Restaurants in Nerja 

Nerja has over 400 bars and restaurants, and, although we only have direct experience of a small proportion of these, we are very happy to share this experience with you.

The following is a list of restaurants that we are happy to recommend, in the sense that they are places where we regularly eat ourselves, and which we feel offer good quality and good value for money, together with a few which we don’t recommend. The map references relate to the SpainAway's downloadable Map of Nerja.

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Nerja Town Centre:

Two of our favourite restaurants are actually English-owned (serving international cuisine), although both are slightly difficult to locate:

Sloan’s - C/ Los Huertos 74, Map Ref: F6/G6.

Langham’s - C/ Los Huertos (towards the Parador) Map Ref: F6/G6

Equally excellent, but totally Spanish (and very friendly) are:

Meson de Antonio – C/ Diputacion. Map Ref: G4. This is where many Spaniards eat. This is also very good for tapas.

Restaurante Almazara – on the Frigiliana Road, immediately on the right after the roundabout junction with the motorway. Marvellous views and a really innovative menu.

Cortijo Hidalgo, Map Ref: B3/B4, has some of the best food in Nerja, as long as you are not concerned about the absence of a menu and wine list! Located at a riding school, just outside Nerja, off the road to Frigiliana. Tel: 952 52 1023

Restaurante Sevillano, just into the old town past the Balcon, on the corner of C/ Almirante Ferrandiz with C/ Gloria (Map Ref: G5), also provides excellent food at very reasonable prices, with a very friendly Spanish welcome. There is also a second, smaller but more intimate, version of Sevillano on the corner of C/ Antonio Millon and C/ Chaparil, (Map Ref: F3/G3), which has now been renamed Restaurante Floridita.

Au Petit Paris, on C/ Malaga, (Map Ref: G3) offers a warm, and very French, welcome coupled with delicious food and an extensive selection of wines.

For equally good food try Pepe Rico, on C/ Almirante Ferrandiz, Map Ref: G5.

Also well worth a visit is El Viejo Sotano (The Old Cellar) on C/ Los Huertos, Map Ref: F6, slightly closer to town than Langham’s, and on the opposite side of the road.

Burriana Beach Area:

There is a wide range of restaurants here, both situated on the beach itself, and also within the parade of shops fronting on to the beach. Those on the beach serve delicious sea-food.

Our favourite is Restaurant Moreno, on the extreme right hand side, underneath where the Parador is situated, which does excellent paella (although Ayo’s - at the other end of the beach – is the one that is famous for its giant paella, we do not think it is as good), Of those in the parade, we like the Café del Mar, which several of our guests have also recommended, and which is very popular in the evening, so booking is advisable.

Near El Capistrano Village / Oasis de Capistrano:

Whilst we would not recommend the restaurant within El Capistrano Village (see below), if you are looking for somewhere close by to eat, we would recommend the restaurant in Hotel Los Arcos, Map Ref: D10. This can be found on the main road through Nerja, just opposite the entrance to El Capistrano Village.

The restaurant in Oasis de Capistrano, L’Exótica, (Map Ref: F11), provides good food with a friendly atmosphere, and is also within walking distance of El Capistrano Village.

Where to avoid:

In the main, eating (and drinking) out in Spain is a very rewarding experience. However, in addition to mentioning those places that we do recommend, we, somewhat reluctantly, feel that we should also warn you about three or four that we don’t. First of all, there is the restaurant within the El Capistrano Village complex itself, just by the pool. However it is really quite pricey, and to be frank we’ve never had a really good meal there yet – and have actually had one or two quite poor ones. In fact we’ve recently had numerous letters from guests who were tempted by its convenience, but who then said that they wished they’d taken our advice not to eat there.

People sometimes recommend El Portico on C/ Cristo, but I guess that when you’ve had a really poor meal somewhere (to the restaurant’s evident unconcern) then it’s difficult to be enthusiastic about it. Then PataNegra, on Plaza La Marina, serves good food but combines this with a particularly poor attitude to foreigners and solo diners.

Carabeo 34 (on C/ Carabeo, No 34!) has always been an excellent place to dine, but has recently has slipped somewhat in our estimation.

Finally Bella Roma near the Balcón de Europa – one of our guests found both the service and the food appalling, and when they complained they were verbally threatened!

Tapas:

Finding tapas bars is something of an art – the really authentic ones aren’t advertised as such, and you need to do what the Spaniards do, which is to make your way up to the bar, order a drink and point to the particular delicacy on the counter that takes your fancy. In Spain, tapas are included in the price of the drink when sitting at the bar (or in some places there is a small extra charge), and generally you choose what you want, although in some bars there is no choice and you are just given one with your drink. When people go out for tapas in Spain, they go to 3 or more different bars, having a quick beer or glass of wine with a tapa, before moving onto the next one. This would normally be an ‘aperitif’ before going home for a proper meal, rather than a meal in itself, although some people find that a few tapas is sufficient for dinner.

If you are looking for something a bit more substantial, you would need to ask for ‘raciones’. These are larger portions of the same sort of food you would find as tapas, but you pay for these in addition to your drink. A good way to have a light meal is to order a selection of raciones to share, and it means you can try out lots of different delicacies at once.

Here are some places we would recommend visiting:

The Round Bar / Bar Redondo, C/Gloria, 10, Map Ref: G5, is a good authentic tapas bar which has tapas under the counter round the bar, which you can just point to, as well as raciones that you can order from a menu.

Just round the corner on Almirante Ferrandez is El Pulgilla, (Map Ref: G5). Tapas are free if you sit at the bar, and fish and seafood is the speciality. You can also order raciones and there are plenty of tables to sit at, as well as a large terrace with wooden decking.

Less traditional, but modern and with great food, is La Biznaga, (Map Ref: G4), next to the Balcón de Europa, by the church. Here you pay a couple of euros for tapas, and portions are a good size with a lot of variety.

Just a bit further along behind the church in the Plaza Cavana is Casa Luque, (Map Ref: G4). This is really a ‘gourmet tapas bar’, which has a large selection of less traditional tapas such as ‘Foie with Goat’s cheese and caramelised Pineapple’.

Then, heading up C/ Pintada, and left onto C/ Nueva, (Map Ref: F5), is the Mesón La Posada Ibérico, which specialises in Iberian meats such as chorizo, morcilla, salchichón, and Manchego cheese.

Moving further east away from the Balcón, there are several more tapas bars. We would highlight Vinoleto, C/ Antonio Millón (Map Ref: G3) which is a wine and tapas bar, one of the few places in Nerja to specialise in both. Their large selection of wine has quite a few that are available by the glass, and each drink is accompanied by a small tapa. You can also buy tapas for a euro or two.

This should be enough for one night, but there are many, many more tapas bars in Nerja, so please let us know if you find any that you would like to recommend.