Restaurant in Málaga, Spain
Málaga's Michelin pick for serious tasting menus.
Blossom holds a Michelin star (2024) and sits on the fourth floor of Málaga's 18th-century Palacio de la Aduana. The kitchen delivers a Chinese-Cantonese and South American fusion tasting menu in two formats (9 or 15 courses). Booking is hard — plan three to four weeks out minimum. At €€€€, it is the most distinctive fine dining option in the city for diner who want a tasting menu format.
Yes — if you are visiting Málaga for the first time and want a single meal that demonstrates what the city's fine dining scene can do beyond traditional Andalusian cooking, Blossom is the clearest answer. It holds a Michelin star (2024), sits on the fourth floor of the 18th-century Palacio de la Aduana (now the Museo de Málaga), and delivers a fusion tasting menu format that draws on both Chinese-Cantonese technique and South American influence. That is a narrow brief, but chef Chi Kwun Choi executes it with enough precision to justify the €€€€ price point — provided tasting menus are your preferred format. If you want à la carte or something more casual, look elsewhere in the city first.
The setting does a lot of the work before the food arrives. The Palacio de la Aduana is a fully restored neoclassical building at Plaza de la Aduana, and the restaurant occupies its fourth floor. For a first-timer, this means the arrival experience feels more substantial than most of Málaga's fine dining rooms: you are entering a museum-grade heritage building, not a converted shopfront. The kitchen's output is built around two tasting menus , Esencia (9 courses) and Gran Blossom (15 courses), both available with wine pairing. The creative direction combines Chinese and Cantonese culinary foundations with South American touches, including preparation styles that reference Peru, Mexico, and Argentina. The ceviche with leche de tigre de ají amarillo has been noted as a highlight by multiple sources for its precision and visual execution.
Service at this price tier matters enormously, and Blossom's service style is formal without being stiff. For a first-timer at a Michelin-starred tasting menu in a non-capital Spanish city, that is the right calibration. The room is small , tables are limited, which is part of why the experience feels considered rather than rushed. It is not the kind of restaurant where you will feel processed through a high-volume service model. That said, the formal pacing of a 9- or 15-course menu means you should plan for a full evening commitment. Do not book this if you have a post-dinner schedule.
On whether the service earns the price: the combination of the Michelin star, the setting, the tasting menu format, and the 4.7 Google rating across 967 reviews suggests a consistent delivery. A €€€€ price point in Málaga (not Madrid or Barcelona) is a real commitment, and Blossom makes a credible case for it. Where it earns the rate most clearly is in the attention to presentation and the coherence of the fusion concept , this is not a restaurant blending cuisines for novelty's sake. Where it may not suit every diner is if you want a more relaxed, drop-in experience: this is a planned meal, not a spontaneous one.
Booking difficulty at Blossom is rated Hard. Given the small room size and the Michelin star, reservations are not optional , they are essential. Plan to book at minimum two to three weeks in advance for a standard weekend slot; for Friday or Saturday dinner, four weeks out is safer. The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which compresses the available booking window across the week. Lunch service runs 1 PM to 3 PM; dinner runs 7 PM to 9 PM on open days (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Note the tight service windows: arriving late at 8:30 PM for a 15-course menu is not advisable.
There is no listed phone number or website in the publicly available venue data, which means the most reliable booking route is through a third-party reservation platform or by visiting the Palacio de la Aduana directly. For first-timers unfamiliar with the venue's location, the address is Plaza de la Aduana, s/n , easily walkable from Málaga's historic centre and the Cathedral district. If you are building a broader Málaga itinerary, see our full Málaga restaurants guide, hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.
Blossom's Michelin star and tasting menu format place it in the same general conversation as Spain's serious destination restaurants, even if it operates at a smaller scale. For context, Spain's benchmark tasting menu experiences include El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María, and DiverXO in Madrid. Blossom does not compete directly with three-star restaurants, nor should it be compared on that basis. What it offers is a one-star experience with a genuinely distinct culinary identity , Chinese-South American fusion in a heritage building in Málaga is not a formula replicated elsewhere in Andalusia. For fusion tasting menu dining specifically, the closest international reference points would be venues like Atomix in New York City or Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, though neither maps perfectly onto Blossom's specific concept.
Within Málaga, other strong options in the contemporary and creative space include Kaleja, Aire, Alaparte, Arte de Cozina, and Base9. These are worth considering if the tasting menu format at Blossom is not the right fit for your group or budget.
| Detail | Blossom | Kaleja | José Carlos García |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tier | €€€€ | €€€€ | €€€€ |
| Cuisine | Chinese, Fusion (South American) | Andalusian, Contemporary | Mallorcan, Creative |
| Booking difficulty | Hard | Hard | Hard |
| Format | Tasting menu (9 or 15 courses) | Tasting menu | Tasting menu |
| Closed | Tuesday, Wednesday | Varies | Varies |
| Michelin | 1 Star | 1 Star | 1 Star |
| Setting | 4th floor, heritage palace | City centre | Harbour-facing |
Lunch is the better call for first-timers. The service windows are identical in format (tasting menu only), but the 1 PM to 3 PM lunch slot gives you the remainder of the afternoon to explore Málaga's old town , the Cathedral and the Alcazaba are both within easy walking distance of the Palacio de la Aduana. Dinner at 7 PM runs close to the 9 PM close, which is tight for a 15-course menu if you want a relaxed pace. If you are choosing between Esencia (9 courses) and Gran Blossom (15 courses), the 9-course menu is the more practical choice for a lunch sitting.
