Oliva

A very good restaurant. Well run with a Dutch wife front of house and Spanish husband in the kitchen.
Very attentive and helpful staff. Interesting menu and creative amuse bouches
.
Well worth a visit if in Nerja, and not overpriced for what is on offer.

C’est LE restaurant de Nerja: des déclinaisons gastronomiques de la cuisine espagnole, à des prix qui sont dans la ligne des autres restaurants de la station, pourtant largement en dessous en termes d’inventivité et de goûts. Fabuleux !!!
De l’entrée au plat principal en passant par les amuses-​bouches (le sorbet au persil, incroyable), tout est délicieux.
Notre notation est nuancée par les desserts: une marge de progression existe bel et bien: le cannelloni au yaourt grec est bourratif et la crème brûlée manquait de finesse. Dommage car tout le reste est à un niveau que nous n’avons pas rencontré — nulle part — durant notre périple en Andalousie.

Words cannot begin to describe the thrill and delight of finding a treasure like Oliva. Housed in a charming building close to the Balcon de Europa, Oliva is a modern yet warm restaurant that serves creative spins on Andalucian and Moroccan specialties. Besides the freshness of their ingredients, Oliva is also special for effectively infusing many of their dishes with the restaurant’s namesake. And another plus: lots of things made in house, like their bread.
Each dish was beautifully presented and obviously required lots of care and thought. We were first treated to freshly baked bread, which came with high-​quality olive oil and creamy whipped butter topped with crushed olives. This tray of delights also included two fried cheese pinwheels, which had the texture of wafers and the saltiness of parmesan.
For my main, I ordered vegetarian coucous, which was so comforting and delicious. The mound of coucous topped with colorful veggies looked like a little island in my plate, a stick of cinnamon planted in the middle to resemble a flag post. A light dressing was served on the side, if I desired a little more moisture.
He got the hake, which came out topped with a beautiful orange sauce. The fish was so fresh, no surprise since we’re right next to the sea, and it was cooked perfectly.
We just had to get dessert after being blown away by our entrees, and we decided on the white chocolate soup served with passion fruit sorbet and topped with raspberries. Amaaaazing! As with everything else, the presentation made multiple food photos a must, and the flavors were so delightful.
If you ever visit the town of Nerja, and I highly recommend you do if you are in Spain, be sure to stop by Oliva. I grabbed a few business cards to share and for memory. That’s how exceptional this place is. It’s not the cheapest dining option, probably, but it’s a very worthwhile splurge.

the best restaurant in town. very friendly there. expensive but you invest every € good.
the meat quality is very very good.
you will see at the pictures.

If you are ever in this wonderful area of Spain I highly recommend this restaurant. It is run by a wonderful man and woman who will make you feel right at home and throw down some very imaginative and well created dishes highlighting the wonderful bounty of the local ingredients. It is a must do and worthy of a Michelin star.

So my friends and I have just returned to our hostel but the meal was just so good that we decided the world needed to know right now.
They have menus in Spanish and English (and I assume other languages as well) and one of the waitresses spoke Spanish, English and French.
The food was excellent. In Spain I have become used to food having extra salt and little inclusion of spices like parsley or rosemary or even black pepper so honestly none of us were expecting the palate cleanser to include thyme in a wine foam and with orange sorbet.
We had an appetizer of fried goat cheese with raspberries and fresh salad (very nice) and then I ordered the salmon with a orange ginger sauce, fried pumpkin and a small salad. My friends order lamb with couscous and sauteed vegetables and a filet of streak with truffle sauce and potatoes au gratin. The salmon was pretty well cooked and the sauce was sweet and went well with the fish. The waitress was happy to help me pick a glass of wine as well. The lamb was also well seasoned and cooked, but the steak really shined. It was cooked perfectly medium rare, the sauce was delicious with the meat and the look on my friend’s face as she tried it basically said it all.
After such a wonderful start we had no choice but to try dessert. I choose the sticky toffee cake which was a dense moist spice cake smothered in a stick gooey toffee sauce and a scoop of Bailey’s ice cream. Eat this. It may or may not put you in a sugar coma, but it will be worth it. One friend ordered the chocolate coulant (lava cake). It was sweet and milk chocolatey and served with fresh vanilla ice cream and berries. She was in heaven. Last my other friend had the crème brûlée. Smooth textured with a hint of coffee flavor and a great crust on the burnt sugar.
But really won the night was the service. The waitresses were friendly, attentive and happy to take pictures as well as answer questions. This is not normal in Spain all the time and so it was wonderful to have them seemed genuinely pleased to talk and give us advice and explanations about the food.