3 Star Michelin Restaurants in Spain and Portugal
These are the 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain, authentic gastro-temples to add to your bucket list if you’re a foodie. These are Spain’s best restaurants.
Photo By CanvaSpain is known for its delightful traditional food, but the Iberian country is also home to the most exquisite modern cuisine. Eleven restaurants in Spain have gained the coveted 3 Michelin stars, and they are amongst the finest eateries on the planet.
These are the 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain. Add them to your foodie bucket list and enjoy a meal of a lifetime. Have you visited any of these restaurants? They’re all life-changing experiences!
How Many 3 Michelin Star Restaurants Are There in Spain?
This year, only eleven restaurants in Spain hold the coveted 3 Michelin Stars, the highest praise a European restaurant can get for the quality of its food alone.
In the 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain, you’ll find extraordinary dining experiences to remember the rest of your life. The quality of the ingredients and the creativity behind every dish are unmatched. There are many great restaurants worldwide, but the finest in Spain are on another level. These are the 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain.
There are eleven three-Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain. Some are known for their innovation, such as DiverXO and El Celler de Can Roca. Others are classic, such as Martin Berasategui and Quique Dacosta. Still, they all offer unique gastronomic experiences.
The Michelin Guide indeed considers every aspect of a restaurant and has many ratings and awards besides their famous stars. Still, Michelin stars only rate the food — what’s being served on the plate. This means that no matter the decor or the location, a three-Michelin-star restaurant is equivalent to a superb meal.
1. Aponiente
Chef Angel León leads the way in Southwest Spain with his beautiful restaurant Aponiente, in El Puerto de Santa María, Andalucía. Expect more than rattling guitars, though; this is an authentic temple for premium seafood dishes, creatively prepared and exquisitely presented for a unique sea-scented meal.
Chef Angel León is also all about sustainability, which has earned him and his restaurant, the new Michelin Green Star. For seafood, Aponiente is one of the greatest 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain.
Oysters, sea urchin, shrimp, squid and all types of fish are the stars in Aponiente. Still, the diligence in preparing them perfectly and innovatively presenting them makes this fabulous restaurant one of the most promising seafood three-Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain.
2. Cenador de Amós
Chef Jesús Sánchez Sáinz merges traditional Spanish food with modernist cuisine in an 18th-century property for a world-class dining experience like no other. Cenador de Amós is one of the trendiest restaurants in Cantabria, Northern Spain.
Sustainability is the name of the game here. The restaurant has its own farm and sources sustainably fished seafood from the cold Atlantic Ocean. The restaurant is nestled in an authentic palace going back to 1756, making the experience much more enjoyable.
3. DiverXO
DiverXO is the only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Madrid, and it’s one of the most exciting. The restaurant made headlines years ago for its multi-sensory experience, featuring interactive videos and high-end projectors, and the magic is still there. More than dinner, what Chef David Muñoz and the staff at DiverXO offer is an artistic exposition with theatrical food in a modern, stunning backdrop. Thoughtful and sometimes downright crazy, you have to see what’s for dinner at DiverXO to believe it.
Amongst the 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain, DiverXO is perhaps the most exciting, and it’s an ambassador for a thriving food scene in Madrid. DiverXO will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face.
4. Azurmendi
Azurmendi is another fine-dining powerhouse focused on sustainability. Azurmendi is first a garden and then a restaurant. Chef Eneko Atxa Azurmendi has made this historical restaurant a beacon for sustainable, local cuisine. The restaurant has its own garden and Txakoli cellar, and that’s just the beginning.
You’ll find this fantastic restaurant near Bilbao, in northern Spain, and you can taste its proximity to the Ocean on the sea-inspired menu. Of course, the experience is even more memorable in such beautiful countryside scenery.
5. Akelaŕe
Akelare is a hotel and a Michelin restaurant that earned the coveted third star in 2017. Chef Pedro Subijana established his Akelare on the Cantabrian coast in 1970 and was instrumental in establishing the modern Spanish culinary scene. Chef Pedro Subijana Reza has really elevated the dining experience in Akelare in the past few years. This stunning restaurant offers a creative take on traditional Spanish food with the loveliest sea view along the northern Spanish coast.
