El Cranc Chiringuito — Restaurant in Altea

We (my partner and I) dined there yesterday evening. After coming to this area for years we finally realised you have to book quite a bit in advance as this place is so popular, as opposed to leaving it to chance like we used to do. We keep forgetting that places this good around altea get booked up fast at this time of year! Wonderful, prompt, polite service, especially the lovely older maitre d' with the silver hair, who was excellent. We opted for the Pepe Mendoza vino blanco, which was priced extremely well, as we like their wines, as well as his father's products, Enrique Mendoza! This was delicious, and went very well with our food, tuna tartare and Gambas with egg. The shrimp arrived fantastically sizzling, with amazing aroma and presentation. The tuna also was so pretty in appearance and very fresh, just what I needed after a hot day. Portions were generous the bread (warm and rustic), and aioli also wonderful, and we sat right at the edge of the beach with beautiful views as the sun went down. Loved every second, every mouthful of this dining experience. The coffee was good too- and we are both coffee snobs! Everyone around us seemed to be friendly, warm, relaxed people, mainly spanish speaking, which indicates how good this restaurant is.

I think perhaps some of the negative comments hete are from overseas tourists who maybe had different expectations and standards. Ours are very high but simple-great, local produce cooked by talented chefs, good and varied wines to suit most pockets, great front of house staff, aesthetically pleasing and artistically decorated beach environment, and such a great location! We have already rebooked for September, and I cannot wait to bring my daughter to show her this lovely place. Thank you for giving us such a great first impression of El Cranc..it will be the first...

Food: almost everything was excellent. We ordered: 1. the shrimp with garlic, egg and sobrasada (10 out of 10). Simply delicious. 2. Calamares with homemade mayonnaise and a bit of lemon on it (10 out of 10). Perfect calamar with a delicious lemon mayonnaise. 3. the arroz meloso con rape (8.5 out of 10). The rice needed more minutes since was undercooked. But the bouillon was excellent. 4. The brownie with ice cream was perfectly done. The brownie is the best I've ever had in a restaurant. The inner part was more like lava texture which makes the brownie a bit juicy and not dried. And the chocolate ice cream was like a frozen chocolate mousse. Just delightful. Last but not least, the alioli es homemade and exquisite. Service: fast and flawless. The staff were very friendly. Atmosphere: just beautiful. The location is stunning. A real restaurant at the beach with magical views. Simple but clean and neat decoration. The only con is the price. It is true that the drinks were fairly charged, the quality of the food was very good, the dishes well cooked and the location superb. Still the price a bit high to fully justify. But again, this place deserves the fame. You need to make a reservation! And my advise is to do it early when they open, so you have plenty of time for your coffee, desserts...

We were guests and El Cranc for a few years now and always came back. The location is great, parking is provided just on the other side of the street and the food was good.

However in 2024 we found out that now they have two seatings, one at 2000 and one at 2215. We opted for 2215 just to find out that half the restaurant was empty anyways. We usually go to dinner around 2130 so this was a minor inconvenience.

The menu has changed quite a bit and unfortunately the Gambas Rojas are no longer part of the menu - that was one of the main reasons we went to El Cranc. The food we ordered was nothing special and doesn't motivate to come back.

Shortly after finishing the main course the table was cleared and a few minutes later the server brought a coffee and took my wine glass (which was not empty) and the wine bottle (not empty either). Not a lot left in both, but anyways that was odd.

Long time favourite - unfortunately no more. We will check back maybe next year, but for the time being I do not recommend this...