November Tables in Segovia: What to Eat When the Cold Arrives
November Tables in Segovia: What to Eat When the Cold Arrives
November is when Segovia's kitchens turn to beans, game and roast meats — here is what to order, where to walk for it, and how to plan the days around the eating.
Judión de la Granja and the Bean Season
Segovia's most important November dish is not the suckling pig. It is the judión de la Granja, a fat white bean grown in the market gardens around La Granja de San Ildefonso, about 11km southeast of the city and reachable on the SG-2 bus from Segovia's bus station in roughly 20 minutes. The beans are dried, but the autumn harvest brings them to tables in stews with blood sausage, morcilla, or simply with olive oil and paprika. Look for them on menú del día boards in the streets off the Plaza Mayor, especially around Calle Marqués del Arco and Calle Isabel la Católica, where lunch menus typically sit in the middle band rather than the top one.
The judión is a modest dish and priced accordingly, which makes it a good lunch anchor before an afternoon of walking. Restaurants around the Acueducto charge more for the view than the food, so walk five minutes uphill into the Judería instead, where the old Jewish quarter's narrow lanes hold smaller dining rooms with short November menus. If a place lists judiones alongside roast meats, order both and share: the bean stew is filling, and a half portion of cochinillo is enough for two people at lunch.
Game, Mushrooms and the Sierra
November is game season across Castile, and Segovia's restaurants reflect it. Expect perdiz (partridge), jabalí (wild boar) and, on some menus, venison, usually braised rather than grilled. Prices run higher than the bean dishes and higher than the midday menú, so these are better suited to an evening meal. The same weeks bring setas and níscalos from the pine woods of the Sierra de Guadarrama, which begins roughly 25 minutes' drive south of the city towards Navacerrada; many kitchens in Segovia's centre use them in scrambled eggs or grilled with garlic.
For the setting, the Plaza Mayor at dusk in November is cold but worth one meal: the arcades shelter the tables and the cathedral looms over the square. Book ahead for weekend evenings, because the city fills with Madrid day-trippers who arrive on the high-speed train in about 30 minutes and often stay for dinner. If you want a quieter room, the streets below the Alcázar, around Calle Velarde and Calle Daoíz, hold a handful of small places that fill more slowly.
Cheese, Chorizo and the Market
Not every November meal needs a table. The covered market on Calle Colón, a short walk from the Aqueduct along Calle Juan Bravo, is where to assemble a cold lunch: curado sheep's cheese from the province, chorizo from Cantimpalos about 20km northwest, and bread from the bakeries around the Plaza del Azoguejo. Prices are per weight and modest. November weather makes a picnic less appealing, but a bench in the Jardines de los Huertos, below the Alcázar, works on a dry, bright afternoon, and the views across the Eresma valley justify the cold.
Ponche segoviano, the city's egg-yolk and marzipan cake, is sold year-round, but November is when the pastry shops along Calle Real push it hardest alongside seasonal sweets. Buy a slice to take back to the hotel rather than ordering dessert in a restaurant, where it is often the same product at a higher price. Note that many small shops close on Sunday afternoons and some close entirely on Mondays, so plan market and pastry runs for Tuesday to Saturday.
Planning the Days Around the Food
Segovia is compact: the Aqueduct, Plaza Mayor and Alcázar sit within a 25-minute walk of each other, and the station for the high-speed train from Madrid is outside the city, connected by bus. That makes a two-night stay enough to eat well without rushing. November days are short and cool, with frost possible at night and daytime temperatures often in single figures, so build the day around a long lunch and a shorter evening meal. Book accommodation in the old town, inside the loop of the walls, so that dinner does not require a taxi.
If you are choosing between a hotel near the Aqueduct and one near the Plaza Mayor, take the Plaza Mayor side: it is quieter at night, closer to the Judería's small dining rooms, and still only ten minutes from the Aqueduct on foot. Skip the restaurants with photographed menus in six languages on the Plaza del Azoguejo; the food is acceptable but the markup is for the location. Instead, spend one evening on a short taxi or bus ride out to a village restaurant, where November game and bean dishes are often cheaper and the rooms are warmer.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Segovia, answered with this month’s numbers.
Judión de la Granja, the large white bean from the La Granja area, stewed with morcilla or simply with olive oil. It appears on lunch menus across the old town and is at its best in the weeks after the autumn harvest.
Two nights is enough. The old town is walkable, so you can fit in two long lunches and one dinner, plus a market visit, without rushing between the Aqueduct, Plaza Mayor and Alcázar.
Yes, if you accept cold days. The bean and game seasons are at their peak, the city is quieter than in summer, and restaurants are more willing to talk you through the menu than during the August crowds.
