Restaurant · Alcalá de Henares: university, Cervantes and Complutum
La Cátedra Restaurant
Choose a day and party sizeInformation
- Price
- €€€€
- Where
- Alcalá de Henares
A front-row seat facing the San Ildefonso façade
La Cátedra is the restaurant of the El Bedel hotel, on the ground floor of number 8 Plaza de San Diego. Its strong suit is the room: from the large windows you see head-on the Plateresque doorway of the College of San Ildefonso, the façade of the University of Alcalá that has been photographed so many times. If the university visit is the centrepiece of your day, here you eat with it in front of you.
Raciones to share
The menu is by raciones, designed for ordering several for the middle of the table. Among the starters: acorn-fed Iberian ham with piquillo peppers (€24; toasted bread with tomato, €3 extra), salmon carpaccio with cream cheese and guacamole (€16), burrata salad (€16), Russian salad with pickled bonito (€12), local cheeses with quince and walnuts (€18), tiger mussels with brava sauce (€15), broken eggs with small prawns (€14, also with acorn-fed ham), home-made Iberian ham croquettes (€10), fried aubergines with honey and mustard (€14) and Cantabrian anchovies (€18).
Meats, fish and the costrada
To follow, baby squid with onions on creamy rice (€18), battered cod with garlic baby eels (€17), sea bream in La Vera paprika marinade (€22), a surf and turf of king prawns and pig's ear (€16), grilled sirloin with potatoes and Guernica peppers (€29), a pork 'elephant ear' with potatoes (€17), lamb mini-burgers with goat's cheese (€20) and Duroc pork torreznos with green mojo (€16). Desserts cost €5.50: cheesecake, chocolate roll or Alcalá's costrada, the puff pastry with cream and meringue typical of the city, here with strawberry coulis.
The wine list draws on Ribera del Duero and Rioja, with some from Madrid and Toledo, several by the glass. There is an allergen menu: ask the staff. The website has