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Tourist Information - FOOD TRAVEL
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Malaga's culinary richness is amazing. The province's association with "pescaito" (fish) is right, since the Costa del Sol is the best place to try fresh fish or seafood in a variety of dishes. There's a host of restaurants in Malaga, and some have dug up the treasures of popular cuisine to visitors' delight. However, traditional menus coexist with the culinary avant-garde created by talented young chefs.
The typical tapas bars serve beer or sweet wines of the land with small dishes of traditional or innovative foods. "Picoteo" (nibbling) is a common practice among Spaniards, and it's now common among visitors to the Costa del Sol too.
The nibbling tradition "tapeo"- began in the nineteenth century, when scraps and bits of food - cheese, ham, bread- were used to cover drinks as a hygiene and safety measure. These simple drink lids (literally, "tapas" in Spanish) have evolved into original bites of intense flavours. Gorky and La Rebana are typical tapas bars in Malaga City. If you're looking for real food icons, try El Pimpi - whose walls show zillions of photos of celebrities who've been to it and whose casks feature their autographs- Quitapenas - a winery famous for an excellent sweet wine called "Lagrima Dorada"- , or La Campana - serving its traditional "Pedrete" wine.
Malaga is famous for its soups and stews. "Gazpachuelo" is one of the best known. Originally prepared by sailors in winter, it's evolved into many different versions. The "via AB" soup, for instance, adds hake, prawns, clams, and a trickle of amontillado.
Other traditional stews are Alora's "perotas" soup (a tasty, hearty dish including all the foods grown in Malaga's gardens), the Spanish oyster thistle soup, and the hearty "berzas malagueas" (cabbage stew). You can get them in most bars or restaurants in every town or village. They're a good way to warm yourself up after a day in the sierras or a cultural tour in town.
However, the most popular dish from Malaga is "migas," a humble stew that can take almost anything in: vegetables, pork, fish, oranges, and many other ingredients. When it has sausage, black pudding, peppers, and loin, it's called "plato de los montes." "Ventas," that is, family-run inns by all of the back roads across the province, are the best place to try your "migas."
Marine cuisine is ever-present on Malaga's tables. There's no Malaga without "pescaito frito" (deep-fried fish), horse mackerel soup, dogfish soup, anchovies in vinegar, stuffed squid, or anchovy skewers. You can savour a huge variety of seafood and fish dishes all along the coast.
Fish is a traditional food in Malaga. It's served in restaurants, beachside bars or "chiringuitos," and those small, secluded taverns where the sea breeze pervades everything. Try an anchovy skewer in one of the terrace-bars in La Carihuela, La Misericordia, Los Boliches, or Guadalmina. It's one of the biggest summer pleasures you can treat yourself to.
Recommended Restaurants
- Skina
- Cafe de Paris (Malaga City): 1 Michelin star
- Calima (Marbella):1 Michelin star
- El Lago (Marbella): 1 Michelin star
- Tragabuches (Ronda): 1 Michelin star
- El Higueron (Fuengirola): 1 Campsa star
- La Hacienda (Marbella): 1 Campsa star
- Ruperto de Nola (Marbella): 1 Campsa star
- Taberna del Alabardero (Benahavis): 1 Campsa star
- Palo Cortado (Malaga): 1 Campsa star
- La Meridiana (Marbella): 1 Campsa star
- Lido (Estepona): 1 Campsa star
- Skina (Marbella)
- Escuela de Hosteleria La Consula (Malaga)
- Adolfo (Malaga)
- Le Nailhac (Mijas)
- La Fonda (Benalmadena)
- El Mirlo Blanco (Mijas)
- Mar de Alboran (Malaga)
- Meson Astorga (Malaga)
- Airen (Benalmadena)
- Santa Paula (Malaga)
- El Clandestino (Malaga)
- El Tintero (Malaga)
- Albacara (Ronda)
- Casa Luque (Nerja)
- Caserio de San Benito (Antequera)
- Casona Los Moriscos (Comenar)
- Delfines (Manilva)
- El Angelote (Antequera)
- Frutos (Torremolinos)
- Santa Pola (Ronda)
- Udo Heimer (Nerja)
