Charlie Smith
A MALAGA restaurant has been voted the 10th best in Spain, while nine other Andalucian eateries made the top 100.
The list of gastronomic brilliance was compiled by TripAdvisor’s new app and reservation platform ElTenedor, which analysed more than 12 million user opinions.
Ocho in Malaga is the restaurant deemed Spain’s 10th best and its co-owner David Perrin Cortés told the Olive Press he is ‘thrilled’ with the ranking.
“ElTenedor’s results are based on client feedback, so it means a lot and makes what we are trying to do worthwhile,” he said.
Located on Calle Pedro de Toledo, Ocho are about fresh Argentine-inspired cooking and seasonal produce.
Yet despite the South American link, Perrin Cortés was keen to talk up the culinary offerings of southern Spain.
“Andalucia is the garden of Spain,” he says. “There is so much fresh seafood and vegetables here.”
The humble restaurater admitted Ocho had no plans to expand in 2019, but said: “We will try and improve. We are trying to keep things real and small.”
Five more Malaga kitchens join Ocho in the list selected by El Tenedor, while Casares, Granada, Sevilla and Almeria also get a look-in with one each.
Sarmiento, placed number 34 in the hot 100, is the newly opened Casares restaurant, whose food centres around the pillars of the Andalucian lifestyle: ‘authenticity, spontaneity and enjoyment of family’.
Another pick of the bunch in Andalucia is Ta-Kumi, a Japanese ‘cuisine and gastro bar’, with branches in Marbella and Malaga.
Meanwhile, Martín Berasategui’s self-titled restaurant in the Basque town of Lasarte-Oria was ranked the number one restaurant in Spain.
His eponymous eatery has been awarded three Michelin stars since 2001, while he personally holds more than any other Spanish chef with eight.
Just south of San Sebastian, his restaurant’s a la carte menu is lit up by dishes like ‘basil and coral gazpacho with diced and cured rockfish and horseradish’.
