Let's eat on the beach

The warm weather is here and with that comes the re-opening of the many chiringuitos (beach shack restaurants) that line the beaches of Marbella. A few of our all-time favourites are:

Playa Fantastica - for their unique version of black paella filled to the brim with both fish and shellfish and for the chic shack open-air restaurant loved by many locals. Get there early and snag one of the shaded loungers and have your lunch right on the sand.

Mistral Beach - for their convenient location in Puerto Banus an the large selection of grilled fish and shellfish (including lobster) on their menu. Tables set up either on the wooden deck or right in the sand.

Taberna del Alabardero - on the strip of boardwalk lining San Pedro Beach are a whole row of beach restaurants from the cheap and cheerful El Nini (plastic chairs and not much decor) to this high-end beach club of a Benahavis resort. Typical paellas and frituras (fried seafood) with both indoor and outdoor seating. There is a pool (open daily) and a bouncy castle for kids on weekends.

El Ancla - On the other end of this same San Pedro beach strip, is this beach club with one of the only salt-water pools in Marbella. Eat overlooking the Mediterranean and choose from the fresh fish or shellfish on display. Service is extra-friendly.

Purobeach - Though not really a chiringuito, Purobeach is part of that other kind of beach restaurant, the CHIC-ringuito. After three years, they may have finally gotten themselves together. The menu has changed and now include more all-day dining choices including a breakfast option. The best part is that it's open all-year round (unlike the other CHIC-ringuito's - Nikki Beach and Ocean Club) so even in the middle of winter, you can have an espresso on a sunny day and enjoy the view.

TABERNA DEL ALABARDERO BEACH CLUB

Good friends from Dubai, Kira and Ole plus their daughter Carolina, are here for a week and so we all went out for dinner and decided to try another chiringuito - Taberna del Alabardero beach club. The main restaurant is in the hotel on the road to Ronda but they also have their beach restaurant at the very end of San Pedro beach right beside the Nuevo Reino.

We arrived before early, around 8:30, before the reserved tables at 10:00 p.m., and were seated right beside the beach in one of the outdoor tables. I had first been to this beach club several weeks ago when my son and I attended a leaving party for one of his classmates. The kids spent the afternoon at the pool while the mums sat around and had tapas and drinks till the sun set.

This time around, we were going to try their full menu. We started off with some fried aubergines with salmorejo (a thicker gazpacho made with tomatoes and bread) and a plate of calamares along with a tomato and onion salad. The kids had a gambas al ajillo (my son's favorite) and some chicken croquettes with fried potatoes. We then opted for two types of paella - a vegetable version of the more traditional saffron-flavoured rice with artichokes, flat beans and asparagus and the arroz negro made with squid ink and pieces of squid and cuttlefish.

The starters were very good - the aubergines were crispy and went well with the cold salmorejo, the calamares were o.k. but we might have fared better ordering the baby squid (chopitos) which would have been more flavourful than the squid rings. Both paella's were served at the same time and were fine - the black paella was good but nothing special and the vegetable paella, although good, was garnished with overcooked vegetables. I had heard many rave reviews of this place and was disappointed with the lacklustre dishes we were served at the beach club. Perhaps the food at the main restaurant in the resort on the way to Ronda is better? We finished our main courses then and shared one dessert - the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream which was fine.

Service was a bit harried as well with the staff serving the tables in the main restaurant first and then appearing outside whenever they got a chance. The children had a fantastic time though with the bouncy castle that was on one side of the garden which is where they spent most of their time after finishing their dinner. Next time, we can try another chiringuito until we find a contender for best paella to beat the one at Playa Fantastica.

NUEVO REINO

Mondays are usually takeaway night for us - it's the beginning of the week when the nanny has her day-off and the fridge is empty. It's also when we make it a point to try out new restaurants in the area. This week, we went down to the beach in San Pedro to one of the many (there must be at least ten on the boardwalk) chiringuitos there.

