Eating Out

Eating and drinking in and around Benaoján and Ronda is a joy! There is a huge variety of local dishes to sample and a wealth of tapas bars, restaurants and cafes thoughout the area.

Whether you are looking for some simple, tasty tapas to accompany a cold beer in a local bar or some fine cuisine in elegant surroundings, you've come to the right area!

The local cuisine tends to comprise the very best quality local ingredients, simply prepared to offer some incredible flavours. As a region renowned for the production of top quality Serrano Ham, Chorizo and pork products, pork figures heavily on local menus. Fantastic salads, wonderful fish and other local favourites such as rabbit, rich stews, paellas, fantastic soups and game all go to make the local cuisine a real treat! Add to that some good local and regional wines and liquers and you have a recipe for some wonderful leisurely lunches and dinners.

There are a number of bars in the village, most of which serve tapas. Benaoján is a working, rural village so please don’t expect the village bars to be ‘posh’! There are also some great value restaurants in the Estación area, below the village proper, and just outside the village as well as some local hotels if slightly more up-market surroundings are required.

There is also a wealth of bars and restaurants in Ronda to suit all tastes and pocket

Here are a few establishments in and around the village you might want to consider:

Paco’s Bar – Benaoján: The nearest watering hole to Casa Elena. Just 20yds away on the corner of the Square. Basic and inexpensive but friendly. Great coffee (a good spot for coffee, toast and a local liqueur in the morning to get you going!)

Juan’s Bar – Benaoján: On the left as you go down the narrow street across the Square. Again a ‘local’s bar’ with good atmosphere.

Bar El Tahillio - Benaoján: About 100yds further on from Juan’s Bar, down the same street, set up on a ramp on the right. A great tapas bar with super food. Friendly, lively and owner Jose-Maria can produce a menu in English if you ask for one. We spend a lot of time sat outside this one!

Bar Encuentro - Benaoján: Next to the fountain/roundabout at the bottom of the main street. Good basic tapas.

Bar Stop- Benaoján Estación: On the right hand corner opposite the station down in the ‘Station’ area below the village. More of a restaurant than a bar, this is very popular and has a large outside patio as well as an air-conditioned interior. Great food, simply prepared and well priced.

Venta Cueva del Gato: A ‘Venta’ is a family run roadside restaurant. This one is about a mile outside the village, on the left, on the road towards Ronda (it’s a white pained building set back from the road accessed through a set of gates). Again really great local food, good wines and great value prices.

Bar El Patio - Montejaque: Montejaque is the next village up the hill from Benaoján (about 2km). Bar El Patio has (as the name would suggest) a super patio presided over by a large palm tree. The restaurant is located on the right as you go up the main street of Montejaque heading towards the town Square. Great local food and a nice environment in which to ‘chill’.

Hotel Palacete de Mañara - Montejaque: A beautiful old hotel forming one side of the main Square in Montejaque, the next village up the hill from Benaojan (about 2Km). Run by British couple Maxine and Bill, it has a nice, intimate bar and restaurant and you can also dine outside in their beautiful courtyard. Maxine’s food is lovely! Reservations: 0034 952 167 252.

Hotel Molino de Cuatro Paradas: A lovely converted mill beside the river just outside Benaoján on the left of the Ronda road (just before the Venta above). Owned by Philip Cornes, another Brit, the hotel has a nice restaurant and a beautiful dining terrace beside the river. Very peacefull and great food. Reservations: 0034 952 167 200.

Food is important to the local Spanish. It is something to take one’s time over and wine with a meal is almost mandatory! The local style is very much based upon using fine ingredients, cooked very simply. The mountains around Ronda and Benaoján are famous for their pork products, especially Serrano Ham and Chorizo Sausage (the best comes from the small black pigs that run free-range under the cork oak trees in the mountains snuffling for acorns), so trying the various pork dishes is a must for those carnivores among us! Soups, stews, rabbit, lamb and goat are also local specialities and, as this is Spain, there is always a super variety of fish on offer.