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Very Best Restaurants: Andalucia

Very Best Listing | Very Best by Cuisine | Very Best by Location

Andalucia **
Bethesda, Rockville , $$

This fine pair of Spanish restaurants continues to please. The main difference between them is in the atmosphereBethesda is newer and more elegant; Rockville, warmer and cozier. Both emphasize the food of southern Spain with its Mediterranean ingredients of olive oil, garlic, and tomato, matched with traditional Spanish ingredients of sherry, saffron, and pimiento.

Choice appetizers include sweet red and green peppers with morsels of mild garlic, steamed baby clams in an excellent wine-based broth, grilled squid and shrimp, and fresh sardines.

Fish is nicely done, especially snapper with white wine, mushrooms, and fresh thyme; baked sole; and hake cooked with white wine and garnished with parsley, peas, shrimp, and mussels. The generous veal chop in a dry-sherry sauce or with rosemary is a can't-miss, as is the half a roast duck with a sauce laced with brandy. And the paella is among the best around.

Desserts, which are made on site at both locations, include some excellent cakes and a silky flan. The wine list and the sangria are both satisfactory.

Andalucia , 4931 Elm St., Bethesda; 301-907-0052. Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for dinner. MapIt!

Andalucia , 12300 Wilkins Ave., Rockville ; 301-770-1880. Open Tuesday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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