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9/10 Arguably, the best pizza restaurant in Altea There's a county map to go on the wall A hurling stick and a shinty ball The bric, the brac, the craic and all Let's call it an Irish pub! An Irish Pub song Apparently there are more than 7000 Irish themed pubs all over the world. They seem to appear on every continent and in every city. Some of the key elements include toothless simpletons, wood everywhere and Guinness. What more could one ask for? So it was quite a surprise when I realised that Shamrock on Avenida La Nucia in Altea was not an Irish pub but a pizzeria. Did the decor scream "leprechaun meets Italian nonna"? No. Were there shamrocks hanging from the ceiling and a pizza oven that could double as a pot of gold? No. Did the menu have a special lucky charm pizza served by staff dressed in little green suits dancing merry jigs as they served customers? No too. Was I disappointed? Yes!!! I love a little jig. Not really, because instead of Jamesons and Caffreys, we got stunning pizza and a fantastic wine selection. And a bit of naff wood on the the bar too. We arrived on a chilly Thursday night for a special adventure, tasting the wines of the Bodega Familias Gil with a menu created by Shamrock that was exquisitely paired with the wines. We took our seats in the restaurants interior, adjacent to the magnificent wood pizza oven realising that the cold outside was a distant memory. It was like a sauna! There was an eclectic group of fellow foodies waiting to feast and drink. Indeed in front of us a group of young lads merrily drank beers whilst awaiting their first wine with one of the group unwittingly showing us their naked bathroom mirror selfie. Oops. Not to skip too quickly over the wine tasting and most of the food that we indulged on that evening - they were all excellent. A prawn tartar, a salted beef carpaccio, pizza and an orange sorbet paired with a Muscatel, sauvignon blanc, Crianza Monastrell and a Cava brut. The pizza is why we are here. Shamrock pizzeria emphasises a passion for fermentation and ingredients that represent the best of the area. Their menu has a collection of pizza ingredients and bases that really demonstrate this and having tasted quite a few pizzas on their menu, I can say definitively that Shamrock makes my favourite pizza in the area. "Because you know I'm all about that bass, 'Bout that bass, no treble" As discussed previously in our review of La Fornera, I am all about the base and the wood fired, expertly fermented base at Shamrock is absolutely heavenly. Flavourful from the wood oven and the choices of flour used in the dough with a light and not overly thin texture. The ingredients are also top quality and much thought has gone into some of the combinations used. You can choose between a classic, gourmet or pinsa base which is usually not circular and has a much lighter texture. All have their own strengths and all are very tasty. Last but certainly not least, is the level of service that seems to be always on offer at Shamrock. A cheery, knowledgeable and attentive service has always been offered when we have visited. Although they do have a questionable policy regarding pizza/plate sharing and charge any table 3 euros if a diner does not have their own plate of food. If you are up for the craic and want to find a pot of pizza gold at the end of a rainbow, then Shamrock is the place to be. Shamrock Pizzeria website https://shamrockaltea.com/ Menu https://shamrockaltea.com/carta/ Location https://maps.app.goo.gl/7Z5sRunetY11QeUw6

Different premises, same sweet appeal Read our previous review of Dolce - https://www.costablancafoodsnob.com/post/a-spot-of-lunch-and-a-sneaky-sweet-treat-isimo-altea-dolce-albir What does Charlie Bucket's house and Albir's beach have in common? They both have delightfully, delicious treats made a stones throw away from them! Wily Wonka has a new Oompa Loompa in Hugh Grant, Dolce has a new premises in Albir. We know for sure that Hugh Grant will make an excellent Oompa Loompa, despite not being a knee height gentleman and we know that despite moving about an Oompa Loompa length distance from their old premises, Dolce's moreish quality and mischievous sweetness will still be assured. The Dolce family celebrated their new location with a thank-you to their loyal fan base in the form of a little opening party. Drinks, crustless sandwiches and pizza were served and we took home half price cakes. All in all, a great reminder or what Dolce does so well. Dolce - Carrer Ruperto Chapí, 12, 03581 L'Albir, Alicante Open everyday 9am till 6pm https://dolce-coffeecakes-albir.negocio.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

