Melilla Restaurants

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This restaurant is also a bar/cafe in the early part of the day, and to be honest the main restaurant at the back isn't largely populated most of the time due to the perceived high prices here. Having said that however, the portion sizes are incredible! The starters should really be treated as a sharing platter rather than as dishes for one, and the main courses are so rich they should really be half the size, so value for money is definitely a word I'd use to describe it! The waiter really knows what he is talking about and isn't afraid to make suggestions to help make your night a memorable one! I suggest you trust him and go with the flow ;)

Favorite Dish: Starter...Carpaccio of beef with balsamic vinegar dressing and black truffles. Rich but light as air at the same time. Main course...loin of pork with a pyramid of mature cheese and caremelised apple. The steak is also amazing though.

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This place is a gem in Melilla! An almost French inspired tapas bar/restaurant with an emphasis on wine which feels like a welcoming family home. Air conditioned inside, with temperature controlled wine cabinets and legs of jamon Iberico hanging all around, this is where you'll find locals keeping out of the afternoon heat during the early part of the day. Then when they open again for the evening the tables outside provide a fantastic place to watch the world go by. Many people in Melilla seem to eat tapas when they go out as Melilla is one of the few places where tapas is still free with drinks, so full meals are neither essential nor desired. However, if you do want a meal, this is a superb place to come! The food is simple but beautifully cooked with care and passion and served in an informal setting.

Favorite Dish: We had one full meal here...I had pork, Rob had steak, both dishes were moist and juicy, not trying too hard, perfectly seasoned and full of flavour. Rob's steak came with chunky home cooked chips, made from potatoes, not skinny frozen fries as so many restaurants seem to resort to.

For tapas, the tortilla patatas is the house speciality...deep and thick and comes served like a huge slice of cake with a hunk of bread on the side. At the weekend there is a fantastic favourful paella on the tapas menu, and at all times the ever present smoked Jamon Iberico which seems to define the interior of the bar is most definitely the best I've had in Melilla, if not anywhere! Served as a sharing plate on the raciones menu, or on hunks of bread for tapas, it's woody smokiness goes down beautifully with a glass of red wine.

Melilla's gastronomy, based on the exceptional fish and shellfish from nearby waters, is in essence Andalusian but with interesting Moroccan overtones. But you can't forget that you are in Spain, and so, the city is filled with tapas bars.

Some good tapas bars are:
Bar Capri, C/ Castelar nº 15
Bar Aragon, C/ Alvaro Bazan nº 25
Bar El Ventorrillo, C/ Andalucia nº 4
Bar Málaga, C/ La Legión nº 30
Bar Piscis, C/ Lopez Moreno nº 3
Barbacoa La Muralla, C/ Mirador de Florentina s/n
Bar El Caracol Moderno, C/ Lopez Moreno nº 16