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Mesón de Cervantes

4.5 (46 reviews)
ModerateSpanish
Closed 7:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)

Mesón de Cervantes Photos

MESÓN DE CERVANTES ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Good for groups

Recommended Reviews - Mesón de Cervantes

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Pork chops and shishito peppers

Given we came here during a cruise stop (don't judge us), we were really grateful to get some actual good food. And everything we had here was good - even great in most cases. I had heard about the restaurant when researching for our trip and made a reservation months in advance. But it seemed that if you go there right when they open, you may still get a table without a reservation. Everyone was very friendly. We had basically two servers - a young woman who spoke good English and an older woman who didn't (which was fine - we're not the sort of Americans that expect every person in other countries to speak fluent English). And I speak passable Spanish. The clientele seemed to be mostly locals, which is always a good sign. The couple next to us seemed surprised to see American tourists there and asked us how we heard about the place. And the food...we're not experts on Spanish food by any means but having eaten at a number of restaurants in Malaga, Valencia, Seville, and especially Barcelona, El Meson de Cervantes was our favorite. The style is not showy but highly skilled - always the perfect amount of salt, oil, seasoning, etc. We started with the wine they recommended - Pago El Espino by Cortijo Los Aguilares - which was great (and, as I later sadly found out, hard to get in the U.S.). They first brought out a plate of olives, which somehow tasted of ham (in a good way). Then we had the best croquetas we've had in Spain - light, perfectly prepared. Then we had a really good Chicken Cordon Bleu with great potatoes followed by amazing lamb chops with decadent shishito peppers. We ordered way too much food, by the way. They warned us and we should have listened. We weren't able to finish it all and asked the older server for a doggy bag, but she misunderstood, thinking we didn't like the food, and was a bit offended. The younger server clarified things and told us to next time just say "arriba." Sadly, our doggy bag was confiscated at the cruise ship entryway - they said outside food was not allowed but I think they just knew where we ate and wanted the food for themselves. We may never know the truth.

Creighton F.

Great place with a great menu and lovely staff. Don't visit Malaga and not stop by this place.

Wine
Myshell M.

Como familia. When we arrived at Meson; it was 9pm on a Wednesday. We had been recommended by a neighbor of the home we were staying at. Meson is very close to the museums which makes it very accessible for a post museum meal, which is what we did. The service here is amazing, I find that despite it looking small that their staff makes it their priority to move quickly and efficiently while maintaining the ambiance of relaxation. .

Claudine V.

Came here for our first dinner and we truly enjoyed it. We were lucky to get seated as we didn't have reservations. Our food was great. The owners of Teatro Cervantes owns this place too so food is both great. Make reservations as locals come to dine her too. Will be back here if I ever go back. Trust!

Most of the food is covered in this flavored salt
Angelo B.

The place is cool and lively and the food is presented well, but it was really heavily salted. And my main issue was that they used this same flavored salt in each of the dishes, so as a result all of the dishes ended up tasting very similar. We tried quite a few dishes as the prices were very reasonable. Our favorites were: -sea bass: this was the star... cooked really well, and it wasn't covered with the salt -baby squid: very juicy, and great texture -anchovies were fresh and delicious We didn't like the jamon... it was extremely chewy. Tips: -make reservations. It gets packed -check your bill. They charged us for 3 items that we didn't order (totally to about 20 euros)

Kristine H.

What a treat on our last night in Malaga. We read about this restaurant in Lonely Planet and they were spot on as the BEST in Malaga. We arrived to a very packed house WITHOUT reservations. Our hostess offered us each a glass of vino and the seated us as soon as possible. We had a cute two-top table. Great tapas. A lot of veggie options. And the best Spinach salad in a long long time. A must do while in Malaga!

Michael R.

Prices were a bit on the higher side compared to other restaurants we ate in the area, but the food was top notch making it worth a couple extra euros. We really enjoyed the risotto, the Argentinian steak and the duck. Only complaint was the waiter was a bit pushy. He recommended we get six tapas, we ordered five and he seemed upset. He kept asking what else we would want when we told him we had ordered enough.

Mushrooms.
Jamie A.

Wow! This place is the same owner as Tapeo de Cervantes and like Tapeo, this place did not disappoint. While several menu items are the same, there are numerous different ones. LOVED the goat cheese salad with berries. Tried sweetbreads for the first time and they were quite good and thinly sliced. The lamb stew was tender with amazing flavor, like it had been cooking all day.