7.5 - Cool. Welcoming. Tasty and local "Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same" I never really watched the American sitcom Cheers, but my friends and I always wanted wanted to find a bar where every staff member knew our name and more importantly, which drink we wanted before we even ordered it. Perhaps you were more of a Friends person, wishing you could be hanging out with the shrieking sixsome in Central Perk, having Joey wink at you whilst unable to find his work apron nor doing much work at all during his short lived spell in the overly bright coffee shop. Well at Asambra, their simple slogan is Bar.Friends. Food and You. And although they cannot guarantee you friends, you will definitely get some lovely food with some super service. Tucked away on Carrer d'Octobre within sight of the Repsol garage on the roundabout and overlooked by apartment blocks on both sides is Asambra. Loosely translated from Valenciano as 'get together', we arrived for our dinner to find a collection of younger, more hip Alteanos, gathered for an evening cana on the back terrace creating a lovely, family buzz. Asambra is exactly the type of locally owned bar and eatery you'd expect from modern Spain. A cool decor and interior, welcoming service and traditional cuisine with modern twists. With our order placed, we soaked up the pleasant evening air on the rear, grassy area with a glass of a very solid Ribera and a crisp, refreshing Verdejo. We could see the front terrace slowly getting busier with what seemed the area of choice for mostly diners. Our opening dish of Asambras own special calamari arrived first. Rather than a more typical batter, the squid rings were in a breadcrumbed coating and were served alongside two condiments of a citrusy type mayo and a second more earthy dip that resembled a mushroom/truffle base. Both went excellently with the squid although the squid itself was of mixed quality in terms of tenderness. Within what seemed a couple of seconds of our first plate disappearing fom the table, our next two arrived. The pepito - a beef skirt sandwich served with roasted peppers and a chimichurri dressing and the Barranquet - a simple 150g burger with bacon and cheddar. The burger was of the smashed variety which, although I am not always the biggest fan of, was very good. Succulent beef and crispy bacon. What more can you ask for? The pepito however, stole the show. The beef skirt or entrana was ridiculously tender and flavoursome. The chimichurri added the necessary bite. Overall, an absolute winner. We were too full for the very appetising looking desserts so had to settle for another round of drinks instead. Oh no! Great service, a great vibe and very good food. An extremely fussy friend of a friend has Asambra on a list of only half a dozen restaurants in Altea he will go to. There may not be a Rachel or Pheobe knocking around and the staff didn't know my name but I am awful glad I came. Asambra - Carrer 9 d'Octubre, 1, local D, 03590 Altea https://bar-asambra-altea.negocio.site/

7/10 - Quality ingredients with opinion dividing pizzas How can you argue a deep held perspective that someone has? One of my favourite newspaper columns 'You be the judge', asks readers to help warring couples to decide whose perspective is more reasonable. When one gets so dogmatic about a particular issue, it can be difficult to see things from another point of view, so getting insight from strangers could help people settle frustrating, verbal jousts. Some recent 'You be the judge' debates and the CBFS response: -Should the butter be kept in the fridge or not? Depends on what you might use the butter for, wink wink. -Should we apologise to our neighbour after our cat scared their toddler aged son? Only if you laughed so hard that you accidently did damage to their fence when you fell into it. -Should my boyfriend save his post gym shower for when he gets home? Only if that creepy, cleaner fella who seems to be always in the shower area is working that day. Alas, our dining table gently rumbled under pressure from our friendly debate, questioning: How thick and crispy should a pizza base be? Aaaarrggghh! La Fornera is an Italian restaurant located on Carrer Major in the heart of the old town of Altea alongside the heavyweights of Oustau and Crown of India. The building used to house a bakery hence the Catalan term 'La Fornera' being used by the Altean owners of the restaurant. It is also why you will see some Altean and Catalan themed menu items such as the 'coca', an empanda type pastry and our pizza of choice this evening - the Mallorquina. After jostling our way through the still busy, cobbled streets of the old town, we sat in the interior of La Fornera with striking views over the countryside towards the Sierra Bernia. The local wine on