Molino Del Santo

The terrace here is a delight; a myriad of flowering pot plants provide colour and it overlooks the gushing mill stream as it tumbles over the weir next to the hotel providing a mesmerising view and background music better than any ‘piped muzak’. The food is local, fresh and beautifully cooked and presented. We ate from the monthly menu, which as it’s name suggests changes monthly. At €29 it is a real bargain and consists of bread, appetiser, and three choices for each course. There was a choice of 6 or7 different home made breads and we chose an onion one and a cheese one. This was followed by an appetiser of gazpacho in little cubic glasses. It was the real thing, thick and creamy in texture, made properly, with stale bread and the correct amount of vinegar - lovely. We had starters of chicken liver pate with green olive chutney and walnut bread toast. The chutney of thinly sliced green olives was nicely tangy and complimented the pate but the pate was still a little too chilled and I would have appreciated a bit more toast than one small slice quartered. The local green asparagus and smoked trout salad was presented in a lovely white bowl really setting off the colours of the dish. On a personal note my wife would have preferred a little less leaves and a couple more slivers of the perfectly smoked trout. For main course the lamb shank with herbs and local honey was superbly done, crispy caramelised on the outside and fall apart tender in the centre, it was accompanied by baked potato with caper butter. The Sea Bream sat in a pool of almond and coconut sauce, not a combination that immediately springs to mind but it worked perfectly, it was topped with courgette ‘spaghetti’ and sweet, fresh baby tomatoes. For desert a rich bombon of chocolate and salted caramel mousse came with a shot glass of “Andresito” from Almargen. We have not encountered this before but think it is a great idea, this desert wine perfectly complimented the beautifully smooth mousse. The Apricots in saffron and cinnamon syrup with the thickest and creamiest yoghurt was also perfectly matched with “Senorio de Broches” a moscatel desert wine from Moclinejo in Malaga. There is a good wine list, and pleasing to see so many local wines. We had the house rosado which is Los Frutales Rosado 2015, organic, 100% merlot from the Bodega Joaquin Fernandez in Ronda and superb fruity value at €17. The service was very friendly and prompt from both head waiter and the others who served us. We thoroughly enjoyed our long lunch on the terrace at Molino del Santo and shall continue to return for great food in a beautiful environment.