Top Restaurants in Malaga You Must Try august 21, 2024 – Posted in: Spain, Travel – Tags: Andalusia, Food, Holiday, Malaga, Restaurants, Reviews, Spain, Vacation

Discover the Best Restaurants in Malaga

Malaga is home to a wealth of fantastic restaurants, and here’s where you can find them! Each year, Malaga welcomes over 1.5 million tourists. In many cities, such large tourist flows might lead to mediocre food, but not in Malaga!

In fact, Malaga was where we had the best dining experience during our Andalusian tour in March 2023. We sampled beef in three different ways: the classic Rabo de Toro, a burger with similar fillings, and finally, beef cheeks. Add to that an array of delicious tapas, and Malaga also boasts the best sherry bar we encountered outside the sherry city of Jerez.

Feeling hungry already? It’s a good idea because there’s so much delicious food to try in Malaga!

Some Tips for Dining in Malaga

Before we dive into our restaurant recommendations in Malaga, it’s important to mention that there are many more excellent restaurants than we had time to visit. There is also some mediocre food in this large tourist city. If you want to find more great restaurants beyond our suggestions, the best thing you can do is take a walk after dinner. Look for where the locals gather and where you hear lively Spanish conversation. That’s surely where you should eat tomorrow!

You’ll find many restaurants in the small side streets between Calle Molina Lario and Calle Marqués de Larios, as well as around Plaza Carbón, where both streets end to the north.

About Our Restaurant Recommendations in Malaga

Below, you can read about the restaurants in Malaga that we managed to visit. Restaurant visits are usually a major part of our vacations. We don’t necessarily eat expensively, but always locally and with regional ingredients. We’re also always on the hunt for great food experiences and prefer to try something we’ve never tasted before. So keep that in mind when deciding whether to follow our recommendations.

And now, let’s eat!

3 Great Restaurants in Malaga

KGB

KGB is amusingly styled like an American diner despite its name. However, the menu features Spanish tapas with a modern twist, and we went there after reading good things about the small oxtail sliders. They did not disappoint! The mini burgers are filled with tender oxtail meat, plenty of cheese, and a touch of arugula – just for looks. The service wasn’t the best we’ve experienced, but we also ordered patatas bravas and ensaladilla rusa, and everything was forgiven. The food was simply amazing!

Las Merchanas

Las Merchanas is a tribute to the Holy Week, Semana Santa, when large religious processions carry statues through the streets in the week before Easter. The restaurant is filled with photos, dolls, and souvenirs from the many parades. There’s something to look at everywhere… or at least until the food arrives.

The spacious restaurant on Calle Mosquera, which also has two other locations in Malaga, is one of the city’s absolute most popular dining spots and a place everyone should try.

We had the Rabo de Toro, the classic oxtail stew, and several other delicious tapas: bacalao, croquetas, and patatas bravas. It was by far the cheapest place we dined in the city, and for four half tapas plates, two glasses of wine, and a bottle of water, we paid around 25€.

El Pimpi

El Pimpi, on the other hand, is one of the city’s more upscale restaurants and also the most expensive place we dined. But the price – and the wait in line – was well worth it! And let’s start with that line – it’s long! We arrived close to opening time on a Friday night, and even then, the queue stretched around the corner from the entrance. As always, we hadn’t made a reservation, but it’s a good idea to do so.

The food is absolutely top-notch. We started with a really delicious ham and some cheese. Our carrillada de vaca, beef cheeks so tender they could be cut with a eyebrow, were accompanied by a house red wine that was endlessly deep and intense in flavor. For dessert, we had an orange sorbet and a cheesecake. We’ll definitely be back!

And for Dessert – Ice Cream or Sherry!

If you’d prefer to stretch your legs between the main course and dessert, we recommend stopping by the ice cream parlor Casa Mira. The ice cream is stored under beautiful, old-fashioned domes. It’s a bit difficult to see what you’re ordering, but just go for it, as everything tastes great. We visited several times, and it’s some of the best ice cream we’ve had outside of Italy.

If you’re more into sherry, Malaga has a traditional sherry bar, Bodega La Dolores. The small bar doesn’t have much space, but it’s highly festive, and you can taste a variety of sherries. Start with the sweeter Pedro Ximenes and work your way through the full sherry tasting palette.

More Tips for Your Malaga Holiday

A Lovely Hotel in Malaga

Malaga has a plethora of hotels, which can make it a bit overwhelming to decide where to stay. We found a delightful place in Centro right by the Guadalmedina River, and you can always find your way back! There are many other hotels in this area, but we wanted to treat ourselves and stayed at the fantastic Vincci Selección Posada del Patio.

There are certainly cheaper hotels in Malaga, but Posada del Patio, as it is also called, is just a bit more luxurious. The rooms are so beautifully decorated that you’ll want to stay in bed all day. But that won’t happen! The breakfast buffet is exquisite, filled with both small and large delicacies. You can also order freshly cooked eggs, pancakes, and other delicious dishes if you desire.

The hotel is located right on the edge of the charming pedestrian streets. But the hotel also has its own pool on the rooftop terrace – so what should you choose? Rune, being a specialist in great gifts, had found another hotel with its own Roman ruins in the basement! Here you can find the walls of the old Roman port and a well-preserved well. Someone was quite pleased there, and you know your partner well!

Read more about the hotel here: Vincci Selección Posada del Patio and see all the other hotels in Malaga by clicking here. You can also search for hotels in Malaga right here:

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