Akelare has been around since 1970, and it’s also a hotel with optional cooking classes! This is the ultimate travel destination for foodies and one of Spain’s most impressive dining rooms. That’s what 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain are all about.
6. Martín Berasategui
Martín Berasategui has 43 years of cooking experience at the highest level. His restaurant is proof of it, and it’s one of the most impressive cuisines in Europe.
The chef’s eponymous restaurant in San Sebastian is haut-cuisine of French inspiration, but modernist cuisine can be seen (and tasted) on every plate. The multi-course dinner is extraordinary and varied, as varied as Berasategui’s selection of infused butter! There are five to choose from. Passion characterizes every item on the extensive menu, which you can enjoy in a contemporary house with the loveliest countryside feel. The quality of the ingredients is unmatched at Berasategui, but the technique that makes them shine impresses the most. Expect nothing but perfection.
7. Arzak
Yet another 3 Michelin star restaurant in Spain that found in San Sebastian the perfect stage for fine dining. Arzak focuses on creative, traditional cuisine in which Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter craft authentic edible stories — every plate is unique.
Experimental food meets traditional dishes, all comprising the finest ingredients in the country that, in the hands of the talented team, become masterpieces. The service is top-notch as well, as you feel amongst family in Arzak.
With a playful spirit, the Arzak family offers innovative, fun, delicious dishes that leave a long-lasting impression, all with a discerning Basque feel.
8. Quique Dacosta
Spain’s Mediterranean coast is home to this beautiful restaurant run by larger-than-life Quique Dacosta. He has worked in the kitchen since he was fourteen and is now one of the most respected cooks in the country. The avant-garde restaurant features plenty of natural light and different ambiances, all perfect stages for what comes out of the kitchen.
Chef Dacosta’s restaurant is south of Valencia, so the food is instinctively Mediterranean. The ever-changing tasting menu follows the seasons and lets them dictate what’s for dinner. Without a doubt, the finest restaurant in Alicante, Quique Dacosta, offers a myriad of Mediterranean dishes presented like art pieces in more than a meal — this is a culinary experience. Better yet, this is an authentic adventure!
9. ABaC
One of two 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain located in Barcelona, ABaC results from years of hard work by chef Jordi Cruz. In his own words, with a mixture of 50% tradition and 50% Avant garde, but with particular attention to the product; the ingredients. The food here is highly seasonal, and it tells a story. Every dish brings the narrative forward, making you experience the region’s terroir with every bite.
Chef Jordi describes his menu as rock & roll, and you can feel that energy in the colorful dishes. Although this is very much modern Spanish cuisine, Chef Cruz doesn’t hesitate when using South American or Japanese ingredients and techniques, resulting in a world tour for your taste buds. From fried brioche with eels to sweet, cured onions, the food here is just beautiful.
10. Lasarte
You’ll find Lasarte in Barcelona and it’s another fantastic restaurant run by chef Martín Berasategui and his talented team. With 3 Michelin stars since 2017, this gastro-temple offers a special tasting menu with cod confit, wagyu beef and lamb cooked in miso — these are world flavors of uniquely integrated Berasategui-style. Here, the menu changes depending on what’s in season, but land and sea ingredients are well-represented and beautifully prepared. What you get here are edible works of art.
Lasarte is also a hotel, and its amenities complete the culinary experience becoming a unique foodie destination you don’t want to miss. This is Barcelona reinvented. Lasarte is also a luxurious hotel, and the restaurant is reason enough to stay here. Lasarte has had three Michelin stars since 2017, and the wine program is one of the best in the country.
11. El Celler de Can Roca
Rounding up the list of 3 Michelin star restaurants in Spain, we’re leaving one of the best for last. El Celler de Can Roca has spearheaded modernist cuisine for years now, and it’s considered amongst the best restaurants in the world.
The three Roca brothers are behind this beautiful restaurant and innovation center, where nothing is what it seems, and every dish causes an impression. El Celler de Can Roca also has the new Michelin Green Star for sustainability.