The room is small, so large groups will face real constraints. There is no listed phone number or website in the available data, which makes direct outreach harder , a third-party reservation platform is the most reliable route for group enquiries. For parties of more than four, book as early as possible (six or more weeks out for weekend slots) and confirm group suitability directly when reserving. If you are planning a group dinner in Málaga and cannot secure a Blossom booking, Kaleja is worth considering at the same price tier.
The tasting menu format makes dietary restrictions a conversation you need to have at the point of booking, not on arrival. The fusion concept (Chinese, Cantonese, South American) spans a wide range of ingredients and preparation styles, so any allergy or dietary requirement should be communicated in advance. No specific dietary accommodation information is available in the public venue data. When booking via a third-party platform, use the notes field to flag requirements , do not assume the kitchen will adapt a 9- or 15-course sequence without prior notice.
There is no confirmed bar seating option in the available venue data. Blossom operates as a tasting menu restaurant with a small number of tables; walk-in or bar-counter dining is not a format that aligns with the restaurant's service model at this price tier. If you want a more casual entry point into Málaga's food scene without committing to a tasting menu, Base9 or Alaparte are worth exploring first.
Yes, with one condition: you need to want a tasting menu experience. At €€€€ in Málaga, Blossom is competing against Kaleja and José Carlos García , both at the same price tier, both holding Michelin stars. Blossom differentiates on the distinctiveness of its concept: Chinese-Cantonese and South American fusion in a heritage palace setting is not something you will find duplicated in Málaga. The 4.7 Google score across nearly 1,000 reviews and the 2024 Michelin star back up the price. If you are choosing on value alone, Beluga at €€€ offers a lower entry point without dropping too far in quality.
The 9-course Esencia menu is the better starting point for first-timers. The 15-course Gran Blossom is a serious commitment in both time and price, and unless you are already familiar with the kitchen's style and know you want maximum coverage, the shorter menu gives you a complete picture of the concept without the endurance required by a 15-course sequence. Chef Chi Kwun Choi's approach , combining Cantonese technique with South American preparation styles, including ceviches built on leche de tigre de ají amarillo , is coherent enough that the 9-course format does not feel truncated. The Opinionated About Dining recognition (Leading Restaurants North America #509, 2024) and the Michelin star together confirm this is not an experimental concept still finding its feet.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blossom | Chinese, Fusion | €€€€ | Hard |
| Kaleja | Andalusian, Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
| José Carlos García | Mallorcan, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| La Taberna de Mike Palmer | Mediterranean, Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
| Beluga | Russian - Caviar, Mediterranean Cuisine | €€€ | Unknown |
| Candado Golf | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
How Blossom stacks up against the competition.
Lunch is the more approachable entry point — the same tasting menu format runs at both services, but the 1–3 PM slot tends to be slightly easier to book and lets you experience the Palacio de la Aduana setting in natural light. Dinner from 7 PM suits a longer, more occasion-driven visit. Either way, Tuesday and Wednesday are closed, so plan accordingly.
The room is small and tables are limited, which makes larger groups difficult. Blossom is better suited to parties of two or four than to groups of six or more. If you are planning a group dinner, check the venue's official channels to confirm availability before assuming a booking is possible.
Tasting menu restaurants at this level — Michelin-starred, multi-course format — typically accommodate dietary requirements when notified at the time of booking. The menu at Blossom is structured around set courses, so advance notice is essential rather than optional. check the venue's official channels when reserving to confirm what adjustments are possible.
There is no confirmed bar seating available at Blossom based on current venue data. The format is a sit-down tasting menu in a small dining room, and the limited table count means walk-in or informal seating is not a reliable option. A reservation is essential regardless of where you sit.
At €€€€ with a Michelin star earned in 2024, Blossom is priced in line with Spain's serious destination restaurants and delivers a tasting menu with genuine culinary ambition from chef Chi Kwun Choi in a restored 18th-century building. For Málaga specifically, there is nothing else in the city at this level combining this format, this setting, and this recognition. If a structured tasting menu at premium prices is what you are after, the case for booking is strong.
Yes, if a multi-course format is your preference. Blossom offers two menus — Blossom and Gran Blossom — both reflecting the Buenos Aires-born chef's approach drawing on local Málaga produce with South American influences including Peruvian, Mexican, and Argentine references. The shorter menu works as an introduction; the longer one is better if you want the full picture. Wine pairing is available on both.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
