Where is the best place in Malaga province for Menu del Dia? There are plenty of choices

A traditional starter: Embutidos. Cured dried sausage and Manchego Cheese
El Cortijuelo Menu del Dia
There are thousands of places where you can get a great Menu de Dia meal in the Malaga province of Andalucia. To be fair, there are also some that are not so clever. For now, let me concentrate on my own particular favourites.
Lockdown and other Covid-19 laws have limited the amount of travel we can do, it also has limited opening times of bars and restaurants. Each province and municipality has its own rules. Unfortunately for the area, I live in, Villanueva del Trabuco, we have had the most severe of these restrictions as of late.
Great news arrived this week (March 1st, 2021), we are allowed to travel within our own municipalities. This also meant that bars and restaurants were again able to open, albeit for a limited time and capacity.
We needed no second hint! It’s off to Fermin’s we go.
When you consider the restrictions we have lived under for the last few months, you would think I would be off to Nerja, Malaga or anywhere! No! We wanted Menu del Dia from El Cortijuelo.
Why El Cortijuelo?

Menu del Dia. Lentils with Chorizo sausage and potatoes
Simple answer; we can walk to the restaurant from our home in the campo (countryside) as it is only 1km down the Camino. No need for a car and it would be great to be out in the fresh air.
El Cortijuelo is a barrio or ‘neighbourhood’ that consists of about a dozen houses and two great bars/restaurants. Collectively known as ‘El Cortijuelo’. You are either going to eat in Manolo’s or Fermin’s.
Manolo is the elder of the brothers Romero, Fermin is the eldest of his family.
Both of these establishments serve menu del dia. For €8.50 Monday to Friday, you can get a 3-course meal, with a drink. Weekends and fiestas menu del dia will rise to around €11 per person. Still fantastic value.
Yesterday we dined on a starter of a stew made of lentils with chorizo sausage and potatoes and fresh crusty bread. For our main course, we picked lamb cutlets with chips and fresh tomatoes and Bacalao (Cod in batter) with chips and fresh tomatoes.

Menu del Dia. Cordero (Lamb) with chips and fresh tomatoes
A bottle of ice-cold Barbadillo (White wine) and Baron de Navarro (Tinto) helped to wash things down. Desert was Peach in syrup and Tarta whisky (cake with cream drizzled with whiskey)
All this cost €24. Put into perspective, a McDonalds with water and coffee is around €18 for two people.
The other great thing about eating in the Cortijuelo is that the food is great. The service is professional and there is a wide choice of wines. The children are catered for and a bouncy castle is on hand for those children with a little more energy than most.

Cod and Chips a la Cortijuelo. Bacalao con Patatas Fritas
Staying in Nerja
Staying in a villa or apartment in Nerja gives you the opportunity to visit these outlying villages and sample traditional Andalucia food and hospitality. Having your own villa or apartment gives you freedom of movement and you are not tied to any hotel itinerary.
If you are headed towards Antequera or Granada, why not pass by Villanueva del Trabuco and pop into El Cortijuelo. You are always welcome.