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Alas, the perils of living in a culinary wasteland.

Food options in Mojacar are, sadly, limited. Even while living in Brittas Bay (Co Wicklow) I had the option of Dublin just up the road.

And no visit to the family’s UK base of operations is complete without a trip to the Thai Emerald, Cirencester (one of the best in the UK, to my mind).

But recently, my taste buds have been neglected. Spanish or Italian seems to be the order of the day. Yes, our local Sushi restaurant in still open, but raw tuna on rice just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I have to go to Asahi in Almería to get anything more exotic. Or, if they deign to open their doors, the Youet (Almería’s best kept Chinese secret).

So just for a laugh, we tripped into the Cowboy Cocina. A delight to all the senses, including, and this is rare, visual.

If you’ve never been to the Cowboy, you should, just for the amazingly well thought out decorations. Imagine, if you will, a typical “Yankee” themed restaurant. Let’s take, for the sake of argument, TGIF Fridays.

They have lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of crap on the walls, right? Number-plates and old cars and fishing rods and radios and general ‘hey ho, it’s 1960′s America, aren’t we God’s chosen people’ sort of stuff.

Well, Cowboy Cocina is like that, but tastefully done (inasmuch as such a theme can be “tasteful”). Object acquired and carefully positioned. Nice posters and photos, many to do with the Spaghetti Westerns they filmed in the area. Not too sure about the dead buffalo on the wall.

If you want to, you can sit outside on the roomy patio and watch the traffic go past, whilst also admiring the old wagon wheels.

I mean, just look at these bar stools (click for a bigger pic):

I’m easily pleased. The second I saw those chairs I knew I’d like the place.

Kenny, who owns the joint with his wife Catherine, is a wild west enthusiast. He loves the wild west, and wishes he’d been born a real ole cowboy. (He’s from the midlands, I believe).

He makes a wild homemade BBQ sauce, and Ric P., a man who knows all about America, assures me he once entered a BBQ sauce competition at Elvis’s Graceland mansion and came second. Good enough for me.

The food is southern style BBQ, properly done (ie, fresh and made with loving care), in some sort of smoke pit. I didn’t understand the technicalities.

The burgers are enourmous and tasty, as are the steaks (no freezers here!). The ribs are to die for.

Let’s be honest. You don’t usually go to a place like this for the food, as it’s always burgers, steaks and ribs covered in sauce. You go for the ambiance. And this place has that in shovelfuls.

Kenny is knowegable about the wild west, and an authority on the spaghetti western film industry that used to exist in Almería. If you have a question about the films, go and speak to him. He’s also pretty good at whipping up a party.

And surprisingly enough, I’d probably go back for the food.Where else can you eat so much for so little and enjoy it so much?

Cowboy Cocina,
Urb Los Angeles, Mojacar Playa
950 472 924

http://www.cowboycocina.com

Half way along Mojacar Playa, on the beachfront just before you go up to La Parata.

In my youth, Bar Juventud was the “other bar”. As people who lived on the “Crespo” side of the street, going into Juventud was akin to a Madrid supporter sneaking into a Barça pub. Only to be attempted wearing a large hat when noone was around. Which was a pity as it always had better tapas.

Then we grew up and rarely visited Los Gallardos, as we lived out in the sticks and once we were given a moped LG was “too rural” for our newly discovered expensive tastes. But Juventud still had the best tapas in the Levante. And it’s not just me – the director of the RTV-A (admittedly from Los Gallardos) thought much the same. (He also said the same about the old La Rueda – the perils of being related to the families of two different bars, no doubt).

Fastforward twenty years to 2009, when an Uruguayan named Eduardo and his wife took the place over. Eduardo started to run summer BBQ’s, once a week. Not for long, but it became famous and full. After all, the man is a master of the Parriallada. Despite his apparant OCD which leads him to wash his hands often (a good sign in both chefs and surgeons).

Eduardo has stopped the outdoor Parrialladas for the winter – despite the small door and narrow space for clients, Jueventud boasts a large exterior patio – but upon a smile, a wink and a 24 hour reservation will do one. As we discovered tonight.

The menu was simple. An ensalada de huerta, lots of tomatos. Couple of bottles of wine that had -how to put it?- been too close to the BBQ to be considered vintage but were still quaffable. Pan, with lots of ajo. Some homemade chimicurri. The best jacket potato I’ve had all year – crisp yet soft and tasty. And either secreto iberico or ternera – entrecote. You can have it well done, or very well done.Coffee, Orujo and a couple of Mr J’s “homemade” cigars for pudding. Ironically the cigars also seem to be from Uruguay.

The BBQ consists of a bonfire of ancient olive wood, coals from which are heaped over, under, and alongside, the meat. So rare doesn’t appear to be an option.

Flippin delicious. If you don’t like food like this, ‘eff off back to McDonalds. The daily tapas are good, too.