Food & drink

Five things you should eat at least once

• Espeto de sardinas

  Sardines threaded onto a bamboo stick and grilled over driftwood and embers, beach-side. The Costa del Sol's signature dish; only really good between April and October.

• Boquerones en vinagre

  White anchovies marinated in vinegar, garlic and parsley. A classic tapa — order with a cold caña.

• Plato de los Montes

  The Málaga-province mountain plate: pork loin, blood sausage, chorizo, fried egg, fried potatoes and pimientos. Heavy. Skip lunch the next day.

• Ajoblanco

  Cold soup of almonds, garlic, bread and olive oil, usually topped with grapes or melon. Andalusian summer in a bowl.

• Pescaíto frito

  Mixed fried fish — usually adobo (marinated dogfish), boquerones, calamares and chopitos. Squeeze of lemon, that's it.

Chiringuitos & the espeto lunch

A chiringuito is a beach-side restaurant — the Costa del Sol invented the genre. The good ones share three things: a beached fishing boat being used as the grill, a wood fire burning from late morning, and a queue of locals on Sunday.

• Trocadero Arena (Playa de Nagüeles) — smart, expensive, feet-in-the-sand tables. Reserve.
• Restaurante La Milla — long-running, slightly less polished than Trocadero, equally good seafood.
• El Ancla (Cabopino) — proper old-school chiringuito on the dunes. Espetos, paella, plenty of locals.
• Bono Beach (Playa de Hermosa) — friendly, mid-priced, very reliable for a long lunch.

Order an espeto plus a salad plus a half-bottle of cold rosado, and don't make plans for the afternoon.

Tapas in the Old Town

Marbella tapas are less of a crawl than in, say, Granada — bars don't usually give you a free tapa with a drink. But the Old Town has plenty of places where two or three small plates plus a glass of wine make a perfect lunch.

• El Estrecho — narrow Old-Town bar, no-nonsense list of classics, jamón hanging from the ceiling.
• Casa Eladio — generations-old neighbourhood spot off the main square. Try the croquetas.
• Bar Altamirano — outdoor tables on Plaza Altamirano, focus on fresh fish and seafood. Cash still preferred.
• Casanis Bistrot — French-Andalusian crossover, candlelit, a step up in price.

Modern Andalusian & fine dining

Marbella has more Michelin stars than most cities its size. If you'd like to fold a tasting menu into your trip, book it before you fly.

Where to drink

Vermut hour

Sunday lunchtime, around one o'clock, is the local vermut hour. Two reliable options for a glass of casa vermut and a few olives: Bar Altamirano on Plaza Altamirano, and La Cantina del Tito on Calle Pantaleón.

Wine

Andalusian whites have got dramatically better in the last decade — look for verdejo from Rueda, godello from Bierzo, or local Sierras de Málaga whites. For sherry, Bodega La Venencia-style bars are rare in Marbella, but most decent restaurants will pour you a fino or a manzanilla en rama.

Cocktails & sunsets

• Trocadero Sotogrande / Arena — sunset drinks on the sand if you're in the mood.
• Sky Lounge-type rooftops at the larger Golden Mile hotels are open to non-guests for cocktails.
• Plaza de los Naranjos — touristy, but a glass of cava under the orange trees at golden hour is hard to beat.

Related

• Do

  Things to do

  Beaches, walks, hammams.

• See

  Old Town culture

  Where these tapas bars live.

• Plan

  Itineraries

  Worked plans for 3, 5 and 7 days.