[Slapsie Maxie]

Day three began with much snuffling as I awoke to find myself blighted with a stinking cold. Bugger. But, being the brave little soldier that I am, I battled on

We headed out of the door early to beat the coach parties that form a convoy en route to Ronda.

Ronda is a truly stunning little town, high in the hills some 1hr drive north of Marbella. Best known for the gorge over which it is built and its “New Bridge” over which prisoners were thrown during the republican wars as recounted in loving detain in " For Whom The Bell Tolls, The town ( particularly La Ciudad, the old town ) is filled with interesting buildings and we spent a pleasing enough hour wandering around avoiding the crowds from many nations and guides waving brightly coloured umbrellas.

The interesting places to eat are all in the new town, not far from the bullring. There is a small restaurant next to the ring which is known for serving Cajones, the testicles of the slaughtered bull. They joke that on some days the Cajones are very small as “the bull does not always lose” We did not go there, but after a quick tour of the ring to pay homage to Ordones, the greatest of the Ronda school of matadors ( much less showy we were informed, than the Seville school ) we headed some 20 mins off the main drag to a small bar

1) Loss Caballeros – this was a harmless joint where we has a decent plate of Pata Negra, some Gambas a la plancha and some manchego. A couple of cana and some Pedro Xininex washed it down a treat

I missed most of the drive home as I fell asleep, thus missing some of the most extraordinary scenery Spain has to offer. Still, with the medication I bought in Ronda and a few hours fitful nappage, we were ready to head out once more.

2) Casa Navarre – as LML mentions, this is considered one of the places for meat action on the Costa and who am I to let a little thing like indigestion get in the way of a good meal? I had booked there on the basis of a couple of recommendations, but have to say it was a little disappointing.

We were very early for our table, so we pottered up to Mijas for a brief tour and to let me chum take some piccies of the incredible panorama of the coast that the mountain affords. By which time, we were ready to head for supper

The restaurant is old school bar none. Thick leather bound menus, heavy wooden seats, old fashioned service. None of this matters if the food is good and, from the look of the displays of aged Galician meat, it promised a lot

We began with a pinchot of chorizo which was deliciously hot & spicy, while we perused the menu.

To begin we had red peppers stuffed with Bacalao ( salt cod ) in a pepper sauce which was good, but not up to those of Combarro in Madrid. I had some Morcilla De Burgos stuffed with rice. It was much better if a little over cooked and dry

The selection of meat on the menu is quite limited. I suspect they have more on offer, but my Spanish is not up to it. So we chose

Solomillo de buey – fillet of beef which came perfectly prepared with a charred crust and rare inside. My friend declared it a “fabulous cut of meat”
Entrecote de buey – this was my choice and it was not great. I have no problem with fat on my meat, but this was almost pure fat. It did not have the flavour of the meat at Beefeater last night.

Both came with the usual pointless vegetables and some decent chips cooked in olive oil

For postre we shared a lechel frita, a dessert of fried milk and a torcino, which actually is a word for bacon, but is a toffee caramel..

Both were fine

The highlight of the meal for me was the Valduero GR for a mere EU35 which was well balanced and delicious.

Bill for two including service was EU130. By far the most expensive meal of the trip, but by no means the best.

I guess it was a mix of my weariness from the cold, the emptiness of the restaurant at a relatively ( for Spain ) early hour and the lacklustre meat, but this place is not somewhere I would rush to go again.

5/10

Now, I am back in the flat, sipping on a large glass of Soberano and pondering on tomorrow’s trip to Malaga

S