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Alicante
city and province offers visitors a surprisingly large variety of excellent restaurants.
Aswell as the inevitably large number of restaurants in Alicante offering sangria
and rice dishes - paella - , there are lots of restaurants specialised in new
innovative cuisine, excellent fish and seafood restaurants along the coast, mountain
restaurants offering traditional stews and roast meats, and, because of the relatively
large non-Spanish population in the province, many international restaurants.
Read our reviews and recommendations restaurants in Alicante city and
restaurants in Alicante province below. Visitors to Alicante might also be
interested in our guide to hotels
in Alicante and restaurants
in the Costa Blanca |
| | | Restaurants
in Alicante Spain | | | Restaurante
La Querencia
Avda. Países Escandinavos, 9
Playa San Juan, Alicante
Tel.
96 515 47 66 | We
have just discovered this excellent restaurant in Alicante specialised in Argentinean
cuisine. First class quality Argentinean cuts of meat, mixed grills, excellent
steaks, traditional starters, delicious deserts, attentive service in a simple,
no-frills restaurant near San Juan Beach in Alicante. Outstanding value for money
and highly recommended. Open all year, Thursday-Monday. It is getting more and
more popular so booking table in advance at weekends is advised. | | | Restaurante
Darsena
Puerto de Alicante, Marina de Deportiva.
Tel: 965 207 589 
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Alicante's best known fish and paella restaurant recently moved to the end of
the new port to a new, modern building more stylish than the previous one. Alicante
is famous for its rice dishes (arroz), especially those based on seafood and stock
made from local fish. The Darsena boasts the best rices of the whole of Alicante,
offers over 100 different varieties and is very popular with visitors and locals
alike. We actually think it is over-rated. It gets very crowded, especially at
mid-day when the noise levels can be rather deafening and you may be forced to
listen to neighbouring table conversation rather than your own as tables are very
close. However, if you want to try a typical Alicantino rice or local seafood,
Darsena is probably the restaurant for you. If you are not a seafood person, try
their arroz con magro y verduras (pork and vegetables) which is also excellent.
Delicious desserts, including "helado de turrón", another local
favourite. It is ice-cream made from almond and honey nougat. | | | Restaurante
Casa PepeAvd. de Cataluña, 14, Playa de San Juan, Alicante Tel:
965 154 523-  | Pepe
Conesa and his wife Isabel direct this small restaurant treating visitors to real
quality Mediterranean dishes at a reasonable price. Pepe goes to Alicante market
each morning himself to purchase the freshest produce on offer, and the all dishes
served in his restaurant use the highest quality ingredients. Try the "ensalada
Pepe", a mixture of raf tomatoes, fresh cheese, olives and marinated sardines.
All the rice and paella dishes served in Casa Pepe are delicious, although we
prefer arroz a banda (sea-food) and arroz con verderas (vegetable and pork). Excellent
fish (let Pepe advise you) and meat dishes if you don't want rice, and a simple
dessert menu of home-made rice-pudding,
flan,
natillas.
Highly recommended, but it is small and very popular amongst "alicantinos",
so make a reservation. | | | Casa
Emilio
Av. Caja de Ahorros, 16
Vistahermosa
Alicante
965 155 556 | Casa
Emilio is a relatively new restaurant in Alicante which has rapidly become popular
with locals. The building years ago used to be a brothel and then a pizzería,
but has been totally refurbished into a stylish, spacious restaurant offering
good food, traditional recipes, friendly service and good wines all at a very
reasonable price. We recommend croquetas or fried anchovies for starters, the
seabass baked in salt, wonderfully tasty and tender, or one of the rice dishes.
There is a special menu for children and the set menu for adults costs 27 euros.
