Las Truchas Restaurant

The place

The restaurant of the Hotel Las Truchas, run by Tugasa, the tourism company of the Cádiz provincial council (Diputación), on Avenida de la Diputación, at the entrance to El Bosque. It stands beside the Majaceite river, at the gates of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, in a village that the menu itself describes as linked to one of the southernmost trout reserves in Europe. The dining room looks onto the landscape of the sierra and has a calm, unhurried atmosphere.

The cooking is mountain-style and based on traditional recipes, with local produce: trout, game meats, lamb and pork, artisan cheeses, mushrooms, asparagus and seasonal vegetables.

What to order

The menu, published with prices, opens with a section of El Bosque tradition. Here is the Majaceite trout, "a speciality of El Bosque" (€17.50), and also the board of Payoya goat and Merino sheep cheeses from Grazalema (€17.50 for the full board), the stews of the day (€7), pig's trotters and kidneys Atanasio style. As a first course, El Bosque soup, with ham, egg, chorizo and croutons (€5.50), is the village recipe.

To share there are fried aubergines with cane honey, homemade stew croquettes and griddled mushrooms with green sauce, with half portions from €7, and scrambled eggs such as the one with tagarninas and ham (€12). Among meats, game rules: venison loin with thyme (€20), wild boar in sauce (€12) and fallow deer stew (€14), alongside Iberian pork cheek, roast suckling pig (€26), oxtail Jerez style (€25) and leg of milk-fed lamb (€30). The rice dishes, such as the paella with Iberian presa, are ordered in advance and for a minimum of two.

For dessert, flan, custard, tocino de cielo or homemade mousses, from €5 to €6.50, with a sweet wine from Jerez. There is a children's section, with simple dishes at €6. The bread and breadsticks service is charged at €1.50 per person.

When to go and how to book

It is the natural lunch at the end of the Majaceite river trail, which starts a few steps from the hotel, or before heading up to Benamahoma and Grazalema. If you arrive without a route in mind, the El Bosque visitor centre gives information on the park's trails.

Tugasa does not publish the restaurant's opening hours. Book a table on 956 71 60 61 or with the booking button on its website, especially at weekends.