Last night I had the pleasure to attend the first-ever Feria del Langostino here in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The event was put on by a collection of local businesses and organizations with the intent of showcasing two of Sanlúcar’s star products—wine and langostinos (King Prawns). Eight restaurants were chosen to participate in the fair and the whole event revolved around these restaurants creating tapas that incorporated Sanlucar’s famous langostinos.
It’s worth noting that Sanlúcar has its very own brand of King Prawns—the Cofradía de Pescadores de Sanlúcar created the collective brand Langostino de Sanlúcar in 2015. This brand helps consumers differentiate and identify the superior quality and flavor of Sanlúcar’s King Prawns (as you can see in the video below).
Getting tickets
Tickets were available for purchase (for €3) at the event door or at participating restuarants the week leading up to the fair. Luckily Javi and I got our tickets ahead of time because they ended up selling out at the door (over 3,000 tickets) within the first few hours of the event. Next year I’d definitely recommend getting your tickets ahead of time—there was a huge line outside too!
The fair was packed!
Tapas tasting
As soon as we entered the fair we were given party favors like custom manzanilla glasses and fans. Next we headed to the ticket booth to exchange money for food tickets. Wine cost just €1.50 a glass and tapas were €3 each. I heard each restaurant prepared 50 – 75 kilos of langostinos for the event, but that wasn’t enough as many of the them sold out of tapas before the night’s end! I didn’t have a chance to try all the tapas, but my favorite one was “langostinos glaseados” from a new restaurant opening soon in Bajo de Guia called Malaspina.
Trying “Crujientes de langostinos con salmorejo” from La Campana
My favorite tapa “langostinos glaseados” from Malaspina
It looks like I’ve got some new restaurants to add to my top places to eat in Sanlúcar! Check out the full list of participants and the tapas they served at the fair:
Casa Balbino
Langostinos con berenjenas
Pimiento asado con langostino confitado y cebolla caramelizada
Barbiana Bar
Huevos cuajados con tomate y langostinos
Nueva ensaladilla de langostinos
Bodegón de Lola
Brocheta tropical con langostinos
Langostinos en salsa de cacahuetes al curry
Espacio Decimoarte
Tostita crujiente de langostinos de Sanlúcar
Wok de langostinos, shiitake y teriyaki de amontillado
La Campana
Crujientes de langostinos con salmorejo
Garbanzos con langostinos
Restaurante Secundino Bajo de Guía
Corvina sanluqueña con langostino
Langostinos Secundino
El Embarcadero
Tartar de langostinos con alga wakame
Mini pan de pita con langostinos y mahonesa de curry rojo
Malaspina Bajo Guía
Carpaccio de langostinos
Langostinos glaseados
After party
At midnight several of the restaurants were recognized with awards like “Most Innovative Tapa”, “Best Presentaion”, and “Best Traditional Tapa”. Afterwards the band “Sin Noticia de Gurb” took the stage and the night ended with a DJ and dancing until 5am.
So how was the first Feria del Langostino?
The food was delicious, drinks were cheap and the party was great! Despite a few hiccups (like running out of food), I‘m sure event organizers will be better prepared to accommodate the large number of attendees next year (now that they have a better idea of what to expect). I would consider the feria a total success and hope to see more events like this in the future—I love Sanlúcar and it makes me happy to see tourists and locals recognizing the potential this city has to offer!
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