Hotel Joseín Restaurant and Café

A dining room above the beach

Hotel Joseín is on Paseo Manuel Noriega, on the front line of Comillas beach, and opened in 1967. Today it is run by the family's second generation, which boasts a tradition of more than 150 years in hospitality. Its restaurant has a large dining room whose big windows look onto the sand and the harbour, an outdoor terrace with the same view and a covered porch, with no sea in front but cool on hot days. It is open to those who are not staying at the hotel.

What they cook

The house describes its cooking as traditional and home-style, adapted to today's tastes, with seasonal produce from suppliers in the area. The weight is carried by Cantabrian fish and shellfish: squid, hake, turbot, monkfish and bocartes, and shellfish is normally prepared to order. There are also rice dishes, menestras and vegetable stews, Cantabrian meats (sirloin, entrecôte and escalope) and the house tripe.

They work with a menu and a set menu of the day, although the website does not publish prices for either. The desserts are homemade: lemon, cheese, carrot and apple tarts, egg flan, rice pudding, fried milk and torrijas, as well as artisan ice cream. The cellar covers the great Spanish appellations, from Rioja and Ribera del Duero to Rueda and Rías Baixas, with local wines from Costa de Cantabria and Liébana, cava, champagne and brut cider.

The café and the terrace

As well as the dining room, the hotel has an indoor café and a terrace, both with views of the beach and the harbour, open also to non-guests and with long hours, according to the website. It is a good place for a mid-afternoon coffee after the beach or an aperitif before lunch.

When to go and book

The hotel opens six months of the year, from Easter to October, and the restaurant follows the same season. The website does not publish kitchen hours or its own table-booking system: call 942 720 225 or write to [email protected], especially in July and August and if you want a table with a view. Out of season, look in the centre: Restaurante Gurea or El Remedio.

What to combine

From the terrace you walk out to the beach and the harbour, and in ten minutes you are up in the centre. A morning at Gaudí's El Capricho and the Sobrellano Palace ends well with a fish lunch here. If you stay overnight, the Hotel Joseín has all its rooms facing the sea.