Artevida - Full Menu

Super chilled bar with cabanas and a grassy area where you can botellon' if that's your thing. Fairly sheltered and good vibes courtesy of some nice loungey hou... read more Super chilled bar with cabanas and a grassy area where you can botellon' if that's your thing. Fairly sheltered and good vibes courtesy of some nice loungey house music. Also a hotel and good food, gets very busy at weekends during the season. It's hidden...from the road at los piños

. As it's a surf centre, you might not realise there's a great restaurant here, but we ate exceedingly well in the Arte Vida just outside Tarifa. This restauran... read more . As it's a surf centre, you might not realise there's a great restaurant here, but we ate exceedingly well in the Arte Vida just outside Tarifa. This restaurant is attached to the hotel Arte Vida, which is, by local reputation, a hang-out for ageing...hippies, mad about wind-surfing and kite-surfing, and who don't object to being over-charged for rather basic accommodation with no air-con. : Apologies to all the hotel clients who do not fit into this category! The restaurant, however, is very well regarded and DOES have air-con. Just as well, as the sort of customers who can afford their prices would not put up with a clammy Levante-wind dining experience. Not easy to find as not signposted. It is situated right on/above the Los Lances beach. Coming from Tarifa and driving west you come to the Hotel Dos Mares on your left, then immediately after that you turn off right into one of those neat little Cross the road turn-offs where then, by crossing straight across, you in fact turn left from the main road but without risking life and limb from the oncoming traffic. In high season you will be asked to pay parking you might like to give them a tip as well and drive to the end of a rough carpark hoping to find shade under the pine trees. The hotel and restaurant are in that gaudy bright blue building at the end. If you just turn up, you are unlikely to get a table in summer; ring beforehand and book, asking if possible for one by the windows. As it's part of a rather run-down star hotel, the prices could take you by surprise. Six of us paid nearly for a shared first course among the of tomato salad, croquetas and almejas (clams), followed by grilled fish, puds, waters and bottles of wine. Gulp! We already knew as had been before. The fish is displayed in a refrigerated cabinet by the door; you choose something and they weigh it there and then on the scales and tell you how much it will be. We bartered down slightly the per kilo price from to €, but we were six who clearly looked like big drinkers, and they expected to get their money back on that. : Nonetheless, the two fish we had between the six of us total weight over kilos came out at We agreed this price before it was taken off to be grilled, so there will not be nasty surprises from this. They always weigh it and tell you the price, and you can ask for something smaller or cheaper if you don't want to pay that much. We had a pargo a sort of red snapper and a moro negro. This is a fish local to the waters of the straits. Exquisite. Fabulous. Marvellous. Wonderful. Pass my dictionary . . . After lunch we meandered down to the beach again, then came back up and lolled around on their giant bean bags, sat in the shade having tea on their little lawned area, and generally had a great time. Other people were wind-surfing and kite-surfing, there were multi-lingual children running around, a great atmosphere. But the highlight was the fish . . . .