offer was a tinto from Requena (3.60 euros per glass) which was superbly fresh with the right balance of fruitiness and acidity. Around us the restaurant was filling up with some customers utilising their translator camera app to try and make sense of what Coca Cola meant on the drinks menu. True to the name, what La Fornera does terrifically well is baked goods. From the brushetta to the coca, all looked top notch. In terms of our Mallorquina pizza, opinion was divided on the extremely thin base. And when I say thin, I would say wafer thin. Now my particular preference would be for a slightly thicker core base with a bubbly, airy outer base with the lovely flavour from the wood burning oven. My co-eater thought it was perfect and started blabbing on about true Neopolitan bases. Blah blah blah! "But that is not what I like", I retorted. And with that, I lost my Snob standing and was reduced to philistine rating level with them. Toppings of sobrasada, burrata, basil and a nispero jam were a tasty combination with the sweetness of the jam balancing out the richness of the cured sausage. The fact that ingredients are locally sourced is a lovely bonus. To accompany the wafer thin pizza, we ordered the chicken and avocado salad which was overflowing with tender chicken breast and a citrusy mayonnaise. The huge, morish salad was excellent. The ambience and decor of La Fornera are spot on and there is outdoor seating on front side of the building away from the hussle and bussle of the narrow, whitewashed streets of the old town interior. Service was efficient if lacking attentiveness and personality. Overall, it is difficult to properly critique La Fornera from a pizza perspective. One man's treasure is another man's rubbish and although I thought the pizza was good, I've had better in the area. My eating partner would disagree. Safest tip: you be the judge.

7/10 - The summer, seaside shack with scrumptious food For a limited time only! The devilish phrase used by retailers the world over to get us to part with our hard-earned cash, generally on something we do not need but clearly unable to survive without. Like a Cadburys Creme egg of course. The iconic chocolate egg with a yellow and white fondant filling, used to be released only around Easter and succeeded in creating a sense of urgency for chocolate loving fiends to gorge on the sickly, egg-shaped treats to a point where the gorgers ended up looking like what they were gorging on. "How do you eat yours?" The catchy slogan used to differentiate between the whole egg at once approach or the nibble-by-nibble technique (other eating approaches are also available). Anyway, these fiendish delights are now illegal in the US, must be something to do with obesity problem there. Perched on the waters edge in L`Olla, surrounded by the local beach goers and late evening paddleboarders, is Sigarro. Wandering along the paseo, knowing that this little delight of an establishment will only be here for another few weeks, is bittersweet. Like most of the chiringuitos in the area, they only come out to play in the warmer weather months. So for the limited time we have Sigarro available, boy, do we make the most of it! Sigarro may not do the best food or the most delicious coffee and you may have to wait longer than you would in other places, but for location, character and charm, you will not get better. Situated on Partida La Olla, a little road running parallel to the N332, this seasonal shack looks out at the Isleta de L`Olla. Serving the early morning kayakers, the beach going brunchers and the odd tourist looking for their Instagramable vistas is the ramshackle brigade of locals employed by Joan "El Sigarro", the recognisable owner who is usually knocking around chatting with friends whilst his more hardworking wife is keeping things ticking over. There are no heirs and graces here. There are no twists, there is no play on this nor take on that. Our evening of tapas was exactly what we expected. Homemade patatas bravas with the traditional, smoked paprika condiment. Homemade Russian salad with little breadsticks. Homemade meatballs with garden peas in the usual sauce. You get the jist. All are good and are exactly what you expect. The homemade anchovy dish is excellent, the squid rings less good. The wine is fine too. Andrew Lloyd Webber with his super, snobby palette would probably not touch it, but its perfectly drinkable. What you get for your money is solid food with wonderful views and the odd, charming local with a belly full of beer by 11am. Make sure you book a table during the summer months, try and catch a table in the shade and drop in for a tostada with tomato in the morning but please, don't tell too many people. Sigarro is our little secret.

