La Bottega Food & Wine — Restaurant in Nerja

This was the last restaurant we visited on a 2 week trip of Andalucia from the Cordoba region down to the Malaga region and have to say, this was the best restaurant we visited on the trip. The restaurant is well presented in a lovely location and staff were incredibly friendly and attentive from the start to finish.

For starters, I had the prawn/fish croquettes which were excellent. I've tried a few that tend to be a little over fried but these were lovely, each one sitting on a dollop of nice black olive mayonnaise. Other starters on the table were Prawn Pil Pil that my wife had. The sauce was fantastic with this. Calamari, which I didn't try as I'm not a fan but was told it was nice by my son. Pio Pio which my daughter had which is breadcrumbed chicken and tasted nice.

Whilst waiting for starters, we were also given some tasty goats cream cheese and what i think was peach marmalade in pastry canapés.

Myself and my daughter chose the Duck Tagliatelle from their daily specials for my main course. This was wonderful. I've not had duck in pasta before but would thoroughly recommend this if it appears on the specials menu again. The pasta was cooked to perfection and the duck was mixed in with a lovely, light sauce. My daughter also loved this. Other mains were the Wagyu beef burger that my son had with bacon and cheese. He had this well done and was a good size burger accompanied by some roasted new potatoes and salad. I tried a bite and was beautifully cooked. I'd have picked this myself had I not seen the Duck Tagliatelle. My wife had the Vongolle E Bottarga which she says was also delicious. I'm not a fan of selfish like that so did not try it.

Desert finished with the Tiramisu for myself and my wife and a Cappuccino. The Tiramisu was well balanced, not being drenched in alcohol in the bottom like I've had at places in the past. I had the Cappuccino as I've struggled to find what I'd consider decent coffee on my travels although this may just be down to being unlucky. This was a decent coffee thankfully. Both kids went for the chocolate fondant served with a scoop of ice cream and both assured me it was excellent.

I would recommend booking. We booked 3 days early and could only get in for 18:00 as all other times were booked. I thought prices reflected the food and service quality and I've still paid more in London for a meal out. £154 for a family of 4, kids being Teenagers with 3 courses and a few drinks.

Excellent restaurant on the whole and will make a point of visiting again...

La Bottega is a wonderful place for high quality Italian food in Nerja.

Having booked a table, we were seated as soon as we arrived and the service was very attentive. Our amuse boche was a small bowl of Crema de patatas, puerro, espinacas, picatostes y pimienta negra – very nice, a lot of flavour and a nice way to start the meal.

For starters I went with Guzzetto di Pesce: Cazuelita de pescado y mariscos en salsa de tomate – this felt more Spanish than Italian in inception with mejillones, almejas, berberechos, gambas y varios pescados served in an intense tomato sauce. Served with two large bits of garlic bread it was filling and tasty, wonderful.

My partner went with Ensalada Tropical: Canónigos, mango, tomate cherry, gambas y aguacate con vinagreta tropical – there were lots of gambas and even with the fruit it was not over sweet, they warned him it was very big, but it gave him no trouble at all, very tasty.

For my mains I went with the dish that I remembered from last year, there were other nice things to have, but this had so stayed in my mind that I thought I’d treat myself. It was Pollo "Picanton" al horno con limón y romero con patatas al horno y ensalada y ratatouille de verduras – all I can say is that all that was left at the end was the stick of rosemary, the peel of the lemon and the bones of the chicken, everything else was consumed, a real delight.

My partner opted for Penne Arrabiata con salsa de tomate, ajo y guindilla, the el dente pasta was perfect for him, the sauce was spicy – not as much chilli as we’d use at home, but still spicier than most things he has had while in Spain.

We finished with El selección de quesos italianos para dos – This really was a two person cheese dish. I’ve been other places when I could happily consume all that is offered for two, but not this, in addition to the cheeses there was pera, fresas, nueces, hojas de ensalada, chutney de mango y miel. The cheeses were Gorgonzola, mozzarella, pecorino sardo, baronerosso di capra y parmigiano reggiano – all tasty chesses, I thought mozzarella is a strange choice for a cheese board, but the others were perfect, the gorgonzola was as smelly and tangy on the tongue as it is possible to be – excellent.

I know I try eating mainly Spanish food when in Spain, but the food here is so good I am willing to make...

Everything was great!

Without a doubt the best meal we had in Nerja, I only wish we'd tried it earlier so we could have gone again.

We went at lunchtime in March without a reservation and were seated straight away, imagine as we get into the summer a reservation will be needed, but that is with good reason! You can book on their website.

Fantastic service from all the wait staff.

I was also a big fan of the size of the menu - small enough to fit on one page but still lots of choice. Lots of places seem to think they need 10 pages of options so it was nice to not have to spend an age choosing.

Food and drink were all great: a breaded fried olive thing which was brought out as an appetizer - not usually a fan of olives but it was really nice! pil pil prawns to start - great, with bread for mopping up all the sauce the wild boar pasta was incredible salmon fillet cooked to perfection the olive oil on the table was amazing?? tiramisu - the tiramisu!!! I have never tried a tiramisu that I liked - until now. My partner ordered and I tried some, if we went back I would be ordering one for myself which I never thought I would say. Trust me, try it. mango Panna cotta was also amazing, especially in the heat best mojito I had in Nerja, great espresso martini, refreshing g&t and a shot of limoncello each with the bill, which was 85 euros for reference, and well worth it. (1 starter, 2 mains, 2 desserts, 3 alcoholic drinks, large mineral water)

What's...