In keeping with my thought that most of my writings from Spain this year will be about “absolutely nothing at all” i.e. just the mundane day-to-day aspects of living here on the Costa. What could be more mundane and day-to-day than eating?
I had it in my mind that I would write about different restaurants that we are trying out here in Marbella. I did that last year while we were in Nerja and that appealed to many readers.
We have a bit of a restaurant plan this year in that we decided on an unofficial rule whereby we would go and have lunch in at least one restaurant a week. And generally, we have stuck to that. So, this will be my first report to that effect. Our lunch outing to “Chiringuito Basilio Beach” restaurant. For the record, the lunch took place on February 20, 2024. Most of the photos are from that day, a couple are from a few days later, and two or three were from a visit in 2022.
You really should not consider this post or any of my others about restaurants as “reviews”. They are simply the places to which we choose to go and eat, probably more because of their location than online reviews… which I never look for… Or suggestions from other diners. I will tell you if I liked the food or the experience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I think you should rush there. Everyone has their own ideas about these matters.
Lunch Outing With the “Wayward Friendly Travellers”
Chiringuito Basilio Beach is one of several restaurants that sit right down on the beach all clustered together here in Marbella. For the record, the word Chiringuito means “beach bar”.
This particular lunch outing was more about sitting right down on the beach to have lunch than going and searching for a particular “best choice” restaurant. I would say that this restaurant chose us more than we chose it.
Long-time friends of the Love-goddess from when they all lived in London Ontario, Mr. and Mrs. “Wayward Friendly Travellers”, rented an apartment down the street from us in Marbella for a couple of weeks, and we really enjoyed showing them around. So, this particular lunch outing was all about providing them with a beach dining experience.
Mrs. Traveller was a colleague of the Love-goddess, and the Wayward Friendly Travellers and the Love-goddess ended up moving to the city in which we now live around the same time – just before I came on the scene many years ago. In an interesting bit of high school trivia, Mr. Traveller taught my sister before he found his true calling in the church. Did having to teach my sister factor into that… hmmmmm?
Most of the restaurants and bars that are down on the waterfront do not sit right down on the beach. Most have the Paseo between them and the coast.
We headed to a small line of restaurants that sit together on the water side of the Paseo. They are pictured here with the awnings down on a bright sunny day. You enter through a common entrance on both the east and west sides.
2022 Photo – They are so interconnected that you walk through each of them to get to any other restaurant. The Love-goddess rushed ahead in search of a suitable table.
On this day we entered at the west end. There are normally a few greeters on the upper-level attempting to lure you down to their restaurant. On this day, there was only this gentleman representing the Basilio restaurant.
He escorted us down to the restaurant… To make sure we didn’t just tuck into one of the others along the way… But there was a reward at the end. We got these certificates for a complimentary glass of wine or sangria.
The first restaurant at the West End of the grouping.
2022 Photo – And here we go, down the stairs and into the… Tunnel???
2022 Photo – As you can see it’s a preferred spot to dine.
And here we are, perched right on the side of the beach waiting for our complimentary drinks. 🙂
A couple of things in this photo. First, you can see that the owners have thrown a sheet of green Astroturf down on the sand and set up some tables. Several people were sitting down there having a bite or a drink. And as you can see, some of them are even in their bathing suits. Restaurants are very flexible on the Costa del Sol about dress code. 🙂
The second thing to note is, if they give you a menu with pictures and the name of the dish in four or five different languages at a restaurant it’s usually a warning sign. Not so in this case, fortunately.
This is one of the interesting features of most of the restaurants along the whole Costa del Sol that sit directly on the beach. They have these raised aluminium “boats” in which they cook some of the dishes over a woodburning fire. On the right, sardines, a favoured dish in the region.
And there are the sardines! I ordered a plate for everyone at the table to try. These are not like the sardines we get in cans in Canada. The only thing I can think of that was comparable to these small fish is that when I was growing up netting small smelt was very popular in the spring.
Going through some of the dishes we ordered. The Love-goddess ordered these tasty shrimp pancakes.
Mrs. Traveller ordered melt-in-your-mouth eggplant coated in a tempura batter.
I ordered my regular starter… Clams. They are tiny but very tasty. The first time I had these was in a restaurant in Barcelona in 1975… but I am dating myself. 🙂 Mr. Traveller ordered fried calamari to start. Not the most photogenic dish so it did not make the cut here.
La piece de la resistance! We ordered a paella for two which we knew would be sufficient for the four of us after consuming our appetizers.
Yes. Sir! I. Want. Me. Some. Of. That!
At 2:34 PM nicely into the lunch hour, the place is filling up. There is always a mixture of visitors from afar and locals in these restaurants. They certainly cater to tourists, but often they are filled with locals… Everyone loves dining on the beach.
The total for the four of us. The paella was far away the most expensive thing that was ordered.
On our way to exit at the East End. Basilio is a family-run business, and this woman is the matriarch. As you can see, she is busy at work trying to convince people to come in and eat at her restaurant. With several restaurants accessible, everybody works hard at trying to get potential diners to sit at their tables.
Exiting at the East End, the first restaurant here is undergoing a major renovation.
Back up on the Paseo you can see the awnings covering the kitchens of the whole line of restaurants as we walk westward.
Looking down into the Basilio. You gotta love a restaurant that has a palm tree in the middle of it. 🙂
It is such a beautiful lazy day that even the street vendors aren’t working terribly hard at trying to convince people to buy their luxury brand knockoffs.
The Love-goddess and the “Wayward Friendly Travellers” are leaving me in their dust. Time to get moving! As you can see, many restaurants sit on the built-up side of the Paseo.
