The south of Spain is best known for towns like Sevilla, Malaga and Granada. When taking the time to drive out of these cities, you will end up in lovely smaller town like Cordoba but also tiny little villages scattered around the mountains. Around half way between Malaga and Sevilla is the village Ronda. Best known for it gorge, it is home to some excellent restaurants.
Located within the Hotel Catalonia Reina Victoria, Azahar Restaurant is almost next to the gorge. The design of the hotel has been extended to the restaurant. Where the restaurant is relatively large, the use of a room divider hides part of the unused space in the room. The tables are unevenly spaced, which means that from some tables you can overhear the conversations but others are far away enough to not be bothered by the guests sitting there. They have two waiters to serve approx. 40 guests. Hard work for them, but I did not have the feeling that this was delaying the food or service in any way. Where only one of the waiters speaks English, the other doesn’t but he is equally friendly.
On the menu are some local delicacies, both vegetarian and with meat/fish. For starter it was 
the pork carpaccio that caught my eye. Basically it was raw pork wrapped around a sort of pate of foie gras. It came with a dressing/sauce of orange and on top some balls of parmesan ice cream. With carpaccio being raw meat, I was a little hesitant to order this as it was basically raw pork. In a nice and friendly way, the waiter convinced me to try this local dish without pressuring me into this. Looking back it was an excellent choice. There was a bit of saltiness around the pork which felt to me like a cured meat instead to completely raw. The dressing/sauce added some delicate but delicious sweetness. The dish was surprisingly light, contrary to what I was expecting with the foie being in the middle. The parmesan ice cream was there enough to taste it, but not so much that the strong flavours of the cheese are the only thing you taste.
Duck with orange is a pretty traditional combination. At this place they serve duck with mango, which I know now is equally nice. The cannelloni stuffed with duck was my main course. There was also some tomato juice in this dish, but that I did not get. Have not missed it though. Overall, the dish was on the sweet side and not as warm as I would have liked. Nevertheless the dish was gone in no time. A touch of lemon juice, a little crunch and a few degrees and would have made it even better.
By now, I was almost full and dessert was still to come. For dessert I ordered a tasting of chocolate. A total of 6 little chocolates plus two coffee macarons. All these treats were presented on a little tray filled with dry ice. Poor some water on it and some on the ice and it will start to “smoke”. The dark chocolate bonbon and the bonbon with praline filling were delicious. Two other bonbons were made of chocolate mixed with berries, covered in crushed almonds. Nothing wrong with the preparation of these two bonbons, but simply not my kind of treat. The coffee-flavoured macarons were simply fantastic.
Where they don’t have a star themselves, Restaurante Azahar is a high-end restaurant that can compete with many Michelin Star restaurants. A three-course meal will cost you approx. EUR 50-60 per person. If you are someone who likes to tip the staff, bring some cash as you cannot add a tip to the bill when paying by card. The hotel/restaurant is on the edge of town within walking distance of most other hotels in the city center. It may not be the cheapest options in town, but it is worth every penny you will spend there.
Restaurant location: View on Google Maps
Restaurant website: http://www.restauranteazahar.com