malagueta | Azahar Tapas

el tres

A couple of years ago I visited the original El Tres location in Calle Strachan with a group of friends. We created our own tasting menu by ordering plates to share between the five of us, and it was most enjoyable. Then I heard that Grupo Gorki had taken over the landmark Antonio Martín location on Malagueta beach, with BA Japonés, El Merendero and El Tres taking up new residence. Couldn’t have been happier, because it’s a spectacular location and I hope Grupo Gorki will make it work. Not sure about the Japonese effort, but El Merendero is pretty good “gastrobar” fare, and El Tres is as wonderful as ever. Though I think to really appreciate the venue it’s best to go during the afternoon when you can enjoy the spectacular sea views.

I showed up at El Tres with a couple of die-hard foodie friends I’ve known for a few years: Angela and Mikel @polloyensalada. And we immediately decided the best course of action would be to share the tasting menus on offer. Because we all wanted to taste as much as we could, even if it was just one bite of something special. And the El Tres staff made this simple for us by dividing the two different tasting menus between the three of us (we ordered two “classics” and one “special”), so we could all have a bit of everything.

I have to say first off that both of the El Tres tasting menus are ridiculously good value, and the quality of the dishes is far and above my sad experience at Málaga’s only Michelin star restaurant. El Tres surpasses in other ways too. It all started off quite friendly and chatty, with our servers wanting to know what we were interested in… after that, it was like a ballet performance. I was so busy chatting with Angela and Mikel that it took awhile to notice that dishes kept appearing, without even noticing that the previous plates had been expertly whisked away. Wine glasses were topped up with impeccable timing, only when there was just a sip left, which was even more impressive given that the chilled bottle was not left at our table but… somewhere else. About half-way through our meal I started to click into all this… that everything was happening at a leisurely and comfortable pace, yet you felt like you were still being extremely well taken care of. The once or twice I had to turn my head to inquire about something a friendly server was at our table in an instant. Seamless service. Amazing food and wine. Great location. You know you want to do this.