La Brisa Benajarafe

The great Spanish sun lounger test continues! Last week we have been to Algarrobo Costa at the Baobab Beach House. This week Benajarafe and the newly opened La Brisa (former Aloha) was on the list.

When checking out these places, we go through a detailed questionnaire including welcoming, decoration, food and drinks selection, presentation and quality, and some more questions. You know, I am German, I am used to working efficiently ;-)

Our overall rating for La Brisa is 9.2 out of 10! That is a super result 👏

Here is what we liked: 9.5 points for the welcoming and greeting at arrival. Attentive staff, English is spoken, and all are willing to help. A full 10 points for decorations, atmosphere, and beach theme, white colours with a bit of turquoise and green shades. Shells are used for reservations and tables are beautifully arranged. Chiringuito Beach Style, that’s what we want on the beach, right!?

We took our sun loungers -4euros per person all day- in the front row, at the beach. No mattress on the loungers, but armrests. They do have Balinese cabanas for 25euros all day, but not at the front row. As we wanted to have an unspoiled sea view we chose sun loungers.

Beach Service: yes there is Beach Service and we noticed a guy serving drinks to the sun loungers. Unfortunately, he never came over to us and asked if we like to order something.

Time was flying and at Spanish lunchtime 4 pm, we went to the restaurant. Nice layout, some tables in the sand which is the traditional Chiringuito style. The food menu by the look was another 10 out of 10. Available in Spanish only but the staff helped to translate and explain. Have you heard of “Navajos”? We tried to translate it ourselves, it came up as razor (shaver??)? We just had a laugh and ordered it - that’s what I like to do: if I have no idea what it is, I order. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t’. This time? Wait.

We were excited to see „Ajo Blanco malagueño” (6 Euro) on the menu, a traditional Andalusian cold garlic summer soup. Unfortunately, it wasn’t available. Instead we ordered Gazpacho Andaluz (6 Euro). We chose a Dorada for the main dish, freshly grilled on the BBQ boat - another typical Chiringuito thing.

First the starter. The Bread rolls came in a plastic bag, which's not my favorite type of presentation and the aioli -which we ordered separately- was missing some garlic and spices. But a full 10 points for the Gazpacho Andaluz which was nicely served in a large red wine glass with straws. Tasty. Yummy. Freshly. I like that different type of presentation.

Next, the Navajas arrived (9.50 Euro). Ummm…. By the look, 👀 I said ‘phew… not for me‘. Marielle convinced me to try at least one what I did. Uhhhh. I washed it down with a large sip of beer. Brrr…. They were a bit chewy, like mushrooms and octopus and the Chimichurri was more like a salsa verde Pesto type. So no, not our favorite… Marielle ate 5 Navajas but said she would not order again.

The Dorada (17 Euro) we enjoyed very much, it was served with homemade chips -yes, homemade- and some vegetable kind of ratatouille!

The drinks menu was just missing cocktails, apart from that all good. But then there came the dessert. Omg. Too good to be true! Carrot cake in perfection. Brownie with pistachio ice cream which tasted like pistachio. I love pistachio ice cream but sometimes it’s nothing but green. Both desserts are 6 Euro each.

A very enjoyable lunch, with Cuban background music which relaxed us even more.

Back on our sun loungers we needed a break but couldn’t sit still very long. The beach in Benajarafe is wonderful: kilometers long and sandy! Quite a bit of wind and waves that evening and we enjoyed watching people with their bodyboards in the water. Lots of Spanish families with tables, chairs, food, and drinks had a pleasant time, you can tell.

We stayed at the beach and on our sun loungers until 8.30 pm. In the end, the empty sun loungers were put aside and stored for the night and we felt a bit rushed to leave the beach, too. You can’t expect everything to run 100% when you just open. Most important is the staff attitude and that was 10 out of 10. Friendly. Welcoming. Attentive. Even the staff outfits I liked, colourful nice shirts. We recommend spending a day or evening with live music at La Brisa Benajarafe!

Benajarafe for me is a hidden treasure between Rincon and Torre del Mar, 30 kilometers east of Malaga. Apart from the wonderful beach, it's a lovely small village with nice shops and a very Spanish - not too touristy - ambiance. If you haven't been to Benajarafe, I recommend it!

The great Spanish sun lounger continues the test next week. Stay tuned! If you have a particular question let us know. If you want us to check out a particular beach club, let us know. Comments, likes and shares are appreciated.

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