La Mesa Redonda, Jerez

Found this restaurant in GourmetTour (rating 6.5/10). Quite difficult to locate- it is in an apartment block between the Riding School and the Bull Ring with access from the gated car park. Booked in four for lunch after the horse show on Thursday 22 January.

Charmingly decorated dining room almost in English club style. Permits smoking, but we were not bothered until the end of the meal. Service excellent. Menus in English and Spanish differed in prices! Prices including wine list very reasonable. There was a menu del dia "for the crisis" at 20€ but we opted for a la carte. Albondiguillas Marineras (fish and seafood balls) al vino Fino 11.50€ and Canapes Calientes de Gambas al Curry (curried prawns) 7€ were both excellent starters. Tosta de vieriras (scallops) gratinada  10.50€ and Codillo de cerdo con salsa de ciruelas (pork knuckle with cherry sauce) 13€ were equally good. Antonio Barbadillo Castillo de San Diego local white wine (palomino grape from Sanlucar) 8.50€ accompanied the meal.

The chef came out after we ate to check all was OK. That was a nice touch and we can thoroughly recommend La Mesa Redonda

San Antón blessing of the animals

17th January is the feast day of San Antón. At the small church Ermita de San Antón above Mijas the parish priest Francisco Villasclaras blessed pets brought to the ceremony. I walked Leo up there and he was blessed. It can be seen in the Flickr video
Later local spinsters threw stones at the genitals of the statue of San Antón in the belief this will bring them a boyfriend or husband. I didn't stay for that!

A news story covered the events throughout Spain.

Rex Whistler Restaurant at Tate Britain

The Rex Whistler Restaurant is a gem that can easily be combined with a visit to admire the art at Tate Britain. Indeed you can admire the art from inside the restaurant as Whistler painted the walls. It was my seventh visit as the food and the wine list in particular have been consistently excellent. We had booked in advance for a party of four between Christmas and New Year; just as well as the restaurant was full. That was the problem this time as service did not seem to be as prompt as on previous visits.

The parsnip soup (£5.80) was given full marks by all of us. The pheasant stew (£15.55) was also well appreciated. Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico 2003 (£29) complemented the stew well but we had to ask for it to be decanted.