| RESTAURANTS
The town is full of great old bars, the most charismatic is right behind
our house, it’s the Pena Flamenco and is marked
on the map of town we gave you. The bar and restaurant at the new Hotel
Casa de Califa on the square is great looking and atmospheric
in a garden. The Morroccan food is quite good. The bar in La Juderia,
just under the arch from our house has great views from the terrace upstairs.
(the food can be changeable, but a good view). There
is a wonderful garden bar next door to the convent which is in our street;
this has a lovely view, but is only open in the summer months.
The best restaurant in Vejer is Trafalgar on the main
square. You can eat snacks outside or full meals inside. It's owned by
a guy from Madrid and therefore is a bit cooler and more modern than most
local places, although a little more expensive.
Another modern restaurant is Vera Cruz, just down the
hill to the right from our house on Calle Eduardo Shelly (Tel 956 45 16
8300 French chef, upmarket but not too expensive. The french chefhas also
opened a more informal restaurant just before the arch on your way down
to Trafalgar Square. There are tables and chairs outside in the street.
There's an amazingly good Italian pizza place La Posta
(649 67 92 80) on Calle Juan Bueno. Go through the scenic arch, turn left
down the narrow alley, then through the walled gate and right again -
its 50 yards down the hill. It's tiny so you may have to book or wait,
but there's a lovely little internal courtyard you may miss. It’s
closed on Mondays or Tuesdays. For take away Pizza you have to go to the
Pizzeria by the food market, it’s also pretty good.
For good tapas in town, try La Posada which is on the
hill coming into town, just before the supermarket. In summer you can
sit opposite the restaurant on the other side of the road.
The best restaurants though are all a little out of town. The two most
special ones are in a beautiful little hamlet called Santa Lucia. It's
about a five minute drive, down to the very bottom of the hill on the
main road. When you get to the N340 (main road) you head right, in the
direction of Algeciras. After aprox half a mile, maybe less, you pass
a big furniture store on your left, and soon after there's a tiny secluded
turning on the left, with a sign saying Camping Los Molinos. It's very
easy to miss, if you see the turning for Medina Sidonia you've gone too
far. Anyway take the tiny left, past the electricity generating thingy,
before you hit a tiny hamlet with one bar, Antonio's, one church, lots
of flowers and two great outdoor restaurants. One is called La
Tajea (tel 956 44 71 42) and is best for fish. The other Castilleria
(tel 956 451 497) does wonderful meat on an open grill and is incredibly
atmospheric. You may need to book esp at weekends for dinner, but they
are worth it and worth the strange drive, you'll love them.
If you want to eat by the sea, which you should, there's three great options.
Closest is Hostal Casa Francisco at El Palmar. Fantastic fish right on
this wonderfully bedraggled beach. Just go to the bottom of town on the
main road and El Palmar is sign-posted, it's a beautiful ten minute drive.
At the far left hand side of the beach past casa francisco, there is a
lovely restaurant with a garden facing the sea, called La Chanca.
It is a lovely old converted stables, tel 659 977420.
Barbate is probably two minutes further, heading in the other direction
along the N340 when it's signposted to the right. Head for the beachfront.
There is a great fish restaurant, Bar Nani, on the front,
which is now also a hotel. It is about half way down the strip, just before
the book stands. It's much more bustling, lots of noisy Spanish families
but great fun. There is also a specialist tuna restaurant in one of the
squares behind the sea front. There a bunch of business cards left on
the dining table, which have full addresses and tel no’s. There
is also a specialist tuna restaurant in one of the squares behind the
sea front. When you drive into Barbate, take a right of the main road,
just before the sea front. I think there is a roundabout with a sign with
a fisherman; the restaurant is in avenida de la constitucion and called
El Campero. They do a speciality of raw marinated tuna
sushi. Tel 956 432 300.
In Conil, about 15 minutes on the N340 direction Cadiz, there are two
great places where you actually eat on the sand. One is called La
Fontanilla (tel 956 440 779) You may need to book to get one
of the tables outside on the beach at weekends. Just head to Conil then
follow the signs for Hotel Fuerte Conil to the far end of the beach then
head down and park by the sand where you'll see La Fontanilla. This is
very recommended. The other restaurants are at the opposite end of the
beach, so instead of turning left towards the Hotel Fuerte Conil, turn
right, and head for the seafront.
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