One of Marbella's best restaurants is La Venencia Restaurante y Bodega. Here you can try the best local paella (with corn, peppers, shrimp and mussels) and tapas - cold and hot appetizers (a dozen small plates with goat cheese, olives, lettuce, mussels, eggplant).
The Barrocco restaurant has excellent traditional Andalusian meat dishes and desserts, while the best selection of fish dishes, according to tourist reviews, is offered in Marbella's La Pesquera restaurant chain. At La Pesquera we recommend the fish a la sal (whole fish baked in a salt shell), pavías de bacalao (fried cod with red peppers), puntillitas (small fried calamari) and mojama (dried tuna with olives, tomatoes and almonds).
The Messina restaurant is famous for its traditional Andalusian dishes - it serves jamon raw pork ham and local wines.
A among the inexpensive restaurants in Marbella is La Huerta de Los Cristales on Avenida Nabeul, 25. Here you can try tortilla de patatas - fried potatoes with onions, eggs, ham or mushrooms, homemade cold soup salmorejo, croissants with jamon. The restaurant works from 7:00 and until the last visitor, so that breakfast with fresh pastries you are provided (most restaurants and cafes in Marbella opens at 12:00).
The café-bar El Estrecho offers classic Andalusian dishes and drinks, including the famous sherry. And if you order 10 EUR worth of San Miguel beer, you can get a huge platter of specialty appetizers as a gift.
One of Marbella's best cafés is the Ramon churreria on Orange Square in the center of the Old Town. It serves delicious churros doughnuts - you're supposed to dip them in hot chocolate and wash them down with coffee. However, prices in this Marbella café are high - expect to pay around 10-30 EUR per person.
Tip in Marbella is purely voluntary and optional, and it is customary to leave it depending on the situation. It is best to round up the final amount on the bill.
