EL RELINGUE

Summer is almost over and with it also comes the end of Sotogrande's polo season. We went to see the semi-finals of the Copa de Oro Jaeger Le Coultre between Ayala and Las Monjitas, with the latter winning 14 to 7. The atmosphere at the Santa Maria Polo Club was like a chic village fete with tents selling leather and polo-related goods like La Martina, Hackett plus others from sponsors such as Nespresso, Taittinger, and Bacardi. After the game, we decided to have dinner nearby before heading back home.

A friend had recommended a new restaurant right by the polo grounds - El Cancha II but we weren't sure where it was so we went to the Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro right by the church, to another place that I had heard about from someone who left a comment on my blog ages ago. El Relingue is an Argentine grill restaurant (which seems to be the concept of most Sotogrande restaurants catering to the many Argentines who live and work for polo year-round), with a lovely outdoor terrace area and a cozy dining room flanked by large windows overlooking the plaza mayor (main square).

The menu is basically different cuts of beef and pork cooked on a wood-burning open grill accompanied by a selection of salads and sides (potatoes in several ways, spinach etc) plus a few Italian dishes that Argentines love, like raviolis and milanesas. We hardly glanced at the menu because we already knew what we were going to have.

We had an empanada de carne (meat pie) each and were so glad that we did. Both arrived hot and deep-fried with a crispy crust and filled with oregano-flavored ground meat. Eaten with just a bit of salsa chimichurri, it was heaven in hot, little bites.

This was followed by a chorizo criollo (Argentine pork sausage) for myself and morcilla (blood sausage) for A. Both were very good but the morcilla should have stayed on the grill a while longer because it was hot on the outside but cold on the inside. A simple salad of tomatoes, red onions and lettuce was served with our main course: asado de tira (short ribs) for A and costillitas de cerdo (baby-back ribs) for me. We split the two so we could have a pork and beef ribs combination which we ate with a plate of fries and the salad. The meat was very good and all it needed was a bit of salsa chimichurri. We were already quite full but couldn't resist having the traditional dessert of panqueque con dulce de leche (caramel-filled crepes). El Relingue proved to be a pleasant surprise and a fantastic new find. It was such a treat that we're already looking forward to going again for another good meal.

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El Relingue

Edif. Plaza Mayor

Pueblo Nuevo de Guadiaro

Sotogrande, Cadiz

+34 956 69 51 68