La Casa de la Almendra

A mountain dining room on the main street

La Casa de la Almendra is on Calle Doctor Hernández Guerra, the street that runs through the centre of Tejeda, wall to wall with the Dulcería Nublo. It has a covered, bright interior terrace that serves at any time of year, welcome on the ridge, where the weather changes quickly. They cook everything with olive oil and mark on the menu the dishes that have a vegan or vegetarian version.

What to order

The menu revolves around three local things: stone-grilled meats, Tejeda cheese and almond. To start, the Tejeda cheese board or grilled cheese (€9.90), papas arrugadas with red mojo, gofio escaldado or a sauté of mushrooms and almonds. There is potaje of the day and garbanzada (chickpea stew) for cold days. For mains, sirloin, entrecôte or Iberian secreto on the stone (€17.50 to €18.90), rolled lamb with Tejeda cheese and, depending on the season, fried kid or lamb chops. The desserts are almost all almond: flan, tiramisu, brownie, nougat tart and ice cream with bienmesabe. With two dishes and dessert per person you are in the €20 to €35 range.

When to go

It is one of the few places in the old town that publish Sunday hours, and it opens from 11:00. In winter it is open Sunday to Tuesday from 11:00 to 22:00 and Wednesday and Thursday from 11:00 to 17:00; in summer, Sunday to Thursday from 11:00 to 18:00. The kitchen closes an hour before closing time. Its website gives no hours for Friday and Saturday, so if you are going on those days call first. They take bookings by phone, on 928 572 556.

Getting there

It is right in the old town: park in the public car park at the entrance to the village and follow the main street on foot. If you come by bus, the Tejeda station is a few minutes' walk away.