ANDALUCÍA - MÁLAGA - PEDREGALEJO - RESTAURANTE EL CALEÑO

RESTAURANTE EL CALEÑO

We returned to the still, very traditional village of Pedregalejo, just outside of Malaga, which has kept its local character and charm and has not been ruined by tourism.

The beaches here have been divided up, into, small u-shaped coves. This makes them the perfect place to be enjoyed by families with young children.

This old fishing village is now known for its excellent fish restaurants which are all along the promenade next to the beach. In the warm summer months, sometimes during pleasant days in winter, most people eat outside on the terraces where you can see the local way of cooking sardines (espetos) on wooden sticks in the jabegas (the local, small, traditional fishing boats).

We were returning to an old favourite, Restaurante El Caleño, where the old owner, Chico, is now enjoying his retirement.

The restaurant has now passed into the very capable hands of Fabio.

Once settled in, we started with some papas aliñas

Concha finas

This bivalve is a species of giant clam that, when eaten raw, creates a burst of salty freshness on your palate. The clam’s white-reddish, sometimes orange, flesh, is quickly sucked with great pleasure.

Quisquilla de Motril and gambas de Málaga.

With this, we had a bottle of Martín Códax Albariño 2021 (Rías Baixas)

For our main course, we were going to have either Pargo or Urta, we were advised to have the Urta (which is a red sea bream rockfish) and this was an excellent choice.

You can have it a la sal (baked in sea salt) or grilled. We had the grilled version which was expertly cooked and very succulent.

We had a few bomboncitos for dessert.

The service by Fabio was fun and acknowledgeable, he even went to a nearby bar to get me a copa of Licor 43! Fabio is seen here on the left with a few friends.