Restaurante The Pines — Restaurant in Benijófar

Just thought I'd pop a review on here for the fabulous Pines restaurant in Benijofar. We popped in for menu del dia on Friday for my wife's birthday as a last minute thing as we hadn't made any plans and as usual we were NOT disappointed. The quality of the food and service here is outstanding. I like to think I'm a pretty good critic where food is concerned as not only is it a passion but I was taught to cook from my teens and I've cooked pretty much every day right into my 50's. I've also eaten in some of the best restaurants in London and around the world and not all were worth the ridiculous amounts they charge. But the more I eat at the Pines, the more I'm blown away at the quality and just how they manage to do it for the price. To get what really equates to a 4 course meal (3 course on the menu but you get a little added extra of bread, Ali olí and grated tomato as well) as well as half a bottle of wine for the "princely" sum of €13.50 (£12) is incredible. But when you get the quality of food we've always been served here, it makes it even more unbelievable. I had the caprese tart. Beautiful puff pastry top and bottom, filled with roasted cherry tomatoes, cheese and caramelised onions. Then the beef stew with a blue cheese cobbler. To finish I had cheesecake. Now I love cheesecake but I'm not the greatest lover of white chocolate but knowing how good this restaurant is, I took a chance on the white chocolate and cherry (I believe) cheesecake. And what a great choice! Possibly one of the nicest cheesecakes I've ever had. My wife had the Greek salad, apple glazed leg of pork (incredibly tender as I tried that as well!!) and a stunning fruit crumble (and I tried that! 🐷). Every bit of the meal was superb as usual and really top quality. WE haven't visited all restaurants in the area (YET!) but are getting there. But this place is probably our favourite. They serve excellent restaurant grade food and Nikki, Steve and their son really know their stuff. keep up the...

We had our group Christmas meal today at this restaurant and we had a fantastic time. The staff at this restaurant were very efficient but friendly they catered for our group with no hitches at all. We had their Christmas menu which offered a good selection of foods. The appetiser salad was superb, fresh, crispy, and delicious. The starter course offered Prawn cocktail; Paté; or baked Brie. Main course there were meat, fish, vegetarian options, there were lots of vegetables to be shared. Deserts were fantastic a trio of 3 mini desserts on a plate per person. Everything was so perfectly cooked, the chefs also timed everything perfectly. It really was a notch abive most restaurants. Super!! super!!! super!!!! I am sure our group will want to return...

Our first visit and I was not impressed. With my Mackerel starter, the Mackerel was hard and dry.

In my Turkey and leek pie, the turkey was a little tough and the sauce quite bland as was the gravy I'd asked for. The vegetables were barely cooked and carrots almost raw.

My Apple crumble was extremely thin with little filling and a powdery topping. The custard was an unusual consistency, not smooth an shinny but slightly lumpy.

It was a very quiet day with only four tables occupied so the kitchen was not stretched. It was a Red day and the chef could have been off. We'll not write it off but, it'll be some time before we give it...