497 reviews
#390 of 2,635 Restaurants in Malaga$$ - $$$, Mediterranean, European, Vegetarian friendly+34 952 21 86 39+ Add websiteImprove this listing
Hours
Sun
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Mon
12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Tue
12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Wed
12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Thu
12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Fri
12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Sat
12:00 pm - 12:00 am
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere
Details
Someone from this business manages this listing.
Learn More
PRICE RANGE
$13.00 – $53.00
CUISINES
Mediterranean, European, Spanish
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
meals, features
Does this restaurant accept bookings?
Details
About
Welcome to Restaurant ALEA, gastronomic reference Malaga, located in a historic area of outstanding beauty on the emblematic Calle Larios area.Among ancient walls that formed part of the walls of Muslim Málaga, ALEA stands. Walls that back in the eighth century witnessed the splendor and prosperity Malacitana brought by the various peoples and cultures that settled here. City was rich in shops, merchants and crafts that years later would name to much of its historic neighboring streets. Such is the case of Furnace Street, parallel to this, which owes its name to the existence in the past of a bakery. Commonly used as a mill in the eighteenth century, it housed several waterwheels to grind flour for making bread. Can still be seen the erosion of the wagon wheel at the base of the marble pillar restaurant and a "snack" that made therein to rotate. In the late nineteenth century the place becomes a noodle factory upstairs allocating a drying and storage and low for sale.In the reform carried out in 2009 by renowned architect Jose Ramon Fauras kept details of the structure seen S.XVIII (wooden beams, original walls, marble columns, large windows ...) while stationed to implement the space with splashes of color and art notes using also green materials and the latest technology.
PRICE RANGE
$13.00 – $53.00
CUISINES
Mediterranean, European, Spanish
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, After-hours, Drinks
FEATURES
Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining, Seating, Street Parking, Free off-street parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Digital Payments, Accepts Credit Cards
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4.0
497 reviews
Excellent
248
Very good
98
Average
44
Poor
27
Terrible
80
Lloyd D
Gibraltar4 contributions
June 2020 • business
Attended an event today catered by this restaurant. The food was fresh, original and tasty, and the staff were superb - friendly and really helpful.
Written 9 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alex N
1 contribution
Feb 2020 • none
Went there for a tapas and a glass of wine and wow it was absolutly brilliant, they do traditional Spanish tapas with a modern twist, we had the tatare salchichones (dont know if i spelled it correct) and it was very good and the one glass of wine turned into a few :-)
Written 5 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Roberto G
Fuengirola1 contribution
May 2019 • none
I booked a table for a group and the restaurant staff were very helpful with the arrangements. Everybody loved the food - whether eating fish, meat or vegetarian. Portions were generous and overall good value. The chef was very attentive with interesting vegetarian options. It's a lovely restaurant with a nice atmosphere and very attentive and friendly service. All of that made for a great evening so happy to recommend it to others.
Written 16 May 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kirsten V
2 contributions
Feb 2020 • family
I have been living for 8 years in Malaga, visiting all possible restaurants, but this has been by far the worst experience.
On Saturday 8 feb, I have been with my family (2 adults and 2 infants) for lunch. We sit outside and we ordered croquetas, artichokes and a solomillo de Buey. The first two dishes arrived within normal timing and were ok. Then it took 1 hour to receive the meat (solomillo). On top of it the weather changed and we asked to sit inside, they told us it was fully booked, while it looked completely empty.
After many request the meat finally arrived. They did not change our plates (which were covered with garlic from the starters), when we asked to change the plates, they brought us new ones without removing the dirty ones. Instead of a solomillo de Buey (€28), they brought us a Chuleton de Buey (€175), which they obviously added to the bill. We arrived at 13.30h, leaving at 15.30 the restaurant was still empty inside, so they left us with a baby of 10 months sitting outside for no reason.
Which was supposed to be a nice and relaxing lunch, left us with a very bad feeling... we definitely don’t recommend Alea to anyone who wants to have a nice lunch or dinner.
Written 8 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emma K
Lisbon7 contributions
Mar 2020 • none
An eye-opening combination of the worst culinary experience and rudest manager. I can barely even count the ways that this meal was a disaster...
Not given enough menus, a waitress later took back the one my mother was in the middle of reading to “borrow it,” the English and Spanish menus don’t match which was confusing, we never saw a wine list, and ended up just asking for the house wine, then after it was poured we were told one of our party had been served the wrong wine (but they would only charge us for the cheaper one... lucky us)
Myself and my mother made three attempts at ordering, firstly the lasagne which we were told wasn’t available. Then a paella with pork, we specified no seafood as my mum can’t eat it. When they brought the other two people’s meals they told us our paella had accidentally been made with seafood, and was that ok? Obviously we had to say no. The other two had already started eating so we just said we’d have what they were having, but when they brought it out we were worried that it was undercooked. They did offer to reheat it again, but by this point the other two were finished eating so we just asked if they would just bring the check.
Important is, our group were still being nice to the front of house staff about the food issues, it was not their fault the kitchen kept messing up. We were leaving, still in an ok mood despite the whole thing being a mess. On the way out we hear someone from a table start up with “this is fine dining here, go back to the UK...” I finally lost my temper and when I confronted this guy it turned out he told me was in fact the manager.
I assume he thought our lowly British palettes couldn’t cope with his food and we would have been better with beans on toast. After the experience we had at his restaurant I have to agree, beans on toast would have preferable to this absolute circus which saw us leaving without any main course.
Our experience here was so atrocious it’s I can already tell the story will make it’s way into family legend - “remember that godforsaken restaurant in Malaga?” Avoid. Go literally anywhere else. Buy a packet of crisps and eat them sitting on the kerb them for a more authentic “fine dining” experience.
Written 8 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christine F
Malaga4 contributions
Nov 2019 • none
we wouldn’t eat here because the service is so bad, difficult to get a glass of wine.
The white wine was awful, almost undrinkable. There are plenty of bars nearby with good white wine and friendly service,
Written 12 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Julia K
12 contributions
July 2019 • solo
Looks great from the outside. Service bad. Meal bad. Not sure what the meat was in my salad. It was just awful.
Written 22 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Håkon .
Malaga1 contribution
Apr 2019 • friends
Bad music, bad food. Small portions. Hair in both the dessert and main dish, stay away! One of the worst restaurant experiences i have ever had. The personell were a bit grumpy as well.
Written 6 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Frederik H
Copenhagen23 contributions
Jan 2019 • couples
Went to this place for a nice night out. The food was excellent, but as we visited in the low season, many of the options on the menu wasn't available. Furthermore the place doesn't have a winecard, but we were served a great glass og cava and crisp white.
Written 31 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ladamasurena
New York City12 contributions
Nov 2018 • none
I was dining with colleagues from Spain and the UK in Málaga on a rainy Wednesday evening, hoping to impress them with something special, beyond the typical tapas normally found in the center. Not only did the dishes deliver on flavor, presentation and uniqueness but wine selection was a pleasant surprise and the service was fantastic. Gracias!
Written 26 November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
greatscotts3
Hungerford101 contributions
Nov 2018 • couples
We were walk-ins just having got into the city centre from the airport. Not everything on the menu was available but what we chose was a really great example of Spanish cuisine: jamon, pulpo and langoustines pilpil. Good and attentive service, nice ambience. We would return.
Written 8 November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cris S
Rotterdam2 contributions
Aug 2018 • family
La comida estaba bien y la decoracion tambien. No me han dado la contraseña wifi aunque tengan una pegatina de “Wifi Alea” en la entrada. Musica y gente muy cateta. No volveria.
Food was okay and so was the decoration. They didn’t give me the wifi password despite a “Wifi Alea” sticker at the entrance. Music and people there were not decent. Wouldn’t return.
Written 12 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Zana S
Celje34 contributions
Feb 2018 • friends
Visiting this restaurant by recommendation of a friend resulted as a quite good decision. We took daily menu.
What we have liked the most was the first plate (fideos). The second was kind of small portion but tasty. Price: 11€ (3 course menu). Very nice ambience. I was molested drinking wine from the not clean glass - not polished!! When glasses are washed they also need to be polished in every kind of a restaurant.
Written 12 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Isabelle D
1 contribution
Jan 2018 • family
We visited this restaurant twice during our stay, both for lunch and dinner. The service is excellent. All staff are very nice and attentive, and make you feel welcome (also children friendly).
All the dishes we tried were excellent, delicate and well presented.
The service was fast and the price quite reasonable in view of the quality. Also great selection of wine (the staff is glad to give you guidance and help you discover the great selection of wine Spain has to offer!)
In conclusion, we strongly recommend this place.
Written 31 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rychtar84
Prague296 contributions
June 2016 • family
We came quite early for dinner, only one table was occupied. Were warmly seated, offered menu, but then staff "dissapeared" and did not look after us. It took quite long time, we could order drinks, food. The food arrived 30-40min after we ordered and the restauramt was empt. I cannot imaging how long you need to wait if the restaurant is full.
Written 14 July 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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