One of the typical dishes? sardine skewer
Since the news broke that marbella was emerging as a faithful candidate to take over the capital of Spanish gastronomy for 2020 , we have not stopped discovering reasons to support that initiative.
And it is that Marbella is one of the pretty girls from the province of Malaga , a beautiful town where not everything is luxury tourism. Marbella has authenticity, versatility and gastronomy , a lot of gastronomy.
A gastronomy of the sea and sensations
Tour the old town of Marbella from bar to bar
The gastronomy of Marbella is almost as varied as the restaurants that dress the city But if there is something that really defines the personality of this jewel from Malaga, it is the leading role of the sea on the one hand and the versatility they give to dishes produce from the garden on the other.
Marbella concentrates all the gastronomy of the **Costa del Sol** in a color palette that shows that they play hard in its candidacy.
Gazpacho is a must
Gazpacho is a staple on the Marbella table. There is no self-respecting restaurant that does not include the appreciated Andalusian gazpacho that always delights everyone.
It's also easy to find the White garlic , another very typical cold soup of Malaga gastronomy in which the tomato is replaced by almonds and the accompaniment is usually based on grapes.
Another fresh dish that is highly demanded when the heat is on is the malagueña salad , made from potatoes, olives, fresh onion, tuna and orange. There is no beach bar where you cannot find it.
But as we said, the product of the sea is the undisputed king of Marbella gastronomy. The fish fry It is one of the star tapas bars and bars in marbella , a dish made with fish of the day (squid, baby squid, anchovies, dogfish,...) coated in flour and fried in olive oil.
Oh, blessed frying...
The fried anchovy It is also another of the most popular dishes in Marbella, served with lemon and left crispy on the outside and silky on the inside. Of course we cannot leave Marbella without getting fine "espetás sardines".
Sardine espeto consists of cooking the wood-grilled sardines inserted in cane. That smell of grilled sardines that hypnotizes you on the beach usually comes from a beach bar that is cooking sardines on spit in the sand itself.
Although the sardine is the queen of espeto, little by little the restaurants are espeto other fish such as sea bream, red mullet, squid and even octopus. The skewer makes Malaga in general and Marbella in particular, a unique place in the world.
Alert! Spoiler: here is good wine
Malaga is a land of wines and that is something that Marbella's candidacy for the 2020 capital of gastronomy will not miss. Currently, Malaga boasts of two well-differentiated appellations of origin.
On the one hand Malaga wines , one of the oldest appellations of origin in our country, which dates from 1932 and that works the wines from the Muscat and Pedro Ximénez grapes. Its production extends to 67 locations in Malaga, reaching ** Ronda **, Antequera and the ** Axarquia **.
Malaga wines deserve to be tasted
On the other hand, there is the appellation of origin Sierras de Malaga Wines , which coincides in production in the 67 municipalities of the D.O. Malaga and that arose to differentiate the sweet red, white and rosé wines.
One of the great differences is that in the elaboration of these wines, many more white grape varieties than in the previous one, and the versatility of its wines is very peculiar.
sit at the table marbella It has now become a true showcase for Malaga wines, an opportunity to discover wines that many may not even know existed.
Black pasta with spider crab cream
First line restaurants
The first thing that catches the attention of Marbella is the titanic offer of restaurants that we find. Tourism in Marbella is very focused on an international audience, which is why we find restaurants dedicated to different cuisines from all corners of the planet.
On the other hand, Malaga concentrates 10 Michelin stars in his record , six of which are in Marbella: ** Messina (one star), El Lago (one star), Skina (one star) and Dani García (although he will close at the end of 2019 to embark on an adventure through Doha and Madrid ).** Visiting Marbella can become an unprecedented gastronomic experience.
Of course, not everything is flying through the skies of the Michelin stars, the gastronomic panorama of Marbella has an infinity of restaurants and ** first-line beach bars ** among which we are going to recommend three:
- kava _(Antonio Belón, 4) _. Territory of Fernando Alcalá who has been able to capture his own experiences in a letter full of personality made up of 10 dishes that change according to the season.
Views of El Ancla restaurant
His tasting menu in five steps is a true identity card of his kitchen, ** with a local product and certain nods to Asia ** that can take you to heaven for just 50 euros.
- The anchor (Avda. Carmen Sevilla, s/n). We have to move along the promenade of Marbella to San Pedro de Alcantara to find this marvel of gastronomy.
On its terrace, in addition to enjoying wonderful views of the sea, you can find magnificent king prawns ** Sanlúcar ** or the precious Garrucha red prawn. Although without a doubt its rice dishes, tuna and Mediterranean fish are to make them a monument.
- sea wolf _(Avda. Boulevard Ppe. Alfonso de Hohenlohe, 178) _. Dani García cannot stop doing things well. Lobito de Mar is that concept of a beach bar that has brought the chef back to the traditional kitchen.
Rice dishes from Alicante, red tuna and skewered fish, a lot of skewered fish: crayfish, red mullet, anchovies... Everything is possible in Lobito de Mar, another reason that makes Danny Garcia in a true international benchmark of Andalusian cuisine.
Lobito de Mar black rice
And not everything is here. The gastronomy of Marbella can be discovered walking through the streets of its old town and venturing into the taverns of a lifetime where tapas is the order of the day.
From the tightest budget to the most splendid foodie plan. Marbella is emerging as a strong candidate to take the witness of ** Almería ,** and reasons are not lacking.
Why? Because it has it all!