Ruta del Veleta restaurant

Ruta del Veleta is at number 146 on the Sierra Nevada road, in Cenes de la Vega, on the way out of Granada and on the road up to the resort. It was opened on 14 February 1976 by the brothers Miguel and José Pedraza as a modest inn; today it is a building in Mudéjar style. In the kitchen is Marcos Pedraza, who mixes dishes from Granada tradition with more contemporary ones.

The menu: octopus, turbot and lamb

The menu, which is published with prices, is that of a sit-down restaurant. Among the cold starters, foie gras and duck salad (€22), almadraba bluefin tuna carpaccio (€18), cod marinated in oil with salmorejo (€21) or a foie gras montadito with goat's cheese and quince (€27.75). For a hot start, salmorejo with smoked cured beef (€13), free-range egg, fresh pasta stuffed with red prawn with scarlet prawn cream (€19) or octopus roasted over holm-oak smoke (€25).

For fish, grilled turbot (€35), confit hake (€32), cod on a stew of octopus heads with fino sherry (€39) or kokotxas; for meat, roast shoulder or leg of suckling lamb (€34). Desserts cost from €9 to €9.50, with fried milk, rice pudding foam or custard with cherimoya sorbet from the tropical valley. The wine list is long, from cavas to high-priced champagnes. With a starter, main and dessert, allow between €60 and €80 per person without wine.

The Mediterraneum menu

The tasting menu, called Mediterraneum, costs €85 with VAT without drinks, or €120 with a five-wine pairing. It strings together a black garlic croquette, Iberian jowl with Riofrío trout roe, guacamole with spider crab, the foie gras montadito, the roast octopus, the prawn-stuffed pasta, hake with spinach and ham, a cheek crêpe with oloroso and apple flan, with after-dinner sweets. It is served to the whole table, one menu per diner.

Hours

It opens Tuesday to Sunday at lunchtime, from 13:00 to 15:30, and serves dinner from 20:30 to 23:00 Thursday to Saturday; closed on Monday. Book on 958 48 61 34 or on its website.

Coming down from the sierra

Cenes de la Vega is on the road from Granada to Pradollano, so the meal fits on the way back from a day in the snow: after the snowshoeing to the Posiciones del Veleta, it is the table for the Sunday with snowshoes and lunch in Cenes. If you have skied, skiing in Sierra Nevada finishes mid-afternoon and you arrive in time for dinner on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday.