Alicante Restaurants

Eating out is a popular pastime for locals and tourists here, and there are plenty of different types of cuisine to be sampled. As a coastal town, the seafood is excellent and there are plenty of restaurants serving traditional Spanish paella, among other regional specialities.

Local Cuisine

Undoubtedly the main dish of this region is the classic Spanish paella, an aromatic rice dish made with meat, vegetables and seafood.   The seafood in Alicante is particularly excellent. The most common fish served in the Alicante area are: anchovies, red mullet, sardines, tuna and whiting, as well as superb seafood with prawns, cuttlefish and squid the most common. Arroz negro is a dish made with black rice and cuttlefish that is local to this region of Spain.

Other rice dishes well worth trying are; arroz a la alicantina, made with chicken, rice and shelfish or arroz de magor, rice with meat and vegetables. You will see a huge range of dishes named arroz, which lets you know that they are rice based.

The Moorish influence of the past is still noticable in the cuisine of the town with dried fruits and nuts being popular and abundant. The most famous desert however is Alicante style nougat, called turrón. This is especially common around Christmas time, but can be found all year round. Turrón a la piedra is made with almonds and cinnamon.

Alicante is one of Spain’s major wine producing areas and there are some excellent wines to be sampled. One of the most traditional local wines is El Fondillón, a fortified wine, not dissimilar to port, which you must try while visiting here.

Where to eat

Alicante has a good range of eateries to suit all budgets and tastes (there is even a Norwegian restaurant here), with the local food, and in particular seafood restaurants particularly good.

One of the best eating places here is Restaurante Alebrije, with a beautiful and romantic garden setting. It certainly isn’t a cheap option, but the local and Mediterranean dishes are a speciality, and it is well worth a visit for a special occasion. Dársen a is another well-respected restaurant, the food is excellent and all freshly prepared, and with its location on the port, the views out to sea are stunning.

There are a huge number of bars serving tapas here, and the best thing to do is go for a stroll and chose one that takes your fancy. If you crave some popular English dishes while in Alicante, then there are a number of good value places along the seafront, serving English breakfasts and the like.

The Alicante Central Market is a great place to visit to sample some of the local specialities, the open air market has plenty of stalls serving good value snacks and it’s good fun to explore the market and sample something new.