Pork with pumpkin and pineapple relish - divine! Adventurous and well balanced dish
Marco F.

True Spanish tapas in a cozy environment! Great service at great price and the food was divine. Ordered a spinach & asparagus salad to start. The cheese and walnuts added texture and overall dressing was appetizing. Next came the grill octopus which were seasoned perfectly and had great texture. Just enough acidity from the seasoning to cut through the heaviness of the dish. The patatas bravas were fantastic. Great spicy tomato saucy that enhanced the potatoes that you could eat all day. The entrecôte was melt in your mouth succulent and had a good mix of accompaniments. (Pictured) The final dish was on another level altogether: the pork. (Pictured) The pork dish was well marbled with a side of balsamic vinegar, pineapple relish and pumpkin. Adventurous food pairing and paid off in spades. The vinegar cut the fatty pork while the pumpkin added texture. The sweetness of the relish enhanced the savouriness of the pork. A near flawless dish if there was one. A glass of sangria and a warm apple tart with ice cream later, the only thing left to do was pay the very affordable tab and call it one of the best meals we ever had.

Menu
Jen H.

Modern Decor Delicious Tapas English and Spanish menu available Reservation available Credit card accepted The Order: 1/2 Entrecotte €9 1/2 Secteto €8 1/2 Boletus €7 Carbonated water €2.50 House red €3 Local Malaga wine €2.50 Favorite of the night: Fried pork with apple and lemon sauce Food, service, and decor were on point; making this as good as it gets for Tapas 2016!

Cockroach on our table

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1 year ago

Love this place! The food, the service, the ambiance are all fabulous. We loved the risotto and the pork cheeks. Highly recommend

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9 years ago

What a delight. The service, the food and the price were all in perfect harmony. If visiting Malaga, don't miss out this wonderful place.

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Mesón de Cervantes Reviews in Other Languages

Review Highlights - Mesón de Cervantes

Although the garçons English vocabularity was rather limited, we managed to order some excellent tapas.

Mentioned in 11 reviews

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Meson Iberico - Profiteroles compliment of the house

Meson Iberico

4.4(5 reviews)
1.1 km

I just love this little gem for the ambiance, the service and of course the food. Forget the…read moretouristy restaurants of Calle Larios and MAKE a reservation at Meson Iberico The food is exceptional and delicious, real Spanish food, tapas and many other fish, meat, seafood choices. We started with Tortillitas de Camarones ( small shrimp tortillas) sorry we ate them to fast no pic. don't miss those. The boquerones (white Malaga anchovies in vinaigre and garlic ) ) very delicious. For main course we had the Octopus Galician Style, so very tender and tasty. My husband had the Flavored Grilled Suckling Lamb Kidneys. So many great choices. We will go back. They are closed on Sat and Sun.

Super packed on a Friday night at 11 pm. Seemed to be mostly locals, and we ended up snagging a bar…read moreseat in the back corner. We got: Pulpo en salpicon - More like a salad, with diced tomatoes and onions, and we only found like 2 pieces of octopus in the entire dish. Although ignoring the fact that we signed up for octopus, I liked the flavors and found it quite refreshing. Sardines - Good, fairly standard. Bacalao (cod) al pil pil - This came highly recommended by the friendly local at the neighboring table. It's a pretty large dish, coming with two sizeable pieces of cod. I wasn't a huge fan of the dish, but not because of the execution, but because it's not to my palette. But I could find no fault with the dish - this was perhaps one of the most tender cods I've ever had and served as an excellent vessel for the pil pil sauce. Pil pil sauce turned out to be more of a creamier (and salty) white sauce, and I don't tend to like those sauces - but if you do, this may be your jam. All in all, nothing we had that I found astounding but not a bad meal. Prices did seem higher than in other cities (€3 for an oyster) but not sure if that's Malaga or this restaurant. Note: they offer free profiteroles at the end, though you may have to ask for them if they don't give them to you.

Photos
Meson Iberico
Meson Iberico - Phone number for your reservations

Phone number for your reservations

Meson Iberico - Boquerones

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Boquerones

Mesón de Cervantes - spanish - Updated May 2026

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