Uvedoble Taberna

Black noodles at the pass

Black fideo noodles leave the pan with calamari close behind, a dark, crisp gesture from chef Willie Orellana at Uvedoble Taberna in Málaga. The dish sits comfortably in his line of work: Andalusian memory, tightened for a modern tapas counter, without losing the appetite of the taberna. Orellana trained at Escuela de Hostelería La Cónsula, then settled his craft in this house, where ownership dates to 2009 and where he remains in post. His station is not framed as a departure from Málaga cooking so much as a disciplined adjustment of it. Russian salad comes with prawns. Croquetas carry jamón ibérico. Swordfish becomes ceviche with local avocado. Garlic prawns arrive as mini-kebabs, a small street-food form brought into the pass with restaurant timing. In 2017, Orellana received the Trofeo Cervezas Victoria Málaga at the Campeonato de Ensaladilla Rusa, a recognition attached to a dish that can expose a cook quickly: potato, mayonnaise, seafood, temperature, restraint. At Uvedoble, that kind of familiar plate gives the kitchen its measure.

Tapas built for the long table

The format is small plates and à la carte, which lets the kitchen move between a bite at the counter and a table covered with shared dishes. Orellana’s program works through contrast rather than size: the softness of Russian salad against prawns, the snap of toasted fideo with calamari, the fat and salt of jamón ibérico croquetas, the clean cut of swordfish ceviche. The menu returns often to seafood, but it does not treat the coast as decoration. Prawn rolls, octopus roll, calamari and swordfish all carry a Málaga grammar, then meet a contemporary hand at the bench. Slow-fire cooking appears in the house’s own account of its approach, alongside quality product and nostalgic street-food references. The result is not a tasting menu disguised as tapas. It is a pass built for repetition, one plate following another, with enough precision that a familiar dish can bear another reading.

A bright room near old stone

The room is modern, clean and light, with a minimalist interior that keeps the focus on the plates and the movement of service. The restaurant sits on Calle Alcazabilla, opposite the Alcazaba and near the Roman Theatre and Cathedral, after a 2021 relocation to a larger nearby site. That setting matters less as scenery than as pressure: old-town footfall, local regulars, visitors moving between monuments, tables turning over small plates and glasses of Spanish wine. The counter and dining room keep a lively register without becoming harsh. Outside, the terrace gives the taberna another pace, especially when the historic center is full. Inside, the pass remains the anchor.

Sierras de Málaga in the glass

The wine program stays close to the food, with Spanish bottles and local Sierras de Málaga wines given clear space by the glass. No sommelier is named by the house, so the pairing work belongs to the floor and the rhythm of the table: Albariño beside seafood, regional reds beside richer plates, a glass chosen to keep the next tapa moving. Uvedoble’s awards count stands at 3, and its disciplined menu still returns to prawns, fideos negros and ensaladilla rusa. The plate Orellana has made into a calling card is fideos negros at Uvedoble Taberna.