Malaga (Spanish restaurant on the UES)

[Fat Guy]

How this place completely escaped my notice, even though I've been in its extended neighborhood for 16 years (since 1991), and even though it has been in business for 35 years (since 1972), I do not know. I actually had a close friend living on that block for many years, and I must have walked by the restaurant 300 times and never noticed it.

I was invited to celebrate a friend's birthday there and, when I got the invitation, I was like "What the heck is this place?" Upon arrival, the first person I saw (totally unrelated to the party) was a friend from law school who lives in the East 60s. He was there with his wife and two-year-old girl. "Oh, we come hear like twice a week." Then we saw another couple we know, and they were like, "We used to come here all the time when we lived in the neighborhood; now we drive in from Westchester whenever we can."

Now, don't get your hopes up. Malaga is not El Bulli. I'm sure nothing about the restaurant or the menu has changed much since 1972. The food is not fabulous. But it is quite satisfying. Wonderful homemade potato chips, addictive chorizo, shrimp covered in copious amounts of garlic sauce, mariscado (mixed seafood) with a green sauce (parsley, onions, Sherry and garlic) I wanted to put on everything else. The only really weak dish I tried was the paella, which was just not worthy (bland rice, no integration of flavors) -- though it perked up a bit with the addition of some green sauce from the mariscado.

Portions are pretty big, and I would recommend treating it a bit like Chinese food and coordinating a whole-table order so you can mix and match from a few different dishes.

We had to leave before dessert, but the desserts we saw looked mediocre.

Malaga Restaurant

406 East 73rd Street (just East of First Avenue)

New York, NY 10021

212.737.7659

http://www.malaganyc.com