BLOSSOM - RESTAURANTE EN MÁLAGA One Michelin Star If you’re looking for a restaurant in the centre of Málaga, just a few meters from the Cathedral, this restaurant could be the perfect option. Argentina-born chef Emi Schobert draws inspiration from the sea, the mountains, and local ingredients. The inside of the restaurant is tiny, and most of the tables are on the pedestrian street it fronts. On arrival, we settled in with a small beer and an Aperol spritzer. We started w

KALEJA One Michelin Star The name of this restaurant by Chef Dani Carnero is particularly apt (Kaleja is the Sephardic word for alley), given its location in Málaga’s Jewish quarter, just a few steps from the city’s Picasso Museum. It is a gastronomic restaurant based on interpretations of the traditional Málaga recipe book and on enhancing humble ingredients that have sometimes disappeared from large restaurants, such as beans, lentils, etc. There are two dining areas in

LA COCHERA DEL ABUELO We visited this fantastic and intimate little gem twice in a week. It is nicely decorated and laid out. Cinta Romero has run the restaurant, which was once a tiny bar called El Abuelo, since 2016. The owner has extensive experience working in Restaurants in London, including The Ledbury and Michelin-starred Indian restaurants. The main seating is on the ground floor by the bar, plus a few tables up on a small mezzanine. They serve a tasting menu, includ

FRANCISCO LA FONTANILLA We returned to this old favourite in August and arrived just as the late summer sun was setting. You will find the fabulous seafood displayed in the cabinet before you. So you can have a good look and be ready to choose. The restaurant was filling up at 8.30 pm, as is the way in Andalucía. We settled down, and after making our choices, we started the meal with, Fabulosas anchoas de Cantábrico. The restaurant's own Cantabrian anchovies. Ensalada mixta (

ES REBOST DE CAN PRATS This is our second look at traditional Ibicencan cuisine in Sant Antoni de Portmany (San Antonio). Located in a house built in the early years of the 20th century, it was one of the first shops in Sant Antoni. It sold food like chickens, eggs, cheeses, pebrassos, rabbits, vegetables, potatoes, and other products necessary for everyday life. When they opened in 1994, in the home of the current owners’ grandparents, who had been in the family for more th

TABERNA REAL DO FADO As we were in Portugal and Porto, it seemed a good idea to take in a Fado evening. This Fado Taberna is a perfect way to end the day with a group of friends or in a romantic environment with a loved one, and it is a good introduction to Fado music. I loved the guitarists’ performance, and the performers’ voices were outstanding, even though I did not know what they were singing about. The dinner was perfect for the price: €40 per person for all the food

RESTAURANTE O LUSITANO This is our second visit to this restaurant in Matosinhos, just north of Porto. All the seafood is cooked on the outside grills. It is near the sea and the fish market, so all the fish should be fresh. Restaurant after fish restaurant greets you on this street with the beaches a stone’s throw away, but this is our place to go. You can eat at the outdoor tables (which now have glass borders since covid; in the past, they were just in the street) or insid

A visit to Porto and the Port Houses/Lodges across the River Duero in Vila Nova de Gaia. To get there, it is a pleasant walk across the famous Dom Luís I Bridge. We chose to visit. COCKBURN’S PORT LODGE On arrival, we chose the €20 tour, which everyone seemed to have. This includes three port tastings at the end of the tour. More expensive tours, up to €65, include a vintage port tasting and a cheeseboard to complement the wine. Our excellent tour guide, whose name I unfortun

ATELIER ETXANOBE One Michelin Star This restaurant has an unusual setting in a former glass factory in the centre of Bilbao, which has retained a few vestiges from its past. Bilbao-born chef Fernando Canales is at the helm of this culinary project, featuring an elegant and intimate gastronomic dining room where he is keen, first and foremost, to impress his guests with creative cooking based on two tasting menus (Chef Atelier and Chef Atelier Plus) and the very best raw ing

RESTUARANT EL RACÓ DE L'AGÜIR A guest review by Siddu Amin. We came to this restaurant in 2023, which the Agüir family has been running since 1990. It is a modern classic in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood and offers an innovative touch on market cuisine and excellent Alcoi-style rice dishes The restaurant is unassuming, but everything is prepared well with fresh ingredients. They turn even simple dishes like bread with tomato into something special. Which is what we started wi