We went to Nuevo Reino which is at the very end of the boardwalk towards Puerto Banus and right beside another well-known chiringuito, the beach club of the Taberna del Alabardero. We arrived early and were seated in an outdoor table right by the beach where we had a simple seafood meal - Gambas Pilpil (prawns in garlic and chili), Arroz Negro (Squid ink paella) and a salad of roasted red peppers and onions. All around us other diners were having fritura Andaluza of calamares (squid rings), chipirones (baby squid), chanquetes (tiny fish) or boquerones (anchovies) which we'll be sure to have next time. The food was good, the service eficient and surprisingly, the price was reasonable. It's another restaurant to add on to our Monday night list.

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Nuevo Reino

Castiglione Playa Cortijo Blanco

Playa29670 San Pedro Alcántara

Marbella, Málaga

Telephone: 952 78 66 66 / 952 78 88 96

SONORA BEACH

Another day, another discovery - we had lunch at a nearby chiringuito (beach restaurant) that was recently taken over by new management. Sonora beach on Los Granados Playa is reminiscent of beach bars in Bali, Boracay and Punta del Este - laid back but with attitude. Think kaftans, flip-flops and wind-blown hair rather than itsy-bitsy glitzy bikinis and large gold shades.

There's a bar right near the front, several tables scattered around, two wooden benches where one can either have a drink or just chill out with a coffee and a book plus a little corner with funky beach items for sale. There are also a few sunbeds out front for those who want to work on their tans.

The food is a mix of paninos (grilled sandwiches), burgers and salads with some Spanish dishes mixed in. Today, for example, there was grilled sardines and paella. They serve breakfast as well. Check it out soon.

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Sonora Beach

CN-340, Km.163, Estepona (see map below)

Tel: +34 619 318 098 or 626 060 624

Open all day everyday except Mondays

No credit cards

La Playa Fantastica or Puro Beach?

Now that summer has arrived and the days are long and bright, our weekends are spent on the beach to enjoy the sun and sea.

The whole length of the Costa de Sol is lined by beaches with one to suit every taste - some for families, some for party people and even a few for nudists.

On most days, we end up at our favorite Chiringuito or beach hut restaurant, La Playa Fantastica, which has lounge chairs underneath rush umbrellas. It's rustic chic suits us since the place is often packed with locals, there's always fresh fish at the restaurant and lots of kids playing in the sand. The atmosphere is relaxed and the same families sit in their favorite spots almost every weekend. Renting a lounge chair costs 6 euros each (the price sometimes goes up to 10 euros in July and August) and drinks and tapas are served on the beach or a simple grilled fish lunch enjoyed at the restaurant with our feet buried in the sand.

Other times, mostly when family and friends visit and ask to experience the Marbella scene, we take them to this other beach club that opened only a year ago not far from where we live.

Puro Beach's all-white sophisticated decor is filled with mini bikini-clad women or Vilebrequin-shorted men sipping champagne by the pool. It's great for hanging around with friends who are in town to party. There is an infinity pool right by the beach (children are not allowed to swim in the pool) and a DJ playing chill out music all day long and funky club music from dusk till dawn. The restaurant is decent although expensive and serves Continental fare although the service can be a bit spotty when the place is packed. Lounge chairs cost from 50 euros each and range from a single or double sun bed and even a covered tent to rent out. They also offer beach side massages and treatments plus a daily yoga class. Puro Beach's location in Laguna Village is also a plus. Aside from the beach club, there are several restaurants (Trader Vic's Mai Tai Bar, Fashion Sushi, Delicatessen Bodega Pata Negra etc.) and shops (Flamant, Elle Morgan, Escada etc.) in the complex.

So what's the answer? I guess it depends on your mood. For everyday rustic chic, choose chringuito La Playa Fantastica but for a more sophisticated experience, go to Puro Beach. It all depends on what you're looking for.