Monastrell — Restaurant in Alicante

The service was amazing… and that’s it. Unfortunately the food was so inedible that I can’t give more than 1 star. I usually let the service of the atmosphere affect the final rating, since they are super important to me. But the food was so bad that not even the best service in the world would save. It’s so rare for me to waste food, so I am glad I had my brave friends to try to finish my dishes, since I literally couldn’t have a second forkful or a single one. When I thought the shrimp heads couldn’t be beaten as the worst things of the night, they served the “dessert”. Why the quotation marks? Because the dessert was savory. Cherry with vinegar and goat cheese. A goat cheese stronger than I would like in an actual savory dish. It’s so rare for me to spend 2 days saying bad things about the same experience, but in this case it was needed. It even became an internal joke between us now, when we see an awkward combination somewhere. Not only do not recommend, but I would go further: don’t do this to yourself, nobody deserves it. But again, the service was amazing, so I hope the restaurant one day serves some decent food to keep up with them. I know it lost its Michelin star, but I am still shocked that it ever got one at first place. Sad I need to give 1 star, since Google doesn’t allow...

The location in the Alicante marina set the scene even before you enter the place, for a very good evening. When entering the restaurant, you are meet by the nice staff and very stylish decoration of the the restaurant. We got a table by the window on their courtyard, with a view of the marina and the Santa Bárbara castle in the background.

On many Michelin restaurants, they are competing who can do the most avant-garde, but not here. This is a temple of pure simplicity, where the ingredients are are the star of the show.

The staff is very important for a good experience, which they here clearly focus on having the right people employed. Very nice service and knowledge about the food and wine. Our youngest son (age 9) has been cooking since before he could walk and has a dream of becoming a master chief, which we told the waiter, a short while last the master chief María José San Román showed him around the kitchen and told him about the ingredients they use and how they cook the to give the best experience. She later said with us a the table and gave us a lecture on her strong passion for olive oil.

Excellent food, atmosphere and staff.

I will recommend this place for everyone who seeks a gourmet experience where simplicity and focus on excellency is the...

We had a wonderful evening at Monastrell and would highly recommend it for a truly special dining experience in Alicante.

It was lovely that Maria makes an effort to come round at the start of the evening, speak to all the guests and advise them on the menu.

We did the Alicante tasting menu, which - although the shortest - involved plenty of excellent food! Some highlights were the amazing set of amuse bouches to start, the beautiful sourdough bread with EVOO and salt, wonderful mains (we had veal and the classic regional cod-and-rice special, which was both deliciously savoury and perfectly al dente) and the main dessert, involving pistachio, cacao nibs and mint, which was creative and unusual.

But perhaps the best recommendation we can give is to have the wine pairing. The sommelier (whose name I’m sorry to say we didn’t get) is totally fantastic, full of interesting information about the Spanish varieties they serve and the small vineyards they come from, as well as the region’s wine culture and history. Her pairing choices were informed and delicious and we had great fun...