La Zambra, the former Byblos hotel in the hills of Mijas, welcomed guests this week to celebrate the start of its 2026 season with an evening that moved through the resort’s different gastronomic spaces, each one offering a different flavour of this Andalucian property.
Bamboleo
The evening began with cocktails at Bamboleo, the bar that channels the spirit of the original Byblos and its jet-set heyday in the 1980s and 90s. Princess Diana stayed here three times, famously photographed by paparazzi by the pool, an episode now commemorated with playful good humour with the signature ‘Topless Corona’ cocktail. The Rolling Stones, the Saudi royal family, Antonio Banderas and Julio Iglesias were all regulars. That legacy lives on in Bamboleo’s personality, a bar with warmth, character and a cocktail list that tells stories.
Palmito
From there, we moved to the garden terrace of Palmito, the resort’s Mediterranean restaurant, for show cooking as the sun set over the mountains. A jamón carver demonstrated this time-honoured skills on a leg of ibérico while executive chef Juanjo Solano prepared fresh porra antequerana, the chilled Andalucian tomato soup. Another chef grilled espetos of prawns and seafood over charcoal. This is the joy of Southern Spain, a balmy spring evening, glasses of wine in hand, as the Sierra de Mijas catching the last of the light.
Picador
Then the walk to Picador, through the gardens, past the destination Mood Spa, to this charming Andalusian restaurant. Set within a walled courtyard, here Juanjo Solano and the team reinterpret regional cooking with a contemporary precision. The evening’s tasting menu opened with the aged beef tenderloin tartare on toasted brioche, one of Picador’s most popular dishes, followed by a beautiful smoked eel brioche with mustard, sauerkraut and fresh leaves, paired with Gramona III Lustros, the Corpinnat cava. The fried market fish with piparra pepper porra was pure Andalusia on a plate, while the ribeye with sun-dried tomato chimichurri and bone marrow was substantial and deeply flavoured. The evening wound down with a mango profiterole paired with a Tokaj Aszú 6 Puttonyos, a generous and unexpected finish.
La Zambra, part of the Unbound Collection by Hyatt and managed by Marugal, sits between Málaga and Marbella, set among the Robert Trent Jones-designed golf courses of Mijas. The resort has 196 rooms and suites, each with a private terrace, and the 2,000-square-metre Mood Spa, one of the largest wellness centres on the coast. It is a laid-back, elegant property that is the ideal base to enjoy everything that the region has to offer.
You can read The Luxury Editor review of La Zambra, including the rooms, spa and resort, here.
Contact Details
Address: La Zambra Resort, Avenida Louison Bobet 9, Urbanización Mijas Golf, 29650 Mijas, Spain lazambrahotel.com
Website: https://lazambrahotel.com/