8/10 - Gorgeous views, gorgeous food SUVs (I think it stands for ´Seriously, ultra vulgar´) accounted for 49% of all passenger car sales within the EU in 2023. Even my mother, an almost retired individual with no dependents and a car boot full of only yoga mats and multiple umbrellas, is driving an obscenely oversized, petrol guzzling monstrosity. Her reasoning? To feel safer, to feel more comfortable when looking down upon all of us insects, scurrying about our business at human eye level. A purveyor in a Chelsea tractor observing the motoring world go by. Upon sitting down at our table at Caliu overlooking the seafront in Altea, I suddenly realised what all the fuss was about. How nice it is to be looking down on all the sweaty insects, scurrying along the paseo from a breezy and lofted position. My next car choice is sorted! Caliu is a modern, Mediterranean restaurant located at the heart of the Altean seafront in a property that has had many gastronomic reincarnations over the years. Fran Xerra was the restaurant pre Caliu and having visited a couple of times, was more than half decent. Though hospitality life can be tough, particularly in this area, and obviously Fran Xerra did not create a satisfactory enough offering and so now, we have Caliu and we are more than happy for that. Caliu can be translated to "cooked on cinders" and this summer most of the population know that feeling. Having sweatily sauntered in, mid-morning and mid-walk, I arrived to book a table with a queue of delivery people in front of me. Now, This is Spain. And one thing we know about Spain is that customer service priorities can be a little different to other countries. Paying customers can often be made to feel like they are doing the business a favour by deciding to spend their money there. So I was pleasantly surprised when the logisticians were shunted to one side to allow me to book my table for that evening. The Costa Blanca Food Snob 1 - delivery folk 0! That level of attentive, pleasing customer service continued into our meal and was an excellent accompaniment to the food. And the food was delicious. We arrived and were led upstairs to the dining room where our perfectly placed table, in the corner of the room overlooking the promenade, awaited us. From the hot starter section on the menu we shared a bowl of grilled artichokes that were supported by serrano ham and a perfect poached egg. The runny yolk alongside a truffle mayonnaise brought the whole dish together for a woody, rich treat to begin our evening feasting. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the restaurant, with a very open kitchen providing great aromas of the grilled food and the elevated setting allowing for the sea breeze to circulate. Our next courses arrived briskly. A very tasty entrecot served alongside a baked potato and a sweet, homemade tomato sauce for 19 euros was great value. Similarly, a monkish dish, which was more like a Spanish seafood stew with a smokey tomato based sauce complimented by well cooked and fresh prawns and mussels and a shedload of monkfish at the same price was a very delicious dish too. Nothing overly complicated was on offer with simplicity of cooking and ingredient winning the day. There is an argument to be made that Caliu may have the best placement and outlook on the Altean seafront. Even if I was blind and couldn't care less about the view, the air breeze in the summer months was a terrific feeling on a sweaty brow. Coupled with great food and attentive service, it should mean that this prominent Altean property has Caliu as its tenant for some time to come.

8/10 - Lush, green, friendly and fresh We all know that amazing feeling when you disembark a flight from the UK or other cold climate countries and as you exit the plane there is a whoosh of heat that greets your face. Well sometimes the opposite can be very pleasant too. Leaving 35 degrees of muggy heat to land at your destination, walk out to a windy chill and still be in the same country. Very refreshing! This is green Spain, this is the autonomous community of Galicia. We flew into the capital of the region, Santiago de Compostela; the origin of the shrine of Saint James and trendy place for a little walk full of smelly hippies. The drive from the airport gives the next indicator as to the differences between Galicia and the south of Spain. The lush, green landscapes almost made me forget where in the world I was and it is easy to understand why these alluring, patchwork quilt fields allow for the raising of such flavourful beef. Rua do Franco is the bustling, gastronomic heartbeat of Santiago. Located near the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela, the street features an array of quality establishments serving tapas based on traditional food and local ingredients. Our food odyssey began here with a tapas