Joe slicing an impressive Serrano ham.

Review by Julia Church

Costa del Sol in Whyteleafe is always a delightful restaurant to visit and is a very popular hub for the local community.

Joe the owner and his wife Nelia provide a warm and friendly welcome and the food never disappoints. When I visited the restaurant recently with my sister Helen I wondered how I would get on there now that I am vegetarian.

It has been very interestiing to compare how different restaurants cater for veggies. The Spanish love their meat and especially their fish and Costa del Sol prides itself on its speciality, paella, which has always been my favourite. So I was delighted to see a vegetarian version on the A La Carte menu. It honestly was delicious, with the same, flavoursome rice as is in the meat and fish versions, but with broccolli, mushrooms, carrots, peppers and peas instead of chicken and/or fish. I am amazed at how many lovely new dishes I am discovering!

 

Vegetarian Paella.

There are also plenty of meatfree tapas dishes and starters, and to start I chose the ‘Tres Colores’ Avocado, Mozzarella and Tomato. Helen had a tapas dish to start with, the Prawns Pil Pil, cooked in olive oil, chilli and garlic, with no shells. Helen said that the prawns were lovely and juicy with not too much garlic - she could still taste the prawns.

While I tucked into my paella, Helen had the Salmon Fresco, which she chose to have grilled, as her main course. There is also the option to have the salmon poached. It came served with sautéed potatoes and perfectly cooked, fresh vegetables and the salmon was a lovely big portion.

To accompany our meal we had a very nice bottle of Torres Vina Sol white wine.

Costa del Sol provides a takeaway service and Joe’s ‘Paella Parties’ are in great demand and are especially popular during the summer months. What better way to entertain guests at a special celebration than to have freshly cooked, steaming hot paella delivered to your door by Joe! All the host has to do is provide the plates, napkins and forks. Perfect.