GOURMET INTERNATIONAL | REVIEWS OF FINE FOOD AND WINE RESTAURANTS Join our international membership and submit your review of a gourmet restaurant.

I set off from Velez-Malaga full of anticipation at enjoying an evening with friends at the Bistro.  Of course, completely in character, I managed to get lost even though I was using SatNav to find the place.  Eventually some charming Spanish people gave me directions and I arrived to find an entertainer with a wonderful singing away.  As my eyes slowly adjusted to the subdued lighting I gradually recognized friends that I had not seen for a while and I was pleased to find that although I was about thirty minutes late, nobody had started to eat yet.  In fact orders had not been taken.

The ambiance was really nice and I was quickly into the spirit of the evening.  Everyone was out to have an enjoyable evening and the entertainment was very good.  I had decided that I would wait until after the first course before asking anyone to have a dance but it was not very long before a couple broke the ice and were showing us how it was done as they strutted their stuff on the dance floor.  The dance area was not very big and the more flamboyant amongst us were going to find it just a little restrictive.  However as the evening wore on it soon became clear that close proximity to others was not going to inhibit some of the ladies who gracefully demonstrated, even with the constraints of the dance floor, they could perform some amazing and ingenious dips and twirls.

As the food arrived and served with impeccable style, I became more engaged in the interesting conversations around me and the food was everything one could wish for.   I had elected to start with a tuna salad and it was a fresh well balance starter with just the right amount of fish and salad that had not been overwhelmed by lettuce.  This was helped by a generous helping of red wine from my friends,  Steve and Carol.  As I had decided to be very sparing in the amount of alcohol that I consumed this was sufficient for the whole evening.

Of course, as this was a dinner dance evening, each course was followed by a dance or two or three.  This was definitely an evening where you could burn off your calories as you consumed them.

I had elected to have the chicken in mushroom sauce as my main course and I was served with a generous helping which kept me from dancing for about thirty minutes unlike some of my table companions who were were much quicker off the mark and had eaten their meal and were dancing the night away with enthusiasm.  (I did not know that anyone could eat that quickly.)

The desserts arrived and mine was waiting for me as I came off the dance floor.

Eventually, the singer had decided that he had entertained us long enough and bade us goodnight.  He was generous enough to concede an encore and sang us one more song and then it was time to thank the organizers and be on our way at something like 12.45.  However, not before the restaurateur had played us a song with his guitar.  It was a little while before we realized that it was the song about living next door to Alice.  Some of my friends were quite  imaginative with the  wording.

We made our way to our respective cars and prepared to go home, knowing that we would really like to revisit the restaurant, having had a really good night out.

The whole evening was organized by Tony and Judith from Move to the music If you ever fancy a good night out dancing then try them.  Good music, good dancing and very good company.  Note:  They have changed their venue.

Bistro The Gallery,Avenida Del Prado 4, Aloha
29660  Nueva Andalucia, Marbella

Telephone 952 818 262
Mobile 661 826 652

For those of you with GPS you can find it at:-

36°30′1.17″N  4°57′35.95W

Posted under Restaurant Reviews

My friends had called upon me unexpectedly and said they wanted to go for tapas and drink, and asked me if I would like to join them.  Of course unless you are actually on your death bed you should leap at every opportunity to avail yourself of the excellent food available in Andalucia, so I immediately accepted the invitation.  Walking down to the Capri tapas restaurant we were disappointed to find that they were closed, but I had a brainwave and suggested that we walk a little further down to the terminus of the new railway/tram station to the Meson Iberico la Estacion Restaurant Bar that another friend, viz.,  Pilar, had told me about.  Tom was with us in his wheelchair so we were a little circumspect about the proposed visit to this restaurant as none of us had visited before.  We need not have been anxious as entry was easy and the owner cleared a way for us and simply re-arranged the tables.

What was intended to be just a simple snack turned out to be a full-blown meal with entertainment thrown in.  We had asked for a selection of fish and had a massive plate of salad and a plate of prawns as a starter, with all four of us tucking in with gusto.  Later a plate of calamari and a plate of grilled fish were served with beautiful fresh bread.  As a compliment to the food we were served an excellent house wine which was delicious and left a delightful flavour in the mouth.  We had really only anticipated stopping for thirty minutes or so, but the time rushed by as we sat and chatted to the owner in Spanish with one of his companions talking to us in excellent English. Read More…

Posted under Restaurant Reviews