splurge. Most eateries along Rua do Franco have the traditional tapas counters where patrons can sit at the bar and pick and choose various pinchos and montaditos (2 - 5 euros). Our particular favourite was A Taberna Do Bispo, a classy looking place with the right balance of value/quality and fantastic wine by the glass. On to El Papatorio, where sumptuous venison meatballs and a tender entrecot and pepper montadito were washed down with D.O Ribera Sacra region wine, an area a few dozen kilometres south east of Santiago de Compestela. We sat at a counter, literally a metre away from the kitchen staff who were busily and efficiently grilling food over charcoal with two slackjawed, drooling onlookers doing our best not to reach out and grab at the plates in front of us. We booked El Papatorio for another round of meat on a different night. This time I plumped for the entrecot de Vaca (24 euros) over the entrecot de Ternera (19 euros). The difference? The sweet, flavourful nature of the dry aged vaca compared to the youthful, tenderness of the Ternera which has less flavour. There was time but little stomach space for a plate of cured pork shoulder with cubes of local cheese (7 euros) at another taperia which finished off the evenings feast. There was also the odd sight of an ice cream parlour on Rua do Franco having a permanent queue of customers waiting for a scoop of tutti-frutti, every single time we walked past. It resembled the neverending line of Brits at the of duty free checkout in Alicante airport. Like sheep, we thought we would see what all the fuss was about, but only when passing the very same company, with a parlour in a different area but with no queue. Conclusion; there's nothing quite like the herd mentality of humans! Pontevedra is a coastal city about a 40 minute train ride to the south of Santiago de Compostela. It should have been an easy journey but my 'better' half had booked us on a later train. Luckily, the Galicians are friendly folks and the conductor merely laughed it off. As did I, knowing I had that rare ace in my pocket, to play whenever I wanted. It is a charming place with a well preserved old town and the freshest of Galician seafood. Having explored the old town, paying an obscene 1 euro 30 cents for a cup of delicious coffee and a piece of complimentary cake at a wonderful hidden gem of a family run cafe, we took in the brisk sea air with a wander along the estuary. Appetite sufficiently whet, it was time for a late lunch. We took a table at Restaurante O Cruciero in the heart of the old town. Filled with local people, all seemingly eating either octopus or mini scallops, it was the perfect place to sample the locally caught specialties. Our pulpo a feira and zamburinas a la plancha lived up to our expectations. Tender octopus with a touch of smokey paprika. My Octopus Teacher may have even enjoyed it. The mini scallops had a wonderful buttery texture and were cooked to perfection. The locally produced godello white wine was the ideal accompaniment. On our final evening, we ventured back to our favourite street, no not of the coronation variety, but of the Franco (apparently not named after the facist dictator) variety. On this occasion, we managed to avoid the particularly tricky saleswomen whom like the witch from Hansel and Gretel, try and encourage you into their shops with delicious, almondy treats in the form of the famous Tarta de Santiago. Once inside, I think I'd have chosen being submerged in a boiling cauldron rather than the torture of a high intensity sales pitch of every piece of confectionery available. Once we had pushed the saleswoman into the oven, we made our way for dinner. This time is was a family run restaurant called A Noiesa. A traditional, roast beef dish and a platter of locally sourced mussels preceded a baked, lemon cheesecake. All were fantastic. However the highlight of evening came through a misunderstanding. As we were watching the open kitchen from our table, the head chef waved in our direction. We just presumed he was waving at something or someone else and awkwardly ignored the gesture. At the end of the dinner service, he came straight over to our table and asked us why we didn't wave back. We told him of our misunderstanding. When we arose to leave and make our way back to our hotel, the same chef/owner, dropped what he was doing in the kitchen and enthusiastically waved at us. This time we waved back with a huge smile on our face and on his. It was a lovely way to finish a great trip. 4 days of fantastic food and wine flew by. Santiago de Compostela and Pontevedra are both definitely worth visiting from not only a gastronomic perspective but from a people, landscape and cultural point of view. I can now see why Jimmy the Great decided to make the trek all those years ago. 8 delicious, suckerful, tentacles of reasons.

