Alma de Barra — Restaurant in Alicante

During a short stay in Alicante, our hotel concierge recommended Alma de Barra. The night before our return to the US, we had an early dinner reservation at 8 PM on a Monday evening. We dined inside since weather was damp and just a tad chilly. We sat at a lovely high table in the window in the corner. Our server, Alicia, was very kind and patient with our limited Spanish. She was able to help us understand that cocktails weren't served on weeknights, which was no problem, house wines were fine, and that it was no problem having tapas, sitting for a while, and ordering main foods later. For starters/tapas we had the Pistachio and Basil Hummus and the Croquettes of the Day (Fish and Kimchi). Both were wonderful...the Hummus was amazing! The vibe of the restaurant was laid back and cool, not quite as casual as a typical tapas bar. It was obvious that Alma de Barra was above average, it all the best ways. We order the salmon and grouper for our main dishes. The freshness of the seafood really stood out. The sauces with the salmon were a flavor explosion! The Bearnaise sauce with the grouper was very subtle. We asked Alicia for a dessert recommendation. The Mango Sorbet that she suggested was a fabulous, sweet and tart end to a wonderful meal! The chef at Alma de Barra is very talented. Go for a combined-culture culinary experience and...

Great experience

This restaurant was recommended to us when we arrived at Alicante Airport. When we visited we were greeted by Antonio, who looked after us throughout our meal; he was polite, professional and had a great sense of humour. He conversed in both English and Spanish so my wife and I had no problems with misunderstandings. Antonio knew his menu front to back and made excellent recommendations for us. The service was second to none and the food was excellent; this is a restaurant to visit for a culinary experience, don't expect large portions of stomach filling stodge; everything is prepared and presented exceptionally well with care and attention to detail. This having been said the prices did not reflect the level of service; I paid the same here as I have at almost every other restaurant visited throughout our short stay and can say, without reservation, that the service and quality was by far the best I have come across. Highly recomend...

We booked this place as it was number 24 from 1200 on TripAdvisor. It was a Friday night and was pretty busy. We ordered a selection of dishes to share between 4x adults. After waiting a much too long we asked where is our final dish, only to be told she'd forgot to tell us it was off the menu that night. There was also one other time the same waitress had forgotten to put an order in. With regards the food it was just OK. The mussels were cold and the calamares chewy and dry. If I had to rate it between the 1200 plus restaurants in Alicante I'd put it half way. Needless to say we won't be returning and all four of us agreed it was...