A few great places to eat in Alicante 2025

Nowadays, I seem to have a few simple criteria for deciding where to go on a short break:

1. There needs to be regular flights from Cardiff or Bristol airport.

2. It needs to be in Spain.

3. And Owen from Bar 44 needs to have said there’s tasty scran to eat there.

These are the reasons why, for two years in a row, we've found ourselves in Alicante on the Costa Blanca. Of course, that is in addition to Malaga, my favourite city in Europe. 

With its buzzing city centre beach, Playa del Postiguet, that’s overlooked by the imposing hilltop fortress of Castell de la Santa Barbara, and the wave-like mosaic of the Explanada de España seafront walkway, Alicante is a charming destination.

It also happens to bill itself as the City of Rice (Ciudad del Arroz), with rice dishes forming the basis of much of the city’s cuisine. It's great fun to guzzle your way through a handful of the city’s over 300 different rice specialities, from arroz seco (dry rice) to arroz meloso (creamy rice) and the coveted crunch of the soccarat (a caramelised layer of rice at the bottom of the pan).

Here's a few of the places we've enjoyed during both our trips to Alicante. I’ve ordered them roughly according to how essential I think a visit should be.

La Taverna del Racó del Pla

This traditional wood-panelled tavern is an absolute gem of a place and we've had excellent arroz and tapas there on two visits. I'd highly recommend booking a table as there were heaps of disappointed walk-ins whilst we were there. 

Tapas were all great, including filo pastry sacks filled with a rich ham flecked bechamel and drenched in a fruity oxtail sauce; dates wrapped in crisp bacon; and fried fresh cheese with salty anchovies.

Arroz seco with nuggets of crisp pork, chickpeas, broad beans and charred peppers was unquestionably one of the best rice dishes I've ever eaten. The rice was so well cooked with a lovely crisp edged soccarat, a big flavoured meat stock and an excellent fragrance of oregano.

For dessert, there was a belter of a tarta de turron with a nutty caramelised cream, syrup soaked cake base and a brùléed exterior.

Cesar Anca Restaurante

Cesar Anca, which is situated just off the Explanada de España, serves some of the most creative and delicious tapas we've found in Alicante. It's also been easy to grab seats at their bar on both visits.

Uber decadent oxtail cannelloni with a crispy jamon crumb is a huge flavoured dish. I'd recommend ordering one each. 

A millefeuille of crisp caramelised apple, sour raw apple, foie gras, goats cheese, and smoked cod sounds like it could be a bit much but it somehow balances really well.

A stupidly tender pork cheek is served on the most ridiculously buttery Joel Robuchon-esque pomme puree with a deep red wine sauce.

For dessert, an absolute corker of a millefeuille is filled with turron custard. It's majorly reminiscent of a Paris-Brest due to the nuttiness of the custard.

Nou Manolin

Ferran Adria and Juan Mari Arzak are supposedly fans of Nou Manolin, so that’s good enough for me. On both our visits we've managed to snag the last seats at the counter at their bar and there was a constant queue of people waiting for a spot.

Excellent "Swarowski" crystal breads were topped with ensalada and whopping anchovies; jamon with runny-yolked quail eggs; and cured salmon with spicy guacamole.

There was also battered bacalao with lime mayonnaise and the richest of cannelloni, one of their changing daily specials.

L'arruzz

L'arruzz looks like it could be a tourist trap from its slightly naff branding, but we've had excellent arroz focused meals at their pair of Alicante restaurants. 

Arroz made with salt cod, sweet spring onions, caramelised cauliflower and rice with a lovely fish stock intensity and texture is an absolutely killer flavour combination. A dollop of potent aioli and a squeeze of lemon completes the stonking dish.

To start, were two ice cream scoops of very good ensalada (hook that stuff up to my veins).

There was also a lovely salad of tomatoes, and salty and chewy dried whiting. I've got to try and eat  fruit and veg at least once when I'm on holiday. 

Restaurante Govana

This multi-award-winning family restaurant is a temple of rice. With its chintzy table-settings, dark wood furniture and marble floors, it’s got buckets of charm.

Leg of veal rice (arroz pata de ternera) is a seriously meaty affair with a golden caramelised top. Melted bits of morcilla and chorizo and chickpeas were all bang on, but I wasn't fully sold on the numerous wobbly bits of soft connective tissue (Mrs G was), which I guess must have been the leg of veal.

As well as the arroz, we've had excellent wines by the glass, toast with aioli and tomato concasse, textbook jamon croquetas and tuna belly and tomato salad.

For dessert, there's crème caramel-esque tocino de cielo (heaven’s bacon). Even better is the super custardy and cinnamon spiced French toast, which is like a lux bread and butter pudding.

