Restaurante Nou Manolín
Tucked into a handsome 19th-century building on Calle Villegas in the heart of the old town, Nou Manolín has been the definitive address for traditional Alicantino cooking since 1972. The ground-floor tapas bar is where locals stand elbow-to-elbow over plates of grilled red prawns; the dining room upstairs is where you go to eat the finest arroz a banda on the coast.
What to order
Arroz a banda is Alicante's signature rice dish — cooked separately from the fish in a deeply reduced seafood broth, finished in the paella pan until a crisp socarrat (caramelised crust) forms on the bottom, and served with all-i-oli on the side. At Nou Manolín it is made to order for a minimum of two people and takes 25 minutes; it is worth every second of the wait.
Start with a plate of coquinas (wedge clams) steamed open with white wine and garlic, or the house-cured mojama (salt-dried tuna loin) sliced thin and drizzled with local olive oil. Both are Alicante classics that rarely appear on tourist-facing menus elsewhere.
The atmosphere and the wine
The tapas bar downstairs operates without reservations and is the more democratic, lively option — order at the bar, grab a glass of cold Monastrell from the Alicante DO and watch the chefs work the plancha at speed. The dining room above requires a booking, especially Thursday to Saturday evenings.
The wine list leans heavily on the Alicante Denominación de Origen, showcasing Bodegas Enrique Mendoza and Primitivo Quiles — producers whose Monastrell-based reds are criminally under-known outside the region. Ask the sommelier for a glass of Fondillón, Alicante's extraordinary oxidative dessert wine, to finish.
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