UPDATE DECEMBER 2024: This venue has gone through many changes and is now LA MARUJONA CHÁCHARA BAR Calle de Caballeros, 2, 11403 Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, España +34 618 05 02 82 The venue currently gets good reviews for the food and drink, although we have not been there ourselves. PREVIOUSLY PULPO Y APARTE & LA TAPERÍA MESÓN DEL ASADOR If you are looking for grilled and or octopus in Jerez de la Frontera, this is the place to come. If you like pulpo (octopus), you wi

BAR TXEPETXA We returned to another favourite. You may have second thoughts when you walk into this traditional bar and see all the retro ceramic anchovy pintos displayed there. Don’t…………….. nothing here is false. All anchovy/boquerone pintxos here are made to order and served within a few minutes. You can choose from a variety of toppings displayed on the fish-shaped menu boards at the back of the bar. One board features the antxoas (anchovies), while the other shows the exc

A day trip from Sevilla to Carmona Carmona is built on a ridge overlooking the central plain of Andalucía. To the north is the Sierra Morena, and to the south is the peak of San Cristobal. The city is known for its thriving trade in wine, olive oil, grain, and cattle, and it holds an annual fair in April. Carmona is among the most historic towns in southern Europe. It is walkable and is a living museum of the civilisations that have conquered it, from the Carthaginians to the

VENTA SANT JORDI After a fantastic bike ride in and around the mountains near Alcoy , Howard Goldsmith of Alicante Sunshine Villas ends with a revisit for Sunday l unch at Venta Sant Jordi, 4 km short of Alcoy. Venta Sant Jordi (St George) is our favourite; we haven’t been there for a while. So, we looked forward to Sunday and were not disappointed. The location is stunning. For motorbike lovers, it is on a wide corner, where you can watch the bikers take the corner with th

RESTAURANTE CHÉ RAGAZZI - GASTRO FUSIÓN ITALIANO ARGENTINO Review by our friend Howard Goldsmith of Alicante Sunshine Villas We have been a little spoiled this weekend. On Friday, we went to Elda to try a relatively new restaurant that we had heard good things about. I’m not sure we were convinced about the Italian/Argentinian fusion idea before we arrived, but we were believers afterwards. There are three Menu options: Italian, Argentinian, and mixed. I think they are priced

MESÓN TXISTU A Little off the beaten track, this is a very traditional Basque restaurant. With an old-school setting. Once settled in, we had Jamón Iberico de Bellota Almejas marinera (fisherman’s clams) Gambas con huevos revueltos (prawns with scrambled eggs) Calamare fritas (fried squid) You can also try, Tortilla de bacalao (cod omelette) Rape a la plancha (grilled monkfish) Solomillo (sirloin steak) Chuleta de ternera a la parrilla (grilled veal chop) Pierna de cordero (l

DISFRUTAR Three Michelin Stars Disfrutar has just received its third Michelin Star and truly lives up to its name, which means “enjoy” in English. Disfrutar was No. 1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2024. It no longer has a numbered position. Once a restaurant reaches No. 1, it enters the “Best of the Best” group and becomes ineligible for future World’s 50 Best rankings. So Disfrutar is now listed as a former world No. 1 rather than, say, No. 2 or No. 10. See here

TERRAZA CARMONA Michelin Plate IIO This grand restaurant is a family-run business and the oldest in Vera. Vera is the main town in this area, located approximately 10 km inland from the coast. I believe it was once home to the only cinema outside Almeria. If you come to the open market in Vera on a Saturday, you will find this oasis in the thick of it. You can stroll around the market from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm and then sneak in before the rush. On arrival, you will enter

We returned to Sevilla for the first time since 2019 after many false alarms over the past couple of years due to covid, cancelled flights, etc. This was our second tapas tour with our friend, Shawn Hennessey of Sevilla Tapas. You can see our 2019 tapas tour HERE; all the bars are still valid. This time, we headed for the down-to-earth Tirana district of Sevilla, which the Mercado de Triana, a lively market hall near the arched Puente de Isabel II bridge, anchors. Many resta

SA CAPELLA UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2024 Like quite a few venues in San Antonio, Sa Capella has been taken over by Grupo Mambo. It is still a fantastic venue, but now trendy Boho rather than Monks in Robes style. The menu has changed and is much more expensive, including the wine list, so if you want to go, check the menu before you go. The food is much more international now than Ibicencan. For example, Australian wagyu costs €41 for 100g, and the cheapest bottle of wine is €70—Vega