7/10 - Simple tapas, done well Bobby Darin, Robbie Williams, Barry Manolow and Kevin Spacey have all crooned: Somewhereeee beyond the sea somewhere waiting for me... there are swathes of rubbish, frozen tapas Waitin for me I generally go sailing by many an establishment that decides that ready made, store bought and ice packed food should be offered to customers for inflated prices. Instead I fly like a bird on high (more like a gentle trot) to a place with a view of golden sands (or large pebbles) where my heart leads me to a delicious plate of chopitos. Welcome to Casa Del Mar. This paseo based eatery is one notch away from being an Altea institution. Popular with locals and tourists alike for both food and drinks, Casa Del Mar is an ideal spot for all meals and all tastes. Sitting underneath the boutique, 1-star Casa Del Mar Hotel, the restobar offers a great spot to either people watch or take in the sea air. Our party of 4 decided to take tapas over individual plate options. This was a particular worry for me as one of our guests was visiting from a castle in the clouds of Parcent. A giant of a man measuring well over 16ft tall, whose handshaking more resembled a normal adult shaking hands with a normal Barbie doll, had slid down the beanstalk to join us. The thought of shared, small plates made my little inner friend called Appetite sweat profusely. We ordered a first round of Chopitos, meatballs, patatas bravas and grilled mushrooms. The first round went to the fried, baby squid Chopitos. With a squeeze of lemon, these little tender but crispy were terrific. The homemade meatballs a close second. A meaty and herby treat. The last meatball sat all by itself waiting to be devoured. I picked up my fork, ready to dive in. As my fingers twitched, I heard an almighty roar; "Fe-fi-fo-fum"... A second round arrived. This time there were garlic prawns, calamari rings, pork in a tomato sauce and ham croquettes to fight over. All very good, particularly the croquettes, that had great flavour and just enough jamon bits in them for that salty edge. The portions were big enough and the prices were fair enough (a range of 4 to 12 euros for our selection). The house white is good with the house red being slightly under par. Casa Del Mar does not have a very big interior. What the staff manage to produce in a tiny kitchen in terms of quantity and quality is impressive. The trip to the toilet is fun, particularly if you are above average height and the general level of service is ok but could be improved. Overall, for some quality, paseo-based tapas at a decent price, you cannot go wrong. Both giant and snob left very satisfied. Sometimes there is no need to go beyond the sea.

8/10 - Great 'off the beaten track' lunch spots On the odd occasion that I venture back to Yorkshire, I take great delight in finding a new place to have lunch whether it is a new street food vendor or a country pub that I've never visited. A good friend of mine, based near Albir, recently came back from the UK and was enthusiastically recalling his visits to his favourite gastronomical establishments; "McDonalds, Burger King, TGIs and the KFC was amazing!" What a total heathen! Well I set out to find a couple of joints, in our area, that punch well above their weight and offer great value and most importantly great flavour and quality. These two establishments are independently owned and operated which means you are truly supporting local businesses. Sick of overpaying for tourist type lunches that are below par and do not support small, independent business owners? Well take a little trip to these two small eateries. Isimo - Altea Set inside the Mercat Municipal d'Altea and surrounded by the very best and freshest local ingredients is Isimo. Owner/operator Marcel set up Isimo with his girlfriend after he gave up working for the well known familiy business, The Grill in Albir. Isimo offers freshly made bocadillos, empanandas and cakes using ingredients sourced from the market and made to order in front of you. Unfortunately for Marcel, he and I have some history, so it was a little unsettling for him to have make my tuna, avocado and rocket bocadillo under scrutiny. "This is the most pressure I've been under", he said whilst trying not to sever a finger in an attempt to slice the avocado. However, his digits survived and there were no surprise additions to my delicious sandwich. Whilst waiting I gulped down a refreshing, homemade lemonade with mint drink and made the conflicting decision to add a chocolate brownie to my order. Made by Marcel's sister, Jacqueline, the brownie was worth the trip alone. A moist and decadent experience that only grown ups would really appreciate. In terms of value for money, I tried the "2 for a pound", market sellers bark, but had to settle for a fair price of 5 euros for the bocadillo and 3 euros for the brownie. A very, very good lunch. Dolce - Albir Sweet Tooth is fantasy/drama TV show on Netflix about a boy who is half-human and half-deer. I always presumed, based on some acquaintances, that someone called Sweet Tooth must be Argentinian. However, the writers of this drama haven't made the boy from Argentina at all. Dreadful writing and terribly unrealistic! If you didn't already know, people from Argentina like a sweet treat. If you concur with this type of thinking, then may I recommend a cake or five from Dolce in Albir. Owned and operated by Eduardo and his son Matías and situated round the corner from Beach Boys, Dolce specialises in individual, handmade cakes and artisan coffee. Toasts, sandwiches and a small selection of pizzas sit alongside truly wonderful Argentinian empanandas as the savoury options available. Once you have washed down the savoury openers, with a coffee or a Twinnings tea that a Yorkshireman is very happy to drink, you then have the unenviable task of picking a cake. And what a difficult choice it is. From an apple crumble to a range of cheesecakes. A chocolate mouse or brownie cake to our particular favourite of a pasta frola (from 3-4.50 euros). All available in an XXL for an event or a greedy afternoon. Make sure you don't have any diet plans before you visit because it may fail before it even begins.

