Lizarran Bar

Lizarran Bar, Fuengirola

It was our ninth wedding anniversary and our first one in Spain, but my wife wasn’t sure that she wanted to go out to celebrate it. We dithered the whole day long, but at about six p.m. we checked what time it would get dark (about eight thirty) and left for the city centre ten minutes walk away.

The basis of our decision to go out to eat was that we would find ‘somewhere nice’ and spend about fifty Euros. We passed several likely candidates situated around the church, but settled on the Lizarran Bar for a drink and a think.

A very nifty-looking waiter, who introduced himself as Eduardo, brought us our drinks and said, “I would like to give you some tapas. OK?”

We love tapas, and they are still common in local Spanish bars in Fuengirola, so we agreed, and the most elaborate tapas arrived a few minutes later.

They were gorgeous – ham and cream cheese on small cobs topped off with green olives. We were delighted, and Eduardo kept them coming.

No two rounds of tapas were the same, and cold soups (not gazpacho, I was assured) were served as well. Two rounds and fourteen servings later, we decided to head off for a restaurant.

Eduardo presented us with a bill for 31€

Well, we had got wind that the tapas were going to have to cost us something, but most of them were pretty basic, and I had guessed 50¢ to 1€ each. We were stunned when we realised that they cost 1.90€ each, especially when Eduardo had definitely said, ‘i want to give you…”

We left feeling deflated, disappointed and a little conned. We had the money to still go for our anniversary meal, but our hearts were no longer in it.

“It is a new style of dining!” Eduardo had told us proudly when I complimented him on the quality of the tapas, but a string of tapas will never beat a three-course meal, and we will never go back to the Lizarran Bar again.

They ruined our ninth wedding anniversary. You could say that we were naive, stupid or greedy, and there is a case for that, but “I want to give you” can have only one meaning to me and it is not “I want to sell you…”

Not a nice experience, but at least you will be aware if you choose to go the Lizarran Bar in Fuengirola.

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All the best

Owen

Podcast: the Lizarran Bar, Fuengirola