We've travelled around the Almeria region over the last few years mainly in the capital city and the nicest Spanish resorts of San José and Agua Amarga. We tend to avoid towns that are popular with Brits, amongst other things we've found in these areas the level of restaurants is often not as high as in Spanish resorts. Also the types of food people eat is different too. In most of these restaurants below, the menus often feature dishes like tuna tartare and sashimi plus lots of seafood of course. These items simply wouldn't sell in great numbers in Britain. Spaniards certainly have a different palate to us but as we've been travelling there for twenty years, our tastes have become in harmony with Spanish cuisine. We also noticed some new restaurants opening up post pandemic in the resort of San José bringing them closer in quality and variety to the Costa de la Luz area.
Here a some of our favourite places.
We were blown away by this place last month. It's a beautiful restaurant, the tables all centred around a small swimming pool. The service is excellent and the food is exquisite. The simple Gamba Roja Sosada y Holendesa Ahumada were some of the finest prawns we've ever sampled. Mrs B ordered some peppers and the flavours were just so intense, we could just not believe it. We're planning a return visit as everything we had was utterly wonderful. Highly recommended.
At this boutique hotel, there is a lovely restaurant. Everything we ate was superb (I remember the wonderful oysters ) the chef really understands flavour and the service is stellar too.
3. Asador La Chumbera, Agua Amarga.
On the edge of town, this place serves excellent chuleta in the style of Asador Etxebarri but their seafood is great too. We sampled some wonderful sashimi there as a starter. Another must visit in the area.
What a surprise this restaurant was. The flavours were superb, from the olive oil served at the beginning of the meal to a leek with sea urchin dish that blew us away (and I'm not even that keen on leeks!). In a pretty setting on the beach front.
5. Mirador Del Faro, San Jose.
As the name suggests, the views are impressive at this fairly new place in San José. Everything we ate was good including a lovely tuna tartare and some of the nicest croquetas I've ever eaten and I've tried a lot.
I've celebrated my last few birthdays at this restaurant, which I consider the flagship San José restaurant. Excellent fish, rice and seafood.
Places like this a rare in the UK but fairly common in Spain. None 'posh' food for everyone but with an excellent level of cooking skill. The Arroz Caldoso (kind of like a much more brothy wet paella) was one of the best we've had. They also served us a free appetiser, a whipped up ali-oli which was such a great idea that I've not seen elsewhere.
8. Taberna Nuestra Tierra, Almeria.
The
last few times we've attempted to visit it's been shut for holidays
however it'll always have a special place in our hearts from years ago
when we'd regularly visit when it was called Taberna Vasca and in
another venue in the city. It's also worth checking out Tony García Espacio Gastronómico for modern tapas in a smart setting.
This takeaway rice café serves three different rice dishes every day. The quality is to a high Valencian standard with plenty of chewy socarrat. I believe you can even eat the takeaway at the hotel opposite.
10. Taverna Mezes, San José.
This seafood racion restaurant is so new it's not on google and has no web presence. But it's next to Parrosseta and has a modern tiled vibe. The fish tacos were so good we had to return for more.
