DavidJackson.info

From a reader:

Hi David! Love your site and all your reviews/gossip etc! We are coming back to Cortijo Grande in a couple of weeks and you seem to know everything about the area/where to eat etc so I was hoping you could answer a couple of questions for me?
I heard a rumour that Los Limoneros had closed down? Is that true? Is Finca Listonero re-opened for the evenings yet? Is it still a restaurant and what is it like…have you been yet?

Finally….is there anywhere in Turre you would recommend to eat as I know a lot of places have closed? Thanks for all your help!

Well, shucks. Here’s the scoop, to the best of my knowledge: Read more…

In response to the many questions about the state of Cortijo Grande, here’s a couple of photos:

All the mountains around the golf course, are, basically, black. Period.

Infoca, the forest fire people, say that the probably cause of the fire was a lightening strike from the storms we had yesterday.

While Almeria city and Albox suffered intermittent showers throughout the day, the Levante just had a dry thunderstorm, steady winds and temperatures of up to 40ºC.

Bar Los Pastores used to be owned by a wonderful Dutch couple. Mater used to call her “my dutch doll”, and, amazingly, she never minded.

However, they built up a good customer base, and is logical, they sold out and left the area with a profit. Good on them.

It was taken over by a stange English lady who left several comments on my blog about her “5 star rosette” English chef. Fair enough. We weren’t overly impressed on our visits there.

We then received news that it had been taken over by a local couple, Matt and Carol.

They seem to have revamped Los Limoneros since the last time I was there. Yes, the swimming pool is still there. No, I don’t know if they are still visited by foxes, like the last time I was there. But, it’s cleaner and friendlier, a repaint has made the place… cosier and the music has improved.

So has the menu.

Now, the menu needs to be treated with caution. Because it could be dangerous. It is the normal menu that a restaurant amateur -or a michelin starred chef- builds up. For example, Lamb Casserole. Casserole is the sort of meal that is only any good if it cooked fresh, which means it needs a lot of customers. Lo and behold, I was told “Sorry, no Casserole” when I was given the menu, for the reasons explained above. Clive also knew the fish of the day and the soup, which in most places they don’t. Don’t you hate that?

“What’s the soup of the day, please?” “errrrrrrrrrrrrr…… I’ll find out”.

We had a drink in the comfortable lounge. Then we went in to eat.

Oh my gosh. Know what I love about that place? The Guinness Ice Cream. No kidding. Visit there, you’ll find out. Lovely. Ice Cream, made with Guinness. Need I say more?

End of story: three happy people. €119,50, for 3 starters, 3 main courses, 2 puds, 2 coffees, 1 magno, 3 G&T, 1 Water, 2 bottles of Allozo. IMHO, worth it.

Bar Los Limoneros.
Cortijo Grande.
Go towards Cabrera (exit 520 off the motorway to Turre, follow the signs).

(Note: This review is now depreciated, and is only available as a historical note. The restaurant has just changed hands – March 2008)

Los Limoneros
Jardines de Agua,
Cortijo Grande,
Turre

Terrible confession to make here – I´d been promising myself that I´d pop in here ever since I´d heard that it had reopened at the beginning of the summer. Yet, despite the fact that it´s just up the road from my house, I hadn´t. Maybe the mere thought of flagging up to Cortijo Grande had put me off.

So, eventually I dragged myself out of my stupor and off we popped to it, avoiding the rabbits. In Ireland we had sheep – in Turre we have rabbits. Such is life.

I was always put off this restaurant, irrespective of the owners, as I knew a mad chap in college called ´Limonero´. Actually, he´s the chappie who sells Granizados de Limon on Garrucha high street from a push along wagon. Mad as a hatter, and just as tall. Damned good fun though.

It was a lovely evening, cloudless and slightly fresh. A quarter moon hung overhead, and just a hint of autumn in the air.

We had a couple of G&Ts next to the pool and garden, which is attractively lit by underwater and underhedge coloured lights.

An interesting menu, which surprisingly features almost three pages of starters and just three quarters of a page of main courses. We had a page of wines in the main menu, and a separate menu for the ´real´ wines. An interesting and cheap selection of wines, ranging from a decent number of Spanish and including a few French and Italian wines.

In the end, we were unimaginative in our selections, starting with two foie gras with home made caramelised onion jam, and a beef carpaccio, followed by two steaks and a mixed fish bouillabaisse. Decent foie gras (needed toast, we only got bread, albeit nice, fresh and crisp French bread).

The steak was quite pleasant, although nothing to write home about. The carrots were, in my opinion, foul (tough, string and somewhat over boiled), but the rest of the veg was OK.

Coffee, brandy and baileys to finish with. And a bit of entertainment when a fox turned up and begged for food. Wonderful little chap he was, just sat there next to the pool while the diners threw bread and food at him. Not quite as much fun as Gilbert and Sullivan (the two foxes who have adopted us at our home, they turn up every night at 9 oclock on the dot), but still kept us busy for a good 20 mins.

Final price? 110€ for the three of us, which was more than I expected.

Los Limoneros Restaurant,
Jardines de Agua, Cortijo Grande, Turre.
Tlf: 950 468 132

Drive up towards Cortijo Grande / Cabrera, and turn left at the second left hand turn turn, towards the golf course. Then follow the signs (it´s easy really!)