Marimar - Manilva

The restaurant was a good front sea location with a menu of both fish, salads or meat. We had starters shared and whole fish and also pork bbq. read more The restaurant was a good front sea location with a menu of both fish, salads or meat. We had starters shared and whole fish and also pork bbq.

I assume the restaurant referred to is Marymar on the sea front at Sabinillas. Firstly, it's great on a summer's evening to eat in the fresh air looking out thr... read more I assume the restaurant referred to is Marymar on the sea front at Sabinillas. Firstly, it's great on a summer's evening to eat in the fresh air looking out through the palm trees to the sea. Secondly, the restaurant when we were there had more Spanish clients than foreigners, usually a good sign. Thirdly, the food is quite decent and reasonably priced for a beach side terrace in summer. Our first course was Monkfish soup, which was basically a fish soup with bits of monkfish in it. The soup was fine and I'd have enjoyed it more without the thin slices of monkfish which added nothing to taste or texture. Then we shared some cold tuna in tomato, which was very tasty. We then both had a good helping of sardines, grilled on the beach just across the promenade on an open fire. Sardines were fine and, exceptionally for Andalucia, not over salted. For dessert my partner had flan while I had flan with figs, which I found excellent. With bread and butter, a pint of beer and a tonic water, the bill came to 50€. Service is erratic, sometimes humourless, sometimes with a slightly idiosyncratic sense of humour, and we eventually had to go inside to get the bill, in spite of new clients waiting to grab our table (at 11.15pm! . Would definitely return in the summer months as we really enjoyed both the food and seeing the locals on their evening stroll, while the guy grilling the sardines on the beach always had a small audience of local males with nothing better to do! Restaurant is crowded in season, but since you're outside that didn't seem to matter.