8.5/10 - Peruvian food with flair and flavour Only a few short months ago, the world's best restaurant of 2023 was named. No it wasn't Yorkshire Pride 1 in Benidorm. Unbelievably, it wasn't even Yorkshire Pride 2 or 3 (hopefully there are not 4 of them). No, the judges for the competition decided that stale and frozen yorkshire puddings flooded with Bisto gravy was not what they were looking for and instead honoured Central, a restaurant in Lima, Peru. Peruvian cuisine is on the rise all over the world with USA Today saying; "Peruvian is the new Thai". Luckily for us, we do not have to travel too far for exquisite Peruvian food as E-Tika in Altea brings us Nikkei flavours to the area. Nikkei is the fusion gastronomy that has emerged from Peru since Japanese immigrants began to have an impact on Peruvian culture. The combination of traditional Peruvian food ingredients such as fish and rice with Japanese flavours such as ginger and soy. Imagine a Yorkshireman, like me, living in Spain and using a nice jug of Yorkshire tea as the base for an Agua de Valencia. Sound good? Perhaps not. E-tika is a quaint, intimate eatery sat beside one of Alteas most popular kebab establishments, which happened to have a birthday party taking place there as we sat outside waiting for our dishes to arrive. It felt more like our birthday as presents in the form of gorgeous, Peruvian food started to land at our table. First up was the ceviche of seabass, a raw fish/seafood dish cured in a lime juice and cocunut milk mix with a nice kick of chilli. The most well known of all Nikkei dishes would be the cerviche, the staple, signature dish of Peru. Generally quite an easy dish to make at home but this was taken to another level with the addition of some crunchy corn, crispy sweet potato and some delicous panko, breadcrumbed prawns. A summer treat! We followed that up with a corn tamal. Lightly spiced minced meat wrapped in a soft corn dough. It was nice but lacked the x-factor of the ceviche. Finally we had the Maton. Slow cooked and tender lamb ontop of herb rice and served with a bean cream. A very delicious way to finish an excellent sample of Peruvian cuisine. All the dishes not only tasted good but looked exquisite with first class presentation. A price range of around 8 euros for the starters (excluding the cerviche) and between 11 and 16 euros for the mains was fine and we washed down the chow with a couple of glasses of the usual house wine selections of Ribera del Duero and Verdejo. The E-Tika name is an amalgamation of firstly the "E" representing the sisters who created the business and their entrepreneurial spirit and the "tika '' which embodies the flora of Peru. I'd have gone for T-tuck. Top tucker! Best cancel my reservation for Yorkshire Pride 2.

