Menu del Dia Heaven

It took me a few years after moving to Spain to realise that you didn´t have to go to the most expensive restaurants in town to enjoy a good meal. It´s always nice to go into Marbella or Banus for a special occasion but for a casual lunch some of the menus del dia are fantastic. Ok you may not get a Marina side view and silver service waiters, but if you like cheap and cheerful then you will be impressed. I live at Mijas-Golf, and one of our favourite places to eat locally is Hoyo 19 on the Coin road. The menus is €11 euros including three courses and wine. And when I say wine, I mean half a bottle each, which is just about enough for lunchtime (if not, order some more - it´s cheap). The menu is changed regularly, but there are three choices of starter and main course, and lots of desserts to choose from. Last time we went we had eggs florentine to start (oooo la la - you don´t see those on many set menus!) and baby leg of lamb as a main course. The waiter even bought mint sauce with it. My friend Matthew is a chef, and couldn´t believe they were serving a whole leg of lamb for this price - and excellent it was too. By the time you finish dessert you probably won´t be able to move but hey, you´ll go home happy and not have to worry about cooking dinner.