La Cascada – Ronda

We booked one night in La Perla Blanca which is a mere 6KM from Ronda, tucked away in the beautiful scenario of the Sierra; given the particular position of the villa, we were presented with limited options, as we really did not feel like driving to the actual town.

Upon recommendation given by the owner of the villa, we headed towards “La Cascada”, an international restaurant, few minutes away on foot. In all fairness, there are only two choices that are reachable without a car and this was the most recommended.

We arrived there for a late lunch and the teenager waitress, that proved to be the daughter of the owners, initially made us seat and told us the food was still available… only by changing her version 45 seconds later as the chef, apparently “had just left”.

Regardless of this first, very weird, experience, we did not stay away from the place and headed there in the evening, for a dinner. We were very intrigued by the good recommendations around this place and curious to try and check out what the fuss was about.

After sitting on our table, on their terrace, we’ve ordered a bottle of red wine (something called “chef’s favourite”, or similar) for the splendid amount of 19 euro and it was served to us at room temperature. Too bad that in July, this means around 40 degrees. It was barely drinkable, even though they did provide a bucket of water and ice to keep it cold, but we were honestly a bit confused on why they would not have a dedicated fridge for it, given the hot summers…

I ordered a bruschetta topped with jamon and sundried tomatoes that came accompanied by some salad. The dish itself was very good and full of flavour, but the actual side was as tasty as any average salad that you can find in England (tip: they are not really great); a mix of Italian, Spanish and English cuisine that were fighting each other.

My Italian husband instead went for the ravioli filled with mushrooms and drizzled with truffle oil; they were a bit too hard, even for an “al dente” cooking, and accompanied by the same boring salad.

As a main course, I took the duck breast that came with the same salad, no surprises here, a mango chili dip and a gigantic spring roll. The duck breast was cooked properly still pink in the middle, overall was quiet tasty. Given the international categorization of the restaurant, I felt there were still too many nationalities fighting each other on my dish.

On the other hand my other half ordered the Iberian pork with apple sauce and potatoes. The meat was tender and full of flavour, but unfortunately the side was composed of boiled broccoli and cauliflower; something that I would expect in my work place canteen or on a poor Sunday roast in England.

As an overall we felt that the British influence on the dishes was too overwhelming; we would have rather used local ingredients in a more traditional local way.

In our opinion having an international restaurant should not equate into having so many cuisines into one dish, but just to give a different twist to a local specialty.

The bill came to around 70 euro.

Food Quality: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Value for Money: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Service: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Categories: Restaurant review