9/10 - A triumphant Thai food trip! I was 18 when I first stepped foot in Bangkok. I arrived at the Kao San Road, a magnetic place for seemingly all backpackers in the Thai capital. A steaming, neon lit, crowded street that assaulted the senses and having been deprived of my baggage by an airline that misplaced it, I was feeling a little vulnerable. And hungry. There was a queue of smelly travellers waiting patiently at a street food vendor. A rather rotund, elderly lady was throwing various ingredients into a wok and spilling them out onto a paper plate about 30 seconds later. Between the portly chef and the line of pungent, gap yearers, it seemed as good a place as any to get some grub. It was to be my maiden taste of a Pad Thai and wow, it was incredible. My love affair with Thai food had begun. A quick language lesson: Sa-wee-dee kap/ka (masculine/feminine) = Hello. Sabi-de-mai kap/ka (masculine/feminine) = How are you? I always like to throw my language weight around when visiting Thai restaurants. By the way, my language weight is feather like, but having visited Thailand a few times, I have picked up a few lines and if I get a response from the staff in a Thai establishment I know there is an element of authenticity to the place. When we rocked up at Jungle Joy in Albir, not only did I get the typical, friendly Thai response to my showing off but a right smack in the palette from truly wonderful and authentic food. Jungle Joy took up residence in the former Albir Arms locale around a year ago. with a European/Thai ownership team. There is something abit kooky about the place. Maybe because of the decor or the staff approach to service, perhaps the culture and philosophy of the owners but they are certainly not misleading with the use of the word "joy" in the name. There was a joyous feel to the atmosphere and there was certainly lots of joy in the eating of the food. Our party tried three classic Thai dishes. Pad Kra Paow is a peppery and aromatic stir fry dish usually made with either minced pork or beef and usually bursting with fiery chilli. Add some salty oyster sauce and the aromatics of basil and you have probably my favourite Thai dish. And it must be topped with a fried egg, which of course it was. A massaman curry arrived as well. Beef, potatoes and peanuts in a warming and flavourful sauce. Very few restaurants get this dish right but Jungle Joy nailed it. I picked out some star anise and lime leaves from the dish, which are generally not pleasant to eat directly but are an indication of a chef trying to get the right flavours emanating from the dish. Finally, we had a Pad Khi Mauw. Vegetables, peppers stir fried with rice noodles and that perfect, flavour blend of Thai cuisine very apparent - sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty. The "Yam", as the Thais call it. All three dishes were faultless and at between 10 and 14 euros, very well priced. I am not always a huge fan of jungles (see Giungla-Altea review), but I would gladly take up residence in this particular jungle. My taste buds have barely recovered from the experience. Without question, the best Thai restaurant I have visited in Spain. Kop kun kap! Thank you Jungle Joy and see you again very soon!

5/10 - All fur coat and no knickers. Welcome to the jungle! Or perhaps, welcome to the Giungla, the recently opened lounge bar opposite the Altea marina and the Italian word for the same unruly, unkept, tangly thicket, full of flying pests and abound with savage beasts. That would be a jungle, almost as irritating as jungle music actually. Jungles, jungle music and Giungla. It would seem that I have zero interest in experiencing any of the aforementioned jungles/giunglas again. Typically, it is difficult to categorise the wildlife of jungles as they appear all over the world , in different climatic zones and as such have no defined species. Giungla lounge bar/restaurant kind of feels the same. With a base of Italian cuisine, poke bowls thrown in and a pulled pork burger here and some bao buns there, an element of confusion set in. Our group decided upon a table on the terrace, away from the dancing act that was about to start inside. Luckily enough we had our own entertainment outside. Giunglas terrace is set right on the CV-7651, next to Sabor and unfortunately right next to the traffic lights controlling the alternate one way traffic flow along the beach side road. The queues of traffic located a few feet away from our seats included a taxi driver horn off, rival conductors mastering their abilities to press on their horn the hardest. We had some mobile discos too. Or boy racers with their bass levels turned up too high. Manageable if only passing traffic but irritating when stationary at signals that take an age to go green. Anyway, let's hope the food is good. Unfortunately, most of what we had was a let down. Provolone cheese was the first dish to arrive alongside a classic focaccia. The provolone was fine but at 6 euros, the focaccia was poor. More flatbread than focaccia and without much flavour and rather stale, certainly not the light, feathered and delicious bread I have come to expect from a quality Italian eatery. For mains, there was a tasteless and greasy white lasagna and a Giungla burger, topped with rocket, sun dried tomato and caramelised onion. The toppings were nice enough but the burger patty was very compacted and lacked the texture of a homemade burger. The most positive item to come out of the kitchen was a flavourful pulled pork burger. On the other hand, Giungla is a fine looking place. A lot of time, effort and money has been invested in the decor and as we left, the atmosphere was building for what looked like would be a good place to sip a few cocktails and have a little boogie. Ultimately, in terms of substantive quality in the food department, Giungla was lacking. The funky and pleasing aesthetics are fine for those not putting the cuisine as their priority but if you want a top draw meal, best to avoid here. On second thoughts, maybe I would rather listen to jungle music in a tropical jungle.