And as for the the warm chocolate cake for dessert........ Highly recommended. | | | Restaurante
Azahar Alberola 57, Alicante. Tel: 965 121 348.  | Paco
Ramón, who has collaborated in some of Alicante's most prestigious restaurants
for over 30 years, opened his own restaurant about 5 years ago, and it has quickly
become a firm favourite among many alicantinos. Small and tastefully decorated,
the Azahar (which is the Spanish word for orange blossom) offers traditional Alicantino
dishes from the coast and from the mountains, including stews, rice dishes, soups,
grilled vegetables etc. Adventurous (and hungry) visitors might like to try the
arroz con costra, a version of paella made with sausages and black sausage
baked in the oven with a layer of beaten eggs on the top which becomes hard, forming
a crust (hence the word "costra). | | | | | | Restaurante
La Vieja Encina
C/ Doctor Van Der Hofstadt
San Juan - Pueblo (Alicante)
Tel:96 565 24 30 | Just
on the outskirts of Alicante along the road to Valencia in San Juan Pueblo, this
small unassuming restaurant was a surprise to us when we were first taken there
by friends. Alicante cuisine is renowned for its rices and seafood rather than
its meat (although roast lamb is a popular mountain favourite), and it is unusual
to find somewhere serving such excellent meat. The owner of La Vieja Encina is
from Salamanca, and she buys the meats from her native province. Let her advise
you on your first visit - all the meats are delicious. For starters, try her home-made
croquetas, tomato and rocket salad, quiche, anchovies or pickled garlics. Prices
rather high, but the quality is too. | | | | | | Restaurants
in the Province of Alicante | | | | | | | | Restaurante
La Sirena
Avda. Madrid 14,
Petrer (Alicante)
Tel: 965 371 718 | Carmen
Vélez directs this charming restaurant in Petrer, a small inland town just
a 20-minute drive from Alicante along the A3 motorway towards Madrid. Wonderful
rice and paella
dishes. According to "Lo mejor de la gastronomía 2005, La Sirena's
"arroz a banda con gambitas" is the best in the whole of Spain (arroz
a banda is made with fish stock and served with garlic mayonnaise and is very
popular in the whole of Alicante). But Carmen also offers delicious seafood (the
seabass in a sea urchin sauce), meats, irresistable creative dishes (eg fresh
tuna with a spiced crust) and mouthwatering desserts (our favourite is the coffee
icecream with hot chocolate sauce). Try the "menú de degustación"
which offers a taste of La Sirena's most popular dishes, or "menú
del viajero", a cheaper option for travellers. Or, if you prefer a less formal
visit, try the wonderful tapas
served at the bar. Before or after eating at La Sirena, visit Totel
which belongs to Paco Torreblanca, Spain's most renowned chocolatier, famous
for his mouth-watering deserts, cakes and chocolates. | | | Restaurante
L'Aplec C/ carretera nº 35, Benialí, Vall de la Gallinera,
Tel: 96 640 65 10 / 649 639 813  | L'Aplec
looks like a typical small (scruffy) village bar at the side of the road leading
out of little Benialí (in the Pego area of Alicante, inland). But appearances
can certainly be deceptive, and as soon as you sit at one of the few tables inside,
you will understand how. Eating at L'Aplec is an experience you won't forget.
Tony and German own, cook and serve with style and rather than offering a menu,
they serve whatever they have prepared for that day. Authentic traditional recipes
from the alicah is surprising in every sense - in tastes, in colour ..... and
in size. Don't plan anything but a long siesta after a lunch at L'Aplec. Good
wines, friendly atmosphere and all at very low prices. Highly recommended. | | | Restaurante
La Montaña
Partida dels Algars, 139. Tel.: 965 590 832 | Just
outside the village of Concentaina (near Alcoy in the Aitana sierra), this charming
restaurant is set in a lovely country finca-style building. Delicious local dishes
cooked using traditional methods and skill. Friendly service, lovely garden, generous
portions and reasonable prices. Only opens at lunchtime except at weekends. | | | Venta
la Montaña
C/ carretera de Alcoy 9, Benimantell
Tel: 965 885
141
 | Just
over 1 km. away from popular Guadalest
and 19km inland from Benidorm,
Venta la Montaña has been serving food to hungry visitors since 1910. Interesting
restaurant decorated with rural ornaments, Venta serves a set menu for 25 euros
with a selection of its most popular dishes. Traditional recipes with top
quality ingredients. Worthy of mention are artichokes with garlic, grilled vegetables,
red pepper salad and roast lamb. Also "olleta" a typical vegetable broth
cooked in Alicante's mountain village. Slow service, especially at weekends and
in the holiday season, so don't be in a rush. | | | Restaurants
in the Costa Blanca | |
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