BAR RESTAURANTE ESPIGARES - ROLDAN

Yesterday I went out to lunch with a friend, but the places we were going to go to were shut so we decided to try somewhere new and what a little gem we found.

BAR RESTAURANTE ESPIGARES

Is in Roldan which is the Little market town close to La Torre Golf Resort, we were greeted by the owner Cayetano Espigares Machado and taken through to the dining area.

Cayetano speaks a little English and calls himself Gary to English people. There was no menu, he told us what was available for starters, mains and puddings. In Spanish and in English.
We decided to have a salad and some ham, while we waited for the starters, The wine was brought out in a carafe, and we suspect it was homemade, as was rather nice. The beer was brought out in an iced glass.

Then came the starter, which we had chosen Meatball consome. Cayetano came and added a splash of sherry to it!

Then came our mains, chicken and chips, and beef and chips (you had a choice of all meats to pick from.

Feeling a little bit full now, but who could resist pudding? we chose icecream.

Then came the coffees and a free aperitif on the house (lemon liquer).
We paid our bill, which was as follows:
Salad: 3.00
Ham: 4.00
Wine: 1.50
Pint beer: 2.25
2x consome meatballs: 4.00
1 beef and chips: 6.00
1 chicken and chips: 5.00
bread: 0.50
Pint beer: 2.25
2x icecream: 3.50
2 white coffees: 2.50
TOTAL:           34.50

The above picture is Cayetano and his bird on his shoulder, as you can see there is also a bar area serving tapas.
It is not fancy food just good home cooking. I will be going back over and over again, great service, great food, great price.
They are open everyday and night except Mondays, and during the week they do a menu of the day for 9 euros.

How to get there? If you are coming from La Torre Golf Resort, go out the bottom entrance, turn right and then on the next roundabout turn left into Roldan, at the traffic lights turn left and then turn right just after Cajamurcia, keep going, you will see the sports pavilion coming up on your left and on your right a spare peice of waste ground, park up there, as Espigares is just on the corner. Avenida Torre Pacheco 60, Roldan. 968588001.
Enjoy (I did)

UPDATE: I have now been back various times and each time have had a superb meal and service. We have tried homemade wine from a friend of Cayetano who only makes a few bottles from his vineyard. Every time I go back it is great. What makes this little gem of a place is the Service, which is Phenomenal, the home cooked food and the reasonable prices. You should definatly try it.

LA TROPICAL

The other day I nipped into one of my favourite restaurants for a spot of tapas.
La Tropical.

This is the new one they have opened, the original one is down in Los Alcazares, but this one is on "the Boulevard" outside of the Mar Menor Golf Resort, on the road that goes from Torre Pacheco to Los Alcazares.

The outside does not do it justice, but on the inside its bright and modern, with a restaurant area

And then a bar area, the two are divided by a wall with glass units full of blue bottles

The service is always superb and has a great atmosphere and vibe in there.
We ordered the "tapas plate" where they bring you 4 tapas to share, you can choose, but we asked him to bring the 4 tapas he thought were the best, and this is what we got.

And I must say all were rather delicious, washed down with a couple of sprites and a sangria, came to 18.00 euros. We also got to try a sample of the speciality of the house ...

I know it looks a little frightening, but it was very yummy, and is black rice with cuttlefish (arroz negro con sepia) The rice is black as they use the ink from either cuttlefish or squid to colour it black!

The bar is laden with lots of different tapas .

All in all I couldn´t reccomend this place highly enough. And if you are ever in Los Alcazares, try there one there too, this is down the road to the side of the Townhall that leads to the beach.