La Barraca — Restaurant in Orihuela

If you’re in this part of Spain, chances are you’ve already resigned yourself to the food being average at best. Or you don’t care.

However, following the culinary dystopia of the Cabo Roig strip, this beachside restaurant seemed like it could be a diamond in the rough. Set in a beautiful location, right on the beach and with a clean, stylish decor, La Barraca certainly looked the part. The menu seemed promising, a large but not overwhelming selection of traditional Spanish dishes but sadly it was all style over substance.

We started with a drink, my partner and I ordered an Aperol spritz each, when they arrived, accompanied by complimentary bread and aioli, we ordered food; croquetas, a burrata salad and a main each. As the waiter took our order to the kitchen we toasted a beautiful evening and both took a sip of our drinks. What looked like Aperol spritzes were in fact just glasses of Aperol with a splash of very flat soda, they were undrinkable, and in a move very uncharacteristic of our awkward English sensibilities we had to send them back.

*a hint for any aspiring bartenders reading this; the recipe for an Aperol spritz is on the back of the bottle.

We thought it better to be safe so ordered a pair of beers instead, even these were flat, thin and tasted like they’d travelled through a line that hadn’t been cleaned since Spain used pesetas.

Our croquetas arrived and had clearly been freshly picked from a packet and reheated to order. We cut into the middle of our beige iceland logs and found the centres stone cold, yum.

Croquetas we’re shortly followed by the burrata salad - a bed of wilted rocket listlessly sprinkled with a handful of walnuts, some sweaty jamon and some things that were once figs topped with a ball of alarmingly solid looking burrata.

Hesitantly we dug in. The rocket and walnuts were completely edible. Sadly that’s the most praise I can give this afterthought of a salad. The burrata had the consistency of supermarket mozzarella and tasted like yoghurt. We had a bite or two each before conceding defeat for the sake of our now fragile stomachs.

With the trajectory of the meal firmly set we quickly made the decision to cut our losses and cancel the mains rather than be faced with a 70 euro bill for tepid food and a long sit on the baño the next day.

The bill came with one final surprise, the unordered stale bread and shop-bought aioli weren’t complimentary, of course they weren’t. We paid and left without finishing our flat beers.

As we made our way out the family behind us we’re about to tuck into a massive seafood paella, I shuddered as I watched them scoop prawns off the dish onto their plates.

Hungry and disappointed we left and I had crisps for dinner. The waiter was nice enough and the location was great so a couple of points for that.

All in all though if you have tastebuds or self-respect I’d avoid this place. Honestly the only safe bet for a consistently edible meal around...

My husband and I were so looking forward to eating here .The venu has a gorgeous setting sat right on the beach front .we pre booked and were seated ...after that things rapidly went down hill.our drinks order was taken and a bottle of wine was served to us in a wine cooler ..the wine was lovely but unfortunately it was really warm .We asked our waitress for some ice and also a bottle of water ,she was less than impressed. We ordered starters ..mine was delivered to our table unfortunately my husbands wasnt .we shared my starter then asked another waitress where my husbands was .She brought it up atraight away as it was sat on the counter going cold .we ordered Paella .It was presented at our table ,all 4 prawns and a few chunks of chicken ...luke warm ,no bread that we had previously asked for so once again we had to ask where it was .we ate our meal which was ok but ive cooked nuch better at home and left .really really disappointed by our experience. Our waitress had obviously had a big night out as she was yawning and actually delivered our water we requested to an empty table .one more thing only 3 more couples were seated ,both of which had to send their starters back .i dont think...

My favourite restaurant in the world, I don’t know where to start with this review but this restaurant ticks every single box for me, to start the staff are super interested in their jobs, extremely professional and clean. The restaurant itself is spotless, the white decor, comfortable chairs are a perfect setting right next to the sea. Extensive wine list, the menu is the perfect size, not too complex with all the right options, had pulpo to start which was grilled to perfection served on buttery mashed potato. Paella de Mariano as main course which comes cooked the way it should be cooked, no complaints at all about the food. The owner runs a great great restaurant. As for the pricing, it’s extremely affordable for the quality you receive. My only note to the owner was the paella was served on chipped plates which didn’t really make sense as everything else in the restaurant was perfect. Can’t wait to...