Marisqueria Trasmallo

Trasmallo stands on the Paseo de Larios, the pedestrian stretch that carries most of the walking traffic between the centre and the beach. Its format sits between a restaurant and a tapas stop, which suits that street.

You can sit down to a full plate of shellfish or you can stand with a beer and a fish tapa and move on, and both are treated as normal here. For a visitor working out how tapas actually operate in Andalusia, an informal seafood bar like this one is a gentler place to learn than a crowded traditional tavern.

The detail that makes it useful: it opens every day, midday and night, which among the family houses of this town is close to an exception. When it is Monday and half the kitchens in Torre del Mar have their weekly rest, this street is where I would look first.