Probar el Buen Bar

Tucked away down a city centre side street, Probar serves lovely twists on classic tapas dishes.

The main event is a thin oozy tortilla with caramelised onions topped with a savoury sabayon. The topping looks like it's going to be super rich but in reality, it's beautifully airy.

Crispy AF fried pork belly torreznos are accompanied by garlic charged mashed potato.

A lovely riff on an ensaladilla rusa has smoked eel and sweet peppers in the mix, and comforting stew croquetas taste as though they're packed with chicken and ham pie filling.

Gravina 4

We always eat our bodyweight in ensaladilla rusa whenever we visit Spain and the version from Gravina 4, a dinky fish-focused tapas bar, is the best we've had in Alicante. Every component is distinct but it still adds up to a coherent mayonnaisey whole.

On offer there was also impeccably tender grilled squid with a ton of garlic and a portion of the sweetest red prawns.

Pipirrana Vermut

If you’re looking for a good selection of vermouth by the glass then Pipirrana Vermut has great vibes and is great value.

But, the main reason we visited was to try their rather bonkers sounding inverted soccarat of oxtail rice. It's as fun as it looks with a lush bronzed crisp exterior filled with meaty rice flecked with yielding pieces of oxtail.

A slice of deep-fried pork belly with mega crisp crackling is also ideal booze snacking.

La Taberna del Gourmet

One of the more chi-chi destinations we've visited, we only popped into La Taberna del Gourmet for a drink and a couple of snacks. However, there’s clearly a focus on first rate produce at this modern tapas bar.

A good riff on a gilda is made with a marinated artichoke alongside its usual components whilst an excellent ensalada with tuna, potatoes, egg, green beans and carrot is adorned with flaky biscuit sails.

Bar Manero

With two restaurants in Alicante and two in Madrid, Bar Manero is as about as bling as it gets. If you fancy some caviar washed down with a glass of Dom Perignon 2002 then you've come to the right place.

But this small group of restaurants has been recommended to me multiple times for a reason. There's clearly a focus on quality produce, with much of the olive oil, wine and other produce branded under their own name. And the cooking is excellent too.

A confit leek is as good a vegetable dish as Parallel's legendary carrot. Soft sweet charred allium was accompanied by toasted flaked almonds and blobs of garlicky creamy cheese. Their oxtail croquetas are top drawer too. 

Cerveceria El Canto

There was a bit of a queue to get into the old skool Cerveceria El Canto but when we finally sat down, we enjoyed some excellent value tapas.

A delicious plate of glistening jamon iberico was the only plate of the stuff we've eaten on both trips. I need to re-evaluate my life choices.

Griddled queso fresco with sweet tomato jam and a montadito filled with marinated pork loin and brie were the other highlights.

ToBar

ToBar, a cosy side street restaraunt, serves a cracking value €22,50 seven course set lunch. Highlights included crispy aubergines with a sticky sweet wine reduction and smouldering rosemary; sweet prawns with black salt; and crusty bread with a smoky tomato, pepper and onion dip.

The main event was super savoury arroz with monkfish and cockles, which was soupier than most of the other rice dishes we've eaten in Alicante.

Livanti Gelato Di Sicilia

During the evening there’s whopping queues for this gelato parlour. But if you visit during the daytime then chances are you’ll get straight in.

Pistachio, which tastes of pistachio, rich dark chocolate and rum and raisin-esque Malaga were all super smooth and creamy. We've also had excellent gelato from Anomaly, another city centre parlour. 

Bar Guillermo

A traditional tapas bar, which is located just north of the central market, Bar Guillermo was almost empty when we visited around 10pm. I’m not sure why as we enjoyed tasty plates of delicately battered calamari and salt cod loaded croquetas.

Cervecerías Sento

There are a few branches of Cervecerías Sento dotted around Alicante. We visited Sento Barrio and it had big dive bar energy with its compact and cheek by jowl bar area.

Over 30 different montaditos are on offer as well as their signature lollipops - rather filthy yet delicious whorls of pork, ham and bechamel, and tomato jam as well as slightly dry pork meatballs with a compelling satay-like almond butter.

Oh, and take note, it’s cash only. 

Bubbles Beer Club and other craft beer bars

It's not all wine and sherry when we visit Alicante, we've also visited a few very good craft beer bars. Bubbles Beer Club had some lovely Spanish beers on offer from Madrid's Kosmonauta and Valencia's Sáez & Son. You could even have a pint of Garage TIPA for a mere €8. La Mala Buena and Malatesta are also worth checking if you're looking for other local Spanish craft beers.