Hotel Los Castanos

Eating

The dining area is at the back of the house and opens onto a small whitewashed courtyard, where you can eat in summer, with pots of colour all over the place and the church bell tower looming above you. Breakfast is the usual continental feast. You get homemade bread, rolls from a wood-fired bakery, freshly-squeezed orange juice, fruit, yoghurts, jams, a selection of teas, good strong coffee and colds meats and cheeses.

Dinner is a bit of a show. Di and Lu (mother and daughter) both do slow food, whatever’s in season, much from the fields around you. They know their Spanish onions and dinner here was a real treat. You might get grilled chicory with a blue cheese sauce and Serrano ham, duck in a Seville orange sauce with garlic mash, followed by frozen lemon cake and then a some Manchego cheese. There’s a daily set menu, but Di and Lu talk you through their plans for the evening and make sure you get something you like. House wine - red, white and rosé; if you want something a little fancier, you can have it. We heartily recommend you eat here a couple of nights - see Rates.

Cartajimi is tiny - church, shop, old man’s bar - but in summer Baltazar, a local, throws open his garden and turns it into a bar and restaurant. Here you can get simple yet excellent Spanish food. They pluck stuff from their garden, maybe aubergine and long green peppers, fresh tomato salads, then fish, meat and seafood. Follow the road west (4 km) and at Juzcar (another untouched hillside village) the small rural hotel (now in joint Spanish/American hands) offers good sophisticated Spanish food (with a higher price) or tasty café-style food (with a lower price). Alternatively, drop down to Parauta for great Spanish country fare - wild boar, rabbit, and local lamb. If you want something more refined, drive into Ronda (about a 15-minute drive) for a night on the town. It has loads of choice - Mexican, Italian, Chinese and of course some fabulous tapas bars.