There are a lot of Spanish restaurants in Alicante, offering delicious Mediterranean dishes that are so typical for Costa Blanca and Valencia area.
The most famous meal is paella (a rice dish with meat, seafood and/or vegetables) and its local version paella alicantina. You can also try various seafood plates with fish, fried squid (calamari), shrimp and prawns (gambas and langostinos). If you do not like Mediterranean food, the restaurants offer more continental menus with soup, salads, fried meat and other conventional dishes.
During the day, you can have a cheap lunch in almost all restaurants or tapas bars (cervecerías). Look for small blackboards in front of restaurants with hand-written daily menus. They are known as el menu del dia and include a full lunch with 2 or 3 dishes with a drink and a dessert of your choice. The food is always fresh and the prices are low.
The following is the list of selected Spanish restaurants, where you can have a dinner enjoying an unforgettable night during your Explore Spain:
Darsena
The best-known restaurant Alicante can offer is Darsena. It offers numerous Mediterranean dishes with fish and shellfish. However, it is mostly famous for its great variety of rice – up to 150 different types. Darsena is one of the very few restaurants able to bring you all the diversity and richness of Alicante cuisine. For dessert, you can try ice-cream Helado de turrón produced by Xixona.
You can find it in a modern complex of Alicante harbour. Through the big restaurant windows, you have amazing views over the harbour, Explanada promenade and the sea. A warm decoration and an excellent service guarantee you an enjoyable atmosphere.
Address:
Marina Deportiva / Muelle Levante 6, 03001 Alicante Spain
Tel: (+34) 965 207 399
E-mail: restaurante@darsena.com
Opening hours:
from 13:00 to 17:00 and
from 19:30 to 24:00
Maestral
Maestral is a classical restaurant, very appreciated by Alicante locals. Very often, it is a place of various celebrations, such as weddings, baptism, birthdays etc. Placed in a nice, quiet villa surrounded by gardens, it offers a relaxing atmosphere and traditional menus.
Dinning rooms are large and full of light and there is also a nice terrace, opened during the summer. Typical menu includes salmon salad, shrimp and fresh cheese, various paellas and seafood delicacies.
Address:
at the corner of Andalucia and Duque de Ribas streets, number 18, 03016 Alicante Spain
Tel: (+34) 965 123 130
E-mail: maestral@alc.es
Opening hours:
from 13:00 to 24:00 (closed on Sunday nights)
Monastrell
This elegant restaurant is situated in the Old Town of Alicante in San Fernando street, parallel to famous Explanada promenade. The interior is an example of a contemporary design with straight lines and use of stone, wood and aluminium materials. Monastrell restaurant offers a combination of a traditional cuisine with a modern touch. The menu contains autochthonous dishes from the regions of Valencia and Catalonia.
Address:
San Fernando street 10, 03002 Alicante Spain
Tel: (+34) 965 200 363
E-mail: monastrell@monastrell.com
Opening hours:
from 14:00 to 17:00 and from 20:30 to 24:00
Other Old Town restaurants and tapas bars
El Buen Comer
Taking a walk through the Old Town of Alicante (called El Barrio), you will find a lot of typical Spanish restaurants and tapas bars, having their tables in front of them on the street. One of them is well known El Buen Comer. It is situated in Calle Mayor (the Main Street), close to the City Hall, Cathedral of San Nicolas and the hotel Amerigo.
Having dinner in front of this and other restaurants in the Old Town area, you can enjoy a pleasant outdoor atmosphere surrounded by colourful eye-catching 18th-century facades. Menus include both seafood dishes and more conventional meals (such as steak, pork, lamb and chicken).
Address: Calle Mayor (the Main Street) 8, 03001 Alicante Spain
Tel: (+34) 965 213 103
Opening hours:
from 08:00 to 24:00
Nou Manolin
Visiting this restaurant, you can discover a tasty world of Spanish tapas. Offering more than 50 different tapas dishes, Nou Manolin is one of the best in the city. Furthermore, you can also try other traditional meals such as various paellas, fish cooked in a salt crust and fresh shellfish. Friendly waiters dressed in uniforms will lead you upstairs into an elegantly designed dining room. Finally, do not forget to take a glass or two of an excellent Iberian wine, making your dinner perfect.
Address: Villegas street 3, 03001 Alicante Spain
Tel: (+34) 965 200 368
E-mail:
administracion@noumanolin.com
Opening hours:
from 13:15 to 16:15 and from 20:15 to 24:15
Casa Julio
Casa Julio restaurant is situated in front of San Juan beach. It offers great views over this sandy paradise and the Mediterranean. This is an ideal place to have a lunch in the afternoon, while enjoying the beach. This restaurant offers various paellas, as well as salads, fish, grilled meat and steaks with fried potato. For dessert, there are numerous chocolate delicacies and ice cream.
Address: Avda. Niza (Avenue), 03540 Playa de San Juan, Alicante Spain
Tel: (+34) 965 651 070
Opening hours:
from 13:00 to 16:00 and from 21:00 to 23:00
We presented here a very short list of Spanish restaurants in Alicante offering traditional Spanish and Costa Blanca dishes. But, there are many others.
Once you come to Alicante, just take a walk through the city and choose a restaurant you like. Explore our Old Town and discover the kitchen you prefer most – there are a lot of pleasant surprises. If Mediterranean food is not your favourite one, there are other cuisines – from European to Oriental. With more than 500 different restaurants in Alicante and surrounding suburbs, for sure any taste can be satisfied.
