Malvarosa is a relatively new challenger to the Portobello High Street. It brings tapas much closer to my house, and for that I thank Malvarosa. And indeed, I thank and praise it highly, for not only does it bring tapas closer, but it brings gooood tapas closer. The service last night was excellent, great banter with the guy front of house (Vegetarian? What kind of monster are you? I think in Spain, I might be burned as a witch (I jest, I jest . You are made to feel welcome, and not rushed, even when the restaurant were heaving, we were one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave, supping on tasty sangria and enjoying a good catchup. To the food the menu is quite small, but not i...
I have to admit, Tapas is never top of my list of food when choosing somewhere to go. I have nothing against Spanish food but I am always looking for something that will blow me away. There are so many great flavours there and great potential. I ended up at Malvarosa in an attempt to find somewhere to eat after a trip to Fort Kinnaird. It's a small place, with a nice family feel. You end up sitting pretty close to the kitchen. We went for 5 tapas dishes (and some bread) between two of us. We weren't hugely hungry but this seemed a good amount. Overall it was mixed bag; the chorizo bread (which we didn't order but ended up with) was quite cold, and some other bread was a bit hard for my likin...
Oooh, tapas in Portobello. Make it sunny, hit the beach, squint and it could be the Med with a bit of imagination. Having once considered moving here and discovering there was a proper tapas restaurant, I had been itching to try it. It came highly recommended by my office mate who had tipped me off about the gluten free options : Malvarosa is a lovely Spanish enclave in the heart of Portobello. With its cosy decor, Spanish chefs and the lovely Alvaro making you feel welcome, it makes visiting Portobello on a rainy day a great option. I loved the food lots of GF options, all highlighted in grey. Went for paella and tapas to share between 3 and there was tons of food. My own staple request tor...
I visited Malvarosa for the first time on Friday and it was a complete delight. It appears to be run by Spaniards. I booked my table by emailing them which always endears me to restauarants. They were very accommodating when I changed the number of people for my booking and then didn't chastise us when one of our party didn't turn up. It's also and this gets lots of brownie points in my book BYOB. £3 corkage. And they even brought us cava glasses for the cava. The food is fabulous. Principally tapas but imaginatively done. No chorizo in red wine here. They have chorizo with cider, the de rigeur patatas bravas but a less common potatoes with garlic dish and then a whole array of fish, flesh a...
Book a table now
Hmm where to start? Decided to go with a friend's recommendation and try Malvarosa for lunch with a couple of friends, all of us are Coeliac (gluten free) so can sometimes be a bit of a challenge for restaurants but there was smiles all round today when we were given a menu with all the gf options clearly marked, and I say all as there was plenty to choose from! A great variation of tapas dishes and judging by the smells welcoming you as you come in the door I'll definately be back to try out more.. But until then I can honestly say that the Tortilla Espagnol is the best I've had in Edinburgh! Traditional Spanish black pudding was fantasitc and the Paella was definately worth the wait... If...
Hmmm...all the staff in here just seem plain bored! And it really does translate into the food as I can only describe it as lacklustre. Everything we ordered craved to be dialled up a notch from the chorizo in cider where you could hardly depict any flavour to the haddock which was soggy. And to finish it off The churros were so so greasy and the sauce so bland that we left them (which is totally unlike me I can tell you! . As the only Spanish restaurant in the area I feel like they are serving whatever it is they can get away with. It's a shame really as the restaurant itself is romantic inside all it needs is some decent food. Spanish tapas is my favourite kind of food but unfortunately I...
The service here was great and the waiters were really friendly but the food was very bland and did not live up to expectations. Our food took a while to come out so they gave us a small appetizer for free. I was really excited to go here because of the great reviews and was disappointed with the chicken and prawn paella we ordered. The rice was extremely watery, the paella lacked any flavor whatsoever, and they only gave us two prawns although the dish was £26. Given the price of the meal, this was very underwhelming. Again, the staff was great but do not waste your money here or at least do not order the paella!
We've selected this place because of good reviews, but left disappointed in the end. I've ordered traditional garlic prawns Gambas, my wife had ordered calamari and Bravas potatoes, my daughter had fried Ali Oli potatoes. This was the first time when I've seen prawns cooked not in the oil, but in the water mixed with oil. It was pretty flavourless in the end. Potatoes for my daughter were served 5 10 min after our food. Calamari was good, but they've forgot to make the Bravas potatoes for my wife, so she was left hungry : Calamari was £10, Gambas £15, and 0.5l of Sangria £10.
Book a table now
If this isn't the best Spanish restaurant in the Edinburgh area I'll eat my hat. Great food, really good service and a pleasant atmosphere so absolutely nothing to pick out as a negative.
Just brilliant! Beautiful tapas served with a smile. My family and I will return again and again.
Ensalada De Primavera (Small)
Ensalada De Primavera (Large)
Merluza Al Chilindrón (Small)
Merluza Al Chilindrón (Large)
Potaje De Garbanzos (Small)
Potaje De Garbanzos (Large)
Tabla De Embutidos (Small)
Tabla De Embutidos (Large)
Chorizo A La Sidra (Small)
Chorizo A La Sidra (Large)
