Fuengirola Spain - Meson La Pecha

This little tapas place quickly became one of our favorite spots in Fuengirola. It is located about a block off of the eastern end of the main street running along the beach front. On the first day we just stopped in to have a drink. We ordered white wine, without any preference specified. The wines were nice but not noteworthy. While we drank we noticed that other patrons (the other 3 or 4 patrons) were served a dish of olives and pickled vegies. The owners must have noticed our curiousity so they provided us with a dish of those as well. Very tasty. There was also a small refrigerated display case of different meats/seafoods on skewers on the bar counter so we inquired about one of the items. It was a Manchego cheese marinating in olive oil and black pepper. We ordered a plate (and more wine) and found the olive oil, pepper and hard cheese to be extremely refreshing. The flavors complimented each other perfectly.
The next day we returned and ordered a few more tapas, including a smoked meat plated which included jamon serrano, salchichon (sausage), smoked pork loin with a few slices of Manchego cheese. All were fabulous. The serrano ham was my favorite. The smokey flavor of cured, aged pork, freshly cut off of the whole ham was beautiful.
I managed to talk a little with the owners (husband and wife), explaining that I am a cook in the United States and that I am opening an Irish Pub style restaurant in Virginia. Then I asked if they prepared paella at the restaurant. Unfortunately, the answer was "no". After a few minutes the wife came over and explained that they would make paella for us. We made arrangements to return to the restaurant for paella in three days at 8 in the evening. We arrived about 7:45 and they had a special table set up for us. We each had a glass of sangria (compliments of a nice English couple that we met at the restaurant on our second trip). The paella was cooking away on the restaurant's grill. At about 8:10 the paella was ready and we had the best paella that we've ever had. It had mussels, fish, shrimp, clams and other seafood. I've prepared paella many times (including at school where I learned to make the dish from a Spanish chef) but this was the absolute best. The rice was cooked perfectly. The flavoring superb. The seafood was tender and not overcooked. Just amazing. Although the tab was 30 Euros (including drinks) we gave the owners 50 Euros for their troubles and for treating us like royalty.
On our fourth and final trip we had a few of the skewers that were in the display case. The lamb was good, but not special. The cuttlefish was very fishy tasting... a little too strong for us but we finished it anyway. It didn't taste old or bad, just too strong. We also had more Manchego cheese and wine. The restaurant carries dozens of Spanish wines.