately La Candela invites you into a signature homely, eclectic space. It is clear why locals love La Candela. It begs you to bring your friends, stay, drink wine, nibble and come back. A homely dining space of solid sideboards, mismatched chairs and round tables all the better to bring together large groups. Vintage-style coffee and suga cans are laid on wicker placemats with floral-painted plates. The traditional meets the modern as an albino dreadlocked, mounted mask with crimson eyes pierces across the room. This theme of then and now would transcend to the menu.
An elevated bench faces the bar and decoratively-painted kitchen where diners witness the creative cooking process. The restaurant seating makes room for groups, couples and solo diners all have a place here.
La Candela’s Menu
The broad menu offers traditional Spanish dishes such as homemade croquettes (€5) and Las Bravas de la Candela (€1 per person). A modern touch appears with potato waffles, thin pork, fried egg and chipotle mayo (€5.30, $6, £4). Yet the kitchen ventures into a number of Asian influences. Softshell crab, kimchi, guacamole, sweet Thai chilli and wakame (€10.20, $11, £9) and deep-fried mussels Vietnamese rolls with pickled vegetables and Japanese mayo (€8.30, $9, £7). Lastly, a nod to Moorish influences with a falafel kebab with mint, yoghurt and smoked tomato (€7, $8 £6). 29 menu items straddle their sharing plates (€1-€15, $1-$16, £1-£13), starters (€7-8.30, $8-9, £6-7), fish courses (€9.70 – 14.50, $11-$16, £8-£12), meat courses (€8.50 to €37, $8-$41, £6-£32) and finally desserts (€4.80 – €5.30, $5 -$6, £4-£5). La Candela also seeds the option of a separate cheese menu. An impeccably labelled menu highlights allergies and a modest option of, arguably, five vegetarian dishes. The prices are impressively modest with 21 options under €10 a dish including sharing plates.
La Candela lays out a generous wine menu celebrating regional white, red, rose, sparkling and sherries.
16 of the 40 listed wines are available by the glass starting at a mere EUR2.70 ($3, £2) with sherries coming in at €6.80 ($8, £6). This is staggeringly good value. Our Garum is a warming versatile companion blending Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Verdot (€16, $18, £14). What I would not do to have this wine selection at these prices available in Dubai. Sigh.
La Candela’s Food Highlights
La Candela’s does embody that proposition that keeps a foot in both the old and new world of Spanish cooking. It does not attempt gastronomic acrobatics like Código de Barra. We all have that friend that does really good home cooking occasionally surprising us with something more ‘chefy’. La Candela finds that spot where certain dishes are decidedly more within its comfort zone while others are still work in progress.
The traditional offerings are simple, familiar and rich in nostalgia. Anchoas mariposa en aceite de oliva (butterflied anchovies in olive oil, €3.60 each, $4, £3) are pungent fishy slivers dredged through peppery olive oil. The pan con tomate (grilled bread with fresh tomato, on the house) is an unfussy reminder of what sweet, seasonal tomatoes and homemade bread can achieve. The homespun mood finds another light touch with a cloth draw-string sack of toasty surtido de pan (assorted bread) is casually handed to us (€2, $2, £2).
Our carrilleras de Cerdo (Iberian pork cheeks with smoked cheese foam and quince, €8.50, $8, £6) is gusty, rib-sticking cooking. Pork cheeks, the size of a child’s fist are lovingly nurtured by slow cooking and disintegrate at the mere touch of a fork. The fruity amber quince puree and fresh milky smoked cheese brighten a wintery dish. You can comfortably share this dish, but may not be so inclined after the first bite. Mr EatGoSee Sr and I diplomatically carve up the spoils between us.
La Candela: the Hits fade to Slips
La Candela is not aspiring for faultless perfection. The purpose is to revel in the company of friends while the restaurant furnishes you with food and wine. The kitchen will brave new dishes: some land, some fall. A daily special of zamburi con manzanas verdes y algas commonly pairs roasted scallops in their shell with raw green apple (€2.80, $3, £2). The sweet scallops are overpowered by the tart green apple and earthy mineral seaweed leaving the scallop M.I.A. A pan-roasted green apple would play harmoniously with the subtle scallop. The seaweed could be left for another dish for another day.
The ensalada queso de cabra (€7.60, $8, £7) is a lesson in why salad dressing should always play Best Supporting Act. This goat’s cheese salad with nuts, crispy corn and honey vinaigrette is violently drowned in a bath of astringent vinaigrette causing the goat cheese fight for second place. The salad is an uncharacteristically clumsy dish which took some forgiving working through the other courses.
Our duck ravioli with pickled mushrooms is improved the pickled mushrooms and demi-glace style sauce (€2.80, $3, £2 per piece, recommend 2 per person). Golf-ball sized ravioli stuffed with meaty duck threads is generously slicked by demi-glace and brightened by pickled mushroom pieces.
LA CANDELA: THE FOOD HIGHLIGHTS
La Candela: Would I Come Back?
Praise for La Candela tilts a little high but it is a restaurant with a lot to offer especially for large groups and casual eats. I would come back here for the lunch menu. You should come here if you are a solo traveller that enjoys sitting at the bar chatting to local people. You can come here with family or groups where you are watching pennies but want to have a good time.
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