04 Jun Eating tapas in Ronda and Setenil de las Bodegas
I spent three days in Ronda and I spent these days walking around Ronda, catching the Semana Santa processions, travelling to Setenil de Las Bodegas and why not eating.
From the start, even before I start my article, I will state that I enjoyed food in Ronda. After the disappointment in Cordoba it felt like a breath of fresh air, a return to traditional tapas, a return to good food.
Down below I will list the places where I ate in Ronda plus one meal I enjoyed in Setenil de las Bodegas then I will write a few words about each of them including the prices and photos as usual:
- El Lechuguita for one meal in Ronda
- La Taberna for two meals in Ronda
- Bodeguita el Coto for one meal in Ronda
- Bar la Escueva for one meal in Setenil de las Bodegas
I will start first with the places in Ronda because I really did pack more food in them regardless if I only ate one meal or more and in the end I will talk a bit about the place in Setenil de las Bodegas.
- El Lechuguita-873 reviews on Trip Advisor-16th of 252 restaurants in Ronda
When I think El Lechuguita I think of two things. Great food and madness inside. I can honestly say I never in my life ate in a busier place. The bar is small and the crowds are large. I managed to secure a spot at the end of the bar, next to the toilet door and believe me this was a top spot considering many people have their plates in their hands and eat back to back with others.
Besides the good food the prices are really low and here I seen tapas starting from 0.80 eur so this is also a good reason to spend some time here even if you don’t enjoy busy places. As you can see from my pictures I ate quite a lot of things, drank a beer and paid 8 eur so in terms of quality/price this place is great.
El Lechuguita deserves a look even if you don’t reach the bar to order food. It is a place that is never quiet, filled with laughter and joy, food everywhere and great prices for those on a budget.
Even though they are amongst the priciest things on the menu I can honestly advise you to try the shrimps. At 3 eur per portion they are a great addition to anything you might order.
- La Taberna-1056 reviews on Trip Advisor-17th of 252 restaurants in Ronda
Being Semana Santa I found the schedule of the restaurants a bit difficult. These places do have certain hours in which they operate or certain days in which they don’t but I think that because of The Holy Week this was amplified. So when I wanted to try another meal at El Lechuguita the next day I found it closed so I went looking for another place.
That’s how I ended up at La Taberna, where I ate not once but twice, the second time again due to another restaurant being closed.
La Taberna is not big. I think it is actually a little smaller than El Lechuguita and even though it is always full it does lack the madness that is present at El Lechuguita.
Also, as I forgot to tell this above, the staff is very OK. I really enjoyed them in both locations despite the fact that it was always busy when I ate.
The food is good and I can fully recommend it. Yes, the prices are just a bit above El Lechuguita but frankly if you have problems with extra busy then paying 2-3 eur extra is worth it.
As you can see from the pics I have tried a lot of things, my goal here and my goal in each place I ate being to taste/sample as many different dishes as I could. Of course without getting sick from all that food.
Unfortunately, even though I ate two times here, when searching for pictures for this place I only found from one day. I am pretty sure I didn’t delete any picture but as luck has it I can’t find them.
LE: found them and updated the article.
- Bodeguita el Coto-248 reviews on Trip Advisor- 25th of 252 restaurants in Ronda
I must confess this place along with El Lechuguita were on my list from the start. I did some research on the internet and both places appeared well on searches so I was eager to try them.
I ended up eating at El Lechuguita because Bodeguita el Coto was closed and I only managed to eat here on my second night and I was lucky since on my third night (The first day of Easter) most places were closed.
As you probably expected this place is not big. About the size of La Taberna but even more quiet. It is such a strong contrast between this place and El Lechuguita which is situated only a few meters on the other side of the street. Yes, this place was full also but it was quieter, more relaxed, more couples inside.
The staff is also great and in this place I tried eating snails for the first time ever. Seeing they were in such demand from others at the tables I ordered a small tapa myself and finished it quickly. Not eating snails before I can’t really compare them to anything. I found them OK but not so special to order them a second time.
The rest of the food was good and I did enjoyed it, taking my time to eat, letting the night fall so I could go outside and use my tripod for night pictures in Ronda.
The prices are very low here also (most tapas are priced around 1 Eur) so from this point of view Ronda offers not only quality but also great prices for the food.
So this concludes my eating experience in Ronda. All I can say is that I really enjoyed my meals here. I did not found a thing I disliked and I think this town’s tried restaurants offer a very good quality/price balance.
- Bar la Escueva-244 reviews on Trip Advisor- 2nd of 19 restaurants in Setenil
Saturday morning getting up late I hoped on a taxi and for 29 euro(tip included) I reached Setenil de las Bodegas. I won’t dwell on this little place too much because I am planning to write an article at the end of the series mentioning all those places I found wonderful in my trip.
However I will stop and write a short review for Bar la Escueva, a place I took a small meal in on a busy Saturday week.
The bar is big, well at least comparing to those from Ronda and I can honestly say that I think it is about the same size as all three places I tried in Ronda. Plus a couple of tables outside so yes, it is big.
The prices are a bit higher than in Ronda but even though I ate just a small meal I can honestly say that the food was good.
The liver pate, the bread and jamon blended wonderfully and this was one of the nicest surprises from my trip even though it was just a simple, small meal.
So there you have it. Four places in two towns.
Next article will focus on my accommodation in Granada and I hope you’re looking forward to it.