After the hike and lunch earlier in the day, I chilled at the Hotel Reina Victoria, and took the opportunity to take a dip in the pool and enjoy the therapeutic water circuit and get massages by the water jets. So by 8.30pm I was ready to head out and have dinner!
Tonight’s meal was in the neighbouring village of Arriate at the new restaurant ‘El Muelle de Arriate’. Continuing the historic railway theme, this restaurant is housed in a converted vintage railway warehouse along side Mr Henderson’s Railway.
Front of house is Frank, who established this restaurant just a year or so ago, but is attracting a great deal of interest in his menus. Like all the businesses selected by Toma Tours, Frank shares a genuine, compelling passion for local produce.
Interior of El Muelle © Toma Tours
We started the meal with:
- Local goat’s cheese with pink tomato and smoked salmon
The goat’s cheese was a hard cheese, artisan made in the Sierra de las Nieves. It’s a strong, tasty, slightly acidic cheese, perfectly balanced by the tomato and salmon.
Then we tried a shot glass of
- Cherry gazpacho with goats cheese
It was creamy, rich and slightly sweet.
After a salad of soft goat’s cheese we have a plate of Iberico meats.
Goat’s cheese salad © Toma Tours
Frank explained the different cuts, from the tasty and fatty ‘Secreto’ to the leaner ‘pluma’.
To finish things off, between us we polished off a selection of puddings from the menu.
This was a special evening, as it was a time for all of us in the group to celebrate our special days together hiking Mr Henderson’s Railway – it was an evening of fine foor, great company, laughter and even some poetry!
‘El Muelle de Arriate’ is a special place, but I can imagine that of the thousands of visitors that come to Ronda, few venture far from the town centre. Thanks for Toma Tours, we have been able to enjoy the ambiance and cuisine of this restaurant and it’s definitely going on my list of places worthy of a return visit.
Share this:
Leave a Reply