Óleo Málaga: creativity and identity in the city centre

The reopening of Óleo in the heart of the Soho district in Malaga city has surely meant a before and after for this establishment, one of the most recommended fusion cuisine restaurants and also one of the most preferred by a mostly middle-aged public willing to experience new sensations of flavours and textures. The enlargement of the kitchen space is allowing both Sergio del Río and his partner Rui Junior to develop and experiment with new elaborations of a fusion cuisine that is very well established and in demand in this restaurant.

This new Óleo occupies an area of around 200 square metres and can seat 80 diners, a little less than the previous space in the Contemporary Art Centre, where it had been since its inception for nearly 13 years.

For the moment, and I really hope for a long time, the menu remains unchanged, although it has been enriched with some new dishes. Sergio and Rui form a gastronomic tandem that works with the precision of a Swiss watch. Rui with his sushi, classic and daring and Sergio fusing Asian and Malaga cuisine and investigating new proposals of flavours and textures based on traditional cuisine. Proposals such as Vietnamese rolls, crispier and thinner than the classic spring rolls, with Malaga suckling goat or a mackerel ceviche served on a half lime accompanied by a mild ginger vinaigrette, with soy and garlic, are interchanged with novelties such as the urumaki of oiled scallop or the deconstruction, although it would be correct to say the 'Peking duck in the style of Óleo'.

This is, without a doubt, one of the dishes on the menu that I found most interesting on my last visit to this restaurant. The idea of layering slices of duck breast over a hoisin sauce, milder than sweet and sour and perhaps less sweet, with vegetables and seaweed, is perfect, and the flavours are much milder than those of the classic Chinese dish.

The menu has undergone a change that is more easily appreciated by the clientele, precisely in its wines, with more varieties, more diversity of vintages and of course, maintaining very good prices. The waiter service, on the other hand, needs a little adjustment to keep up with the cuisine.

These patatas bravas with a mayonnaise foam have become one of the most iconic dishes of this house. Sergio is its author and although they are not the strictest bravas in terms of their original recipe, they are the tastiest in Malaga.

Rice at the right temperature to accompany scallop with sea urchin roe, steak tartar, wagyu flambé and tuna belly. Each niguiri has perfectly defined and balanced points of texture and heat.

This lemon fish tiradito is so closely linked to the culinary history of Óleo that it is another of those dishes that cannot be missed from the menu and continues to be one of the most requested by all the clientele. Subtlety and flavour in perfect balance in the mouth.

The fusion of Mediterranean and Asian is perfectly understandable in this new creation. A classic of Chinese cuisine is recreated in the style of Óleo with duck on a base of vegetables and seaweed and a hoisin sauce. A real success in terms of flavour.