Las Gitanillas in Estepona: Traditional cuisine

Paco Bazán began his career at about the same time as he got his milk teeth, behind a bar in a neighbourhood of Estepona, San Isidro, where his parents had a restaurant. Here they used to feed the workers in the 70s and it was in this place where he started to learn the trade both in the dining room and in the kitchen. Later he opened his own restaurant, Paula, in Avenida de Andalucía and in 2004 he moved to the centre of the town, opening this family restaurant, as his daughter Gema is responsible for the dining room and his son Javier, for the wine cellar. Since then Las Gitanillas has become a reference point for Estepona's cuisine, especially for the locals.

Javier has understood, after his time in other places, the importance of having a good and diverse wine list at reasonable prices. Today, in addition to a very traditional menu where there is hardly any room for new elaborations or fusion cuisine, it is possible to pair our dishes with unusual wines that go beyond the traditional.

The cuisine on offer starts with one of the dishes listed in the 'garden' section, such as grilled avocado with pipirrana and mustard mayonnaise, perhaps the most contemporary dish on the menu. In the starters 'to share' you can't miss one of the most typical products of Estepona, octopus, which Paco prepares roasted and served with mashed potatoes and oil with paprika. And the seafood and fish from the Estepona fish market is very present, just as it was in the previous restaurant, Paula. I particularly prefer fried fish to grilled or baked fish for many reasons, but the main one is that this kitchen has a good technique when it comes to frying not very big fish.

In recent times, however, rice dishes have become classics on the menu, with the seafood one standing out above the black rice or the one with Iberian secreto (a cut of fatty pork) with boletus mushrooms. Las Gitanillas, in the heart of the city's gastronomic centre, also has a large and bright covered terrace in winter.

In this tuna tartar, where the flavour and texture of the avocado predominate above all else, we should not look for originality, but rather for correct execution and the freshness and quality of the product. A generous portion to share.

Years of experience in the kitchen of the patriarch and owner of the establishment make these anchovies, open and fried, an exceptional snack due to their crunchiness and juiciness at the same time. A lingering flavour due to their freshness.

Here, the attractiveness and size of the prawns work in its favour, as the salt baking is excessive and detracts not only from its juiciness, but also from its flavour. This seafood is much better lightly grilled.

The classics, that is, the Romans and Greeks, already defined this fish as the 'pheasant of the sea', a pity that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find wild. Las Gitanillas' fish is baked in the oven to perfection.