There is plenty to choose from when dining out in Spain. Choose from American, English, Chinese, Dutch, French, Greek, Indian, Indonesian, Irish pubs, Italian, Japanese, Tex Mex, Thai. The list really is almost endless.

                         

                 Cuisines of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking

Italian meals tend to be a similar price as in the UK but a Chinese meal can work out very inexpensive. On a recent visit to a Chinese restaurant in a town called Guardamar the starter - a choice of soup, salad or spring roll, with a glass of Sangria, and then a wide choice of Chinese main course with a choice of ice cream, coffee, crème caramel for the sweet, a bottle of wine and help yourself from a bottle of Schnapps, all came to 4 euros 30 cents. 

In fact, in Guardamar, there are several Chinese restaurants all offering pretty much the same thing. Low prices, reasonable choice of meals, and a certain amount of drinks thrown in. Some even stamp a card for you, and every so many visits you get a meal free if you have sufficient stamps on your card.

                               

Spain is perhaps better known for its red wines more than its white wines. Spaniards tend to drink wine with meals (no wonder at the price!) A nice white wine is the Albarino from Rias Baixas in North West Spain. Ideal with seafood the Albarinos are fragrant and fruity wines.

Surprisingly, perhaps, finding a tapas bar, or somewhere  to eat a paella is not always as easy as it is to get steak and chips. That, no doubt, is the British influence. The problem with tapas is that the overall meal can work out quite expensive if you like something of everything. Tapas can include a number of types of foods. Possibly some bread dipped in olive oil, a dish of olives, sliced cheese, salami or ham. Meatballs in a sauce - usually tomato - are also popular tapas dishes. You might see shrimps, garlic mushrooms on the bar too. There is usually something in a wide selection for everyone.

Look out for the Menu del Dia which is the "menu of the day" served in restaurants at lunch time (the mid-day meal is 'la comida'). The Menu del Dia would usually include a starter such as a soup or salad, main course with a side dish, followed by a dessert, all for an all-inclusive price. These meals represent very good value when dining out in Spain.

                              

                     Enjoy some Sobaos, small sponge cakes

Other meals (if you shop around) work out at about 80 per cent of the cost in the UK. Alcoholic drinks are of course a lot cheaper. A very decent bottle of wine from a supermarket is 1 euro 50 cents. In the restaurant, they will charge you from 5-10 euros for a decent bottle. Coffee and tea are from 1 euro to 1 euro 50 cents. A lot of the cafes and restaurants that are British-run are doing a Sunday lunch meal which quite often is very good value. In a village called Dolores, the "Wishing Well" does a wide choice of meats and a bottle of wine for around 11 euros. Even a big eater finds the main course enough. There are so many eating places to choose from, that even finicky eaters can find somewhere and at the right price.

For that "special" meal one of the top restaurants close to where we lived is the BUDAPEST, in Quesada. A gastronomical delight, the food and service there is top notch. Most visitors who stayed with us used to want to go to the Budapest at least once on their stay.

It isn't cheap, for an evening meal starters will set you back around 5 euros minimum, main meals from 9 euros, and the house wine starts from 13 euros. But, you do get what you pay for.

The problem with dining out in Spain is that you can so often find a nice place, then you go back a few weeks later and it`s either changed hands or closed down. We had this experience with a wonderful place in Benijofar where they had a flamenco show several times a week. The food was good, but the real attraction was the music and the dancing. We went once, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and said we would take visitors when they came over from the UK. It wasn't too long after our first visit that we decided to go back again, only to find it had closed down. This happens a lot on the Costas. I've actually known some restaurants change hands five or six times in as many years. If times are financially tough for tourists, and of course the locals, it can hit businesses very hard too. The wonderful thing about Spain is despite the regional variations wherever you go on your culinary road trip you should find good quality food.

Cooking at Home

If you like your meat, look out for a Dutch butchers. We had one of these Dutch buthers very local to where we lived near Benimar. It had an excellent reputation for quality, fresh meat, which was brought in from Holland. They also served a good variety of deli products, good quality, and the prices were pretty good. You can also pick up some good food ideal for those summer barbecues, though watch out for the mosquitoes.

 

                                       

Keidi Keating moved to Spain back in 2004. She started a diary of her new life`s experiences of life abroad. This Keidi has now made in to her book  "Sol Searching" where she shares her exciting journey with us.

 

 

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