Restaurante El Mesón Despeñaperros — Restaurant in Santa Elena

Land of Oz

Driving down from Madrid to Malaga in the Spanish summer heat, middle of July. The asphalt is melting from the massive heat, still 300 km to go until the shore. At the back suddenly, the kids are screaming: Mama, we are hungry.

I am telling my wife let’s pull over at the next Repsol, stuff them with some hot dogs, let’s get this done quickly. She tells me to chill out: we are in deep Spain, we will surely not eat gas station junk for lunch, let’s eat proper.

She is spotting this place on the web: El Mesón Despeñaperros. Ok: exiting highway A4 at the nice Andalusian village of Santa Elena. Entering the village: everything is quiet, window shutters are closed, not a soul anywhere. The streets are empty like New York after the attack of the zombies. This is not surprising though, 2:00PM Tuesday, siesta time.

And there she is: Restaurante El Mesón Despeñaperros.

From the outside a structure from the 60’s with no sign of human life. Before getting my family out of the car, I even went inside to ask whether they are open as from the outside it was little to see. Going through the main hall suddenly something very surprising happens: It opens up a top-notch restaurant establishment with fully and on high level renovated seating area. The personnel dressed up in well ironed white shirts, welcomes us nicely, we get the best table with views on the valley. Where am I, in the world of Oz?

We order the food, entrecote, meat balls, salad and the menu for the kids. The food is ready unrealistically fast. Eventually we are at a road house, so this is how it should be for stop-by travelers.

The food is delicious, keeping up with prime-time downtown restaurants, has nothing to do with roadhouse burger. In the toilet, design Italian tiles on the wall, everything is fancy to the limit. One of the 'camareras' is fully tattooed with blue hair: she is super nice, but her look is also keeping us in this magic world.

Final surprise, the bill: not cheap, but for the order we took, and for the place, absolutely...

What a wonderful place to stay the night. We cycled in from a long day in the heat to find this veritable oasis. Right from the initial greeting everything about El Mesón demonstrated a real care for their guests. The hotel is by no means me but is very well kept and clean. It has a homely feel and nothing was too much trouble. The restaurant is in a totally different league! To begin, its aspect, overlooking the mountains is nothing short of spectacular. Add to this modern, clean and comfortable decor, masses of light and air, a menu beyond any I've seen in many years in Spain, and you've something really special. Wild boar cannelloni? Really? Order it on my recommendation and you'll be glad you did. Chef also boasted that his cheesecake was "El Mejor del Mundo", as he tried to persuade me to hook just one more course. Given all of us were fully satiated already he did a deal. Take one portion and if it's not the best you have ever tried it won't be on the bill. We paid. It was the finest baked cheesecake I've eaten. Indeed, the meal itself was one of the best I have ever eaten in Spain. The four of us each are three courses, added winners and beers etc and felt we'd had excellent value, at around €50 a head. Thank you El Mesón, you all made our one night in Despeñaperros...

This property doesn’t look like much from the outside. To be honest, we were, at first, a little sceptical about our booking. We arrived late and were checked-in by a friendly staff member. We went to our room. It was perfectly adequate and very clean. There were mineral water bottles provided and a complete shower set with toothbrushes and other items. It was a very comfortable room and hygienic. In the morning, we attended for breakfast downstairs (breakfast is at no additional cost). We were served tea, coffee, croissants, toast, freshly squeezed orange juice and the children had hot chocolate. It was a very satisfactory breakfast in a very nice dining area with real log burning fire. Again, the staff member was perfectly courteous and friendly. When we paid our bill and checked out, we realised that, of all the hotels we have experienced in Spain, this has been the best value for money. For the price, the quality of the room, facilities, breakfast, service is all very good. We would certainly book this hotel again. This place is...