Introducing El Chiringuiri

One of my favourite pastimes when I'm in Spain is to spend a long afternoon in a chiringuito, enjoying fabulously fresh seafood, and copious amounts of incredibly good value wine. This is typically followed by assuming a sedentary position on the beach in the late afternoon, thus avoiding both the midday sun, and any associated Noel Coward inspired comparisons to my countrymen.

After 27 continuous years of greasing the wheel of the technology industry, I am delighted to find myself in the position of having an extended break from work. This means I can devote this sudden and disproportionate amount of disposable spare time to indulging in this favourite pastime even more.

Now the world's restaurants have been extensively catalogued by many wonderful bloggers, however there is a dearth of content about chiringuitos. As far as I can tell, TripAdvisor is the only place to go to, and as has been documented elsewhere, it is hardly the most reliable source. So, after many years of restaurant blog consumption, I feel it is my duty to give something back by cataloguing my experiences for others to use as appropriate. So that is what elchiringuiri.com is going to be all about. Chiringuiri (by the way) is a rather shoddy and unimaginative portmanteau of the words chiringuito (i.e. a seafood restaurant on the beach in Spain) and guiri (i.e. a Spanish colloquialism for foreigner).  I'm beginning to regret the name already but after having just forked out £80 for the domain name, there is no going back now.

Another thing I love about Spain is its wine, and more specifically how cheaply you can drink top quality wines in restaurants in Spain. This is due mainly to minimal taxation, and local pricing policies, and as a result its often cheaper to consume wine in restaurant than pay the equivalent retail prices both back in the UK or in Spain. As a Northern Englishman, I consider not receiving value for money as an act of utter sacrilege, so, as a service to like-minded folk, I will also attempt to provide value for money ratings both for the wine and food offerings of each establishment as I go. In addition, I'll rate the whole overall experience too, which includes the food, wine, beverages, service, ambiance, toilets, quality of soft furnishings etc., though I normally find that if the food and wine are good then the rest pale into insignificance. Except the quality of the soft furnishings that is, which for some reason my dining partner insists that we must discuss in great analytical depth on every occasion.   

I'll also be covering some of the other tapas bars, and restaurants I'll be visiting, and may also include the odd musing about what it’s like to live in Spain, and to not have to go to work again for a few months. Apologies in advance if I let the associated smugness seep too directly onto the page.

So, after spending 27 years of hating and avoiding the dreaded "management by objectives", here are my four primary objectives over the next few months:

1. To find the best chiringuito in Malaga/Costa Del Sol/Spain
2. To find the best value bottle of wine in Malaga/Costa Del Sol/Spain
3. To digest Modern Man in Search of a Soul by  C. G. Jung to help me understand the human mind and in turn address a few personal neuroses too 
4. To grow a beard

Clearly one of these objectives is much more complex, inscrutable and important than the others. So, please wish me luck with drinking all that wine.