Dining in Alicante

Alicante's most famous dishes contain rice. There are more than a hundred different rice recipes in the region, and they are all delicious. At an arrocería, or rice restaurant, you'll find one of the Spanish national dishes, Paella, saffron rice mixed with local ingredients such as shellfish and vegetables among other dishes. Fish and shellfish are fresh every day while sausage and meat are produced in the mountains near Alicante. Salads are served with salted accompaniments and olives. The tasty and unusual local drink made with tiger nuts, horchata, is very popular and served in many bars and horchaterías, which you will find nearly everywhere in the city — you will love it. Another local delicacy is turrón, a dessert made with whole almonds, honey, sugar and egg whites that is served everywhere. Apart from buying bars of turrón, you can try turrón flavoured ice-cream. Alicante offers a wide range of restaurants of every category from elegant, fashionable and exclusive to snack bars. Meal times are usually somewhat later than in the rest of Europe: breakfast from 7:30am to 10am. The main meal or lunch is served in restaurants from 2pm to 3:30pm and dinner is from 9pm to 10:30pm.