La Despensa Familiar, Benalmádena: a Review

I am a regular visitor to Benalmádena. And I think La Despensa Familiar has been open about three years or so. The staff are knowledgeable about what they sell. On several occasions I have visited advising what I intended to cook and have been recommended a perfect wine to accompany the food, and without breaking the bank.

On the last occasion, having done a supermarket run next-door, on a hot & sticky day we were fully ready for some refreshment. There is seating inside, which I think is air-conditioned - at least it is cooler than on the terrace. We sat outside on stools at barrels which serve as tables. I had a deliciously fruity, chilled rosado/rosé at €2,30 and my companion a caña/draught beer, for €1,25. Perfectly reasonable prices.

At Spanish lunch-times and dinner-times, the place is packed. So popular is it with locals that the place is open seven days a week, including Sundays now.

[Image description: the platter of four types of charcuterie plus cheese]

 
From the deli counter we ordered a platter of Iberian charcuterie & cheese for two. This was very reasonably priced at €15 for take-away (take-out). The assistant's attention to detail meant that when he noticed a slice of cheese had slipped from its position, he unwrapped the platter and started afresh - dedication! We had it that very evening for our evening meal, over a couple of hours, with a lovely bottle of Rioja.

[Image description: the platter as centre-piece of our dinner on the balcony]

Staff are friendly and helpful. I speak Spanish; but English is spoken when needed.

Recommended.

Viva Lola, Málaga: a Review

Having completed our list of shopping chores at El Corte Inglés, the main store just west of the casco (old city centre), we went up to the top floor to visit the Gourmet Experience. Here one can purchases beverages and foodstuffs from across the globe, from delicacies to locally sourced products. Furthermore, there are several eateries: some are parts of chains; others are independents.

[Image description: my companion with just some of our shopping

with Viva Lola's signage in the background]

Málaga being a port-city and a fishing-port as well, I of course wanted to sample the harvest from the sea. A new sea-food restaurant has recently opened, named Viva Lola. It is part of the Los Mellizos group of restaurants.

We selected our own table and were glad to sit down in extremely comfortable, ice grey coloured, Vitra Eames chairs. I find sitting due to my disabilities to be be extremely uncomfortable if not outright painful. These seats had plenty of lumber support and sufficient give to let me relax long enough to dine.

[Image description: the writer toasting with his wine; behind kitchen & bar staff at work]

Almost immediately a waiter was over and took our drinks orders. We were hot and did not yet know what we intended to eat, so selected rosado/rosé, a large glass of a fine wine cost an unbelievably low €3,10 (for city-centre prices). The waiter then brought over the menus for us to peruse.

[Image description:the menu and a chef's appetiser of a chunk of fresh tuna

atop a bed of chopped tomato on a mini bruschetta]

My dining companion & fellow shopper oohed and ahhed at the offerings. I, of course, ever mindful of my food allergy, kept an open-mind as to what I might be permitted to sample. We were hoping to try the whitebait, but Paul (the maître d'-manager) said when he had been to the fish-market that morning, they had not been good enough. So, instead we chose the special board of the day (left image below), pata de pulpo con mojo picón which would be octopus tentacle with a piquant sauce & lime (right image below).

It was absolutely delicious. The octopus flesh had not been overcooked, so instead of rubbery we bit into a meaty, steak-like texture. The flavour was somewhat like chicken, but far more delicious. This plate was emptied and got the thumbs-up. At €12 perhaps on the pricey side - but well worth it from my perspective for the mouth sensation, and quality. And believe it or not, on a blind tasting several years ago, it transpired that friend's favourite 'fish' is in fact octopus; so a contented chum too.

Whilst Paul tried to find a dish I would like for my mains, he sent over two steamed scallops, each designed for our respective tastes (image above). My chum is not the biggest fish-lover, but it was at this point that even he was making orgasmic noises on the other side of table. His was spicy; mine was sweet & sour. Mmmmmmm…

Richard's tarantelo de atún served with home-made French fries (image above) finally arrived with our next glass of wine. This is the bees-knees of tuna, the cut to dine upon. And my friend wolfed it down.

As you can see from above, there was little left on his plate.

In the meantime, I was treated to the most divine tuna steak, for me perfectly cooked - just seared on the outside and cooked hot enough to heat through the flesh. I was in heaven. Not a scrap was left on my plate.

By now you are probably wondering what we would have for dessert. If you guessed more fish, you would be right! Sea-bass sushi and raw red tuna on mini bruschettas (to the left and the right respectively in the image above).

I can not overstate how exquisite is the seafood at Viva Lola. This is a must-eat-at eatery. I shall be making a bee-line for it when next I am in Málaga.

Hotel Restaurant Ochsen - a MUST-EAT-AT eatery!

Following on from my post on the live-blogged dinner and round-up of my foodie reviews of Hotel Restaurant Mühle, I am now going to review the best restaurant by far in the 3,000-inhabitant small town of Binzen in the south-west corner of Baden-Württemburg.

Whilst the food at Mühle is for the most part very good it never quite attains the excellent level. Their cuisine is very much in the old-fashioned "cordon bleu" style - heavy on sauces to just plain heavy - which appears to be known locally as Markgräflerstil. The service in Mühle's restaurant, including the breakfast pavilion, is highly variable depending on who serves one. (Tanja cheered us up at breakie whenever she was on duty; and I now call by morning coffee "Powerkaffee"!). Greetings were generally poor, making us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Salutations at the end of one's repast were nonexistent - even when departing the hotel (when co-owner Frau Hechler suddenly realised the receptionist was not going to do so, she called out a last-minute goodbye). It is true that the restaurant is frequented by many wealthy Swiss, both at lunchtime and in the evenings: but wealth of itself does not endow taste or epicureanism.

Why so much of the negative in respect to Mühle - which is a perfectly good restaurant and very much worth trying? Well, because I wish to highlight the higher quality and better treatment at Hotel Restaurant Ochsen. I have no difficulty in recommending Mühle; but Ochsen is a MUST. Gourmands and foodies of all persuasions ought to dine there if in the area. Ochsen also has large numbers of Swiss visitors, given the collection of number-plates in their car-park each time we passed.

We were warmly welcomed once our hostess realised we were there. We were allowed to select where we wished to sit, rather than it being dictated by staff. The traditional wooden chairs (see image above; © Ochsen) were surprisingly comfortable and I did not need to stretch my legs during the whole meal.

Apéritifs were immediately offered - we opted for a very welcome, punchy G&T - and then menus were brought over. Our hostess cleverly worked out that I would cope with the German and my companion required their English-language version. We were left to mull over our options with no pressure to order; but neither were we left waiting once ready to do so.

Whilst awaiting our orders, chef sent out a taster platter: piping-hot cream of cauliflower soup (Blumenkohlsuppe/Karfiolsuppe), not too salty, not too creamy and naturally sweet from the brassica; a pot with a slice of cold, pink, tender roast-beef atop a zesty tomato-based mouse on a tomato-based chutney, which was all unbelievably light and so full of complementary flavours.

My companion opted to pass on starters. I on the other hand selected a beetroot soup with lighter-than-light edamame spume and crispy, melt-in-the-mouth, deep-fried fungi. The beetroot tasted sweet and was so light, no trace, whatsoever, of that oft accompanying earthiness one experiences in Britain. The dish was served in a hot-chocolate style glass beaker with metallic surround. It looked fabulous, smelled delicious and wowed the palate. My companion sampled the soup, despite far from being a lover of beetroot, and even he was totally won over. Success on a plate… well, in a cup!

For my mains I ordered wild hare - which I have had in Austria, but have never encountered in the UK. It came perfectly roasted: slightly red; tender to the knife; sensational on the tongue. It was served on a bed of Apfelrotkraut (Blaukraut in München) which is red cabbage with apple. I was just amazed at the presentation (see image above for a similar example; © Ochsen), the quality and the taste.

My companion advised he was not hungry, so selected vegetarian cannelloni. What arrived was a golden hillock, a mound of fresh pasta stuffed with spinach and roasted veggies topped with cheese. It looked stunning and, to be honest, over-facing. Nonetheless, chum ate every last morsel and was up for licking the plate too!

We decided to share a desert. What arrived looked like a Miró painting: colours and lines played across the plate. Mint caviar gave off a bright green glow as the tiny jelly globules reflected the light. Sorbet both cleansed and titillated the tongue. Lots of flavours and textures all wrapped in a fun package.

Wine-wise we opted for a local rosé at the behest of my friend. It was perfectly quaffable to me; but I prefer something with more body. My companion on the other hand was fully delighted with the selection.

Service throughout the repast was attentive, friendly and from time to time the staff jested with us, both in English and German.

We went on a Wednesday night. The restaurant was never full, but folk continuously came and went. All appeared to be treated equitably (as in without favouritism) despite some of the habituées being dressed and bejewelled extremely expensively. And we were given amiable salutations by staff on exiting.

An almost perfect meal. Top-notch! %P