Few things shape a holiday as much as what ends up on the table, and luckily this stretch of the Costa Blanca has options to spare. Around Playa Flamenca and all along Orihuela Costa, four worlds overlap: the lifelong rice dishes, the fish just in from the port, the neighbourhood tapas and a huge international scene, sown by the generations of Europeans who have settled here for good. With so many doors open, let this guide be your map.
Rice and fish: the local kitchen
There’s one culinary toll no one should dodge once they reach the Mediterranean: the rice dish. Valencian paella, arroz a banda, del senyoret or a soupy seafood meloso that melts in the mouth — it all fits. The thing to bear in mind is that it’s usually cooked to order and for two diners or more, so it pays to call ahead and reserve it in good time. For fresh fish and seafood, the route runs through the marinas of Cabo Roig and Campoamor and the spots tucked beside the coves: the perfect setting for that long lunch over the water, the kind that drags on because nobody wants to glance at the clock.
Tapas, grills and Spanish cooking
For the days when you feel like grazing without any fuss, tapas are the law: croquettes, garlic prawns, bravas, a board of ham and a beer pulled just right. You’ll be hard pressed to find a residential area without its tapas bar, almost always with a sun-facing terrace. Anyone with a craving for meat has their place in the grill houses (asadores), where chops and char-grilled cuts come heaped on the plate. It’s that no-frills cooking, with generous portions and a sensible bill, made to be set in the middle and shared among family or friends.
Zenia Boulevard and international cuisine
Very close by waits Zenia Boulevard, the largest shopping centre in the province and a textbook fallback at mealtime: Italian, burgers, Asian, Mexican, lifelong chains and menus designed for the little ones. It’s the answer when each member of the group is set on a different craving, or when a day of shopping stretches right up to dinner. And beyond the centre, scattered across the whole area, there are British, Dutch, German and Scandinavian tables: the on-the-plate proof of the international community that lives here all twelve months of the year.
How to choose and book
Our formula, well rehearsed by now: set aside one day for rice by the sea, another for neighbourhood tapas and, if you’re travelling with kids, keep Zenia Boulevard as your card up the sleeve. Watch out in summer and at weekends, when it’s worth booking a table without fail, especially at the fish restaurants and the better-known grills. So you arrive with the decision made, we’ve gathered our favourite addresses — with their type of cuisine and how far they are — in the area food guide.
Cooking at home is a plan too
Staying in a villa brings one welcome advantage: the freedom to get cooking whenever you fancy. The kitchen at Villa Capitan comes fully equipped with Bosch appliances, and to fill the fridge you have, a few minutes’ drive away, several supermarkets and a weekly market with local fruit, vegetables and fish. Since the beaches and coastal restaurants are about ten minutes from Villamartín, mixing things up couldn’t be easier: one day a meal out, another a quiet dinner on the covered terrace or a barbecue in the garden, unhurried and with fresh produce.
You book directly with the owner, with no platform commission. And if you need us to point you towards somewhere to eat based on what you have planned that day, message us: we know the ground and we’re happy to do it.
