Cortijo Luidze — Restaurant in Estepona

I visited Luidze with friends on the third day after its opening — and unfortunately, I was left deeply disappointed. I’m Georgian, raised in a traditional family where real cuisine isn’t just food, but part of our culture and soul. What we were served at this establishment didn’t even remotely resemble authentic Georgian food. Laghidze? Don’t make me laugh. More like “chemicals with ice.” They brought us sickly sweet syrups with an artificial flavor, diluted with soda water. The aftertaste was so unpleasant we had to order an extra bottle of mineral water just to tone down this “potion” and make it somewhat drinkable. It felt like the owners had never even tasted real Laghidze water. Pkhali without a soul. They served us three tiny balls — one of each kind. No taste, no aroma. None of the traditional spices, just walnuts, which completely overpowered the already bland vegetable flavor. They didn’t bring the shotis puri that was listed on the menu. We had to remind them. When it finally arrived, the bread resembled pizza dough cut into strips. No taste, no texture of real shotis puri. The eggplant? Just plain sadness. "Spicy eggplant in Georgian sauce" turned out to be... flavorless. There was barely any sauce, just a bit of tomato liquid. No salt, no heat. The texture of the eggplant was strange, as if it had been boiled first and then deep-fried. Kharcho? More like rice porridge in broth. It tasted like plain rice cooked in store-bought broth, with an oily film on top. The meat seemed to have been boiled separately and just tossed into the bowl. No tomato, no meaty richness, no spices. This wasn’t kharcho, this was a mistake. Shashlik — restaurant price, school cafeteria taste. The portions were tiny. No flavor. The meat was just salty. The lyulya kebab had no spices at all, and the pork shashlik was absolutely bland. The sauce that was supposedly adjika or satsabeli turned out to be just tomato juice with cilantro. Watery, tasteless, and not even the slightest bit piquant. Megrelian khachapuri? No, just a soggy pie. Khachapuri Megrelian-style is known for its cheese crust on top. Ours came without it. When we asked if they had mixed up the order, they said they had “forgotten” the cheese. But even inside, the cheese was catastrophically lacking. Later, I ordered a khachapuri to-go — this time it had cheese on top, but it just melted the dough and turned it into a soggy mess. Everything leaked into the box and soaked through the packaging. The cardboard fell apart before I even got it home. We wanted to order a few more dishes, but were politely told they were out. For dessert, the only option was ice cream. And khinkali wasn’t available because “the machine was broken.” Final verdict: I won’t be coming back. And I won’t recommend it to anyone. For someone who truly knows what real Georgian cuisine should look and taste like — this place will be nothing but a disappointment. We were genuinely saddened....

As someone who was born and raised in Georgia, I was incredibly excited about new Georgian restaurant opening. While I understand that the restaurant is still new and settling in, I’m writing this review with the hope that it helps the team fine-tune a few key things to better reflect the beauty of Georgian food.

Let’s start with the shoti — or what was called shoti. Unfortunately, this bread looked and tasted more like pita, and was covered in too much flour. Shoti has a very specific shape, texture, and character, and this version missed the mark entirely. This is not shoti — and as a Georgian, I can say that confidently.

The Elarji was also disappointing. It was essentially a cheese dish with no real grit texture to it. Elarji is supposed to be a rich, stretchy mix of cornmeal and sulguni cheese, but this version lacked any cornmeal presence. I’ve never had a worse elarji in my life, sadly.

As for the Acharian Khachapuri, it was burnt — something I’ve truly never seen before.

The puff pastry khachapuri lacked cheese.

The “limonade” tasted nothing like a Georgian lemonade. If it was meant to be Laghidze water, then unfortunately it wasn’t close. The flavor was off, and it felt more like a generic sweet soda.

On the service side — every dish should come with the appropriate cutlery, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Also, the waitress didn’t seem familiar with the Georgian dish names or what they were, which made it harder to ask questions or clarify.

Another thing that really stood out: the menu. The dish names were either altered or translated in a way that made them confusing, even for someone who knows Georgian cuisine very well. I’d strongly recommend using the authentic names and simply adding clear English descriptions below. That way, both newcomers and native Georgians can understand what they’re ordering.

Finally, even the salad lacked that authentic Georgian touch — especially the flavor profile. It was missing salt and seasoning, making it feel more like a generic dish than something from a Georgian kitchen.

Overall: I’m incredibly happy and supportive of the idea behind this restaurant — it means a lot to have a piece of home in town. But the food and presentation need adjustments if it’s truly going to represent Georgia in the way it deserves. I’ll definitely come back and hope to see improvements, because Georgian cuisine has so much to offer, and I believe this place has the potential...

It really takes a certain type of skill to ruin such a rich and delicate cuisine. As a Georgian myself, I felt quite disgusted to see some of my favorite dishes completely butchered to the point of no recognition.

Let’s start with the most iconic dishes completely butchered - khachapuri. Not only is the name not even mentioned in the menu but its description makes it so confusing to understand what the dish even is. The dough is not the right one for khachapuri and there was a lack of cheese. You are basically eating pizza crust with no filling. This is not representative of the real thing!!! Do not waste your money.

The elarji was even more disappointing. Whilst the real thing is supposed to be stringy, this felt more like oatmeal mixed with cheese that was just splattered on a plate with no care in the world.

The Pkhali had a bitter taste meaning that the walnuts used had gone bad. Even gave my friend a stomach ache the next day…

Don’t even get me started on the meat. The beef Lula Kebab was completely dry, flavorless, bland, and over all, not good. Don’t even bother to wash off the taste of the meat with the Tkhemali sauce as it only made it worse. A generic, rundown, store bought version of what the authentic sauce is meant to be.

The waitress was below average as the waitress wasn’t even familiar with the dishes.

If you are looking for authentic Georgian cuisine and experience you are better off going somewhere else. Those that say this food is 10/10 are those that do not know what Georgian cuisine is meant to taste like or...