Murillo's Spanish Restaurant & Marple Tapas Wine Bar

An outstandingly good Spanish restaurant in the heart of Cheshire offering authentic cuisine in homely, attractive surroundings; behind the traditional exterior of a house in Stockport Road, Marple, there beats a rather unexpected heart. With the interior belying the look of the outside and providing the setting for a genuine Spanish wine and tapas bar with restaurant attached.

Heather and Felix started Murillo's in 1994 after a long and successful career catering in the south of England. Their move to Marple fulfilled a lifelong ambition, a restaurant with an additional tapas bar similar to those in Felix's adopted town of Madrid.

As time passed, they realised their clients preferred a more relaxed, less formal atmosphere, so Murillo's Restaurant became Murillo's Spanish Restaurant and Marple Tapas Wine Bar in 1999 - hence their success since.

A regular customer famously once said of Simon, Heather and Felix's son, who runs the busy kitchen of Murillo's, "It is the fortunate diner who arrives at Murillo's on the nights that chef Simon Soleto is making his lobster paella".

Their prices are also amazingly reasonable, though the average cost that we have given is for a full meal with drinks and service, a simple round of filling tapas can come to a lot less. For instance their special offer on their tapas menu, offers a choice of any three for £9.95 or four for £12.50 per person, from dishes marked with (*). This offer is available all day Sunday to Thursday and up to 7 pm, on Friday and Saturday (not available over the Christmas period). On a Wednesday evening you can enjoy your tapas against a background of jazz.

The choice of tapas is a totally authentic one and could include sautéed mushrooms, garlic, white wine; chicken pieces, sautéed with garlic, parsley and white wine; albondigas - homemade meatballs with peas, tomato, saffron, diced potatoes and white wine; Spanish omelette made with sliced potatoes, sliced onions slowly fried in olive oil; boquerones en vinagre - marinated fresh anchovies, diced garlic olive oil, parsley; baked aubergines with tomato and cheese sauce; deep fried calamares with salsa tartara and grilled marinated chicken pieces with chilli sauce. And that is but a small selection of the tapas on offer.

For accompaniment there is Pan Fresco, Pan con Ajo, a tasty Valencian baguette and olive oil garlic and parsley, or Pan Con ali-oli with a garlic mayonnaise dip.

The main courses are just as traditional including their great speciality - paella, in different styles and guides. Valenciana - a traditional paella featuring seafood, chicken, pork, chorizo, diced peppers, onion, garlic, tomato, peas, beans, saffron and white wine; a purely seafood one with prawns, mussels, squids, fresh fish, cutlet fish, Dublin bay prawns and the sofrito of diced peppers, onions, garlic, tomato, peas, fine green beans, saffron and white wine and even a purely vegetarian one, these are always for two people.

Not unnaturally their comprehensive wine list, with prices that will bring a smile to your face, majors on Spanish wines, with some worthy additions from elsewhere. This well-established restaurant and tapas bar is a major feature of the culinary scene in Cheshire.

For more information, including their menus and festive banquets, and also details on their special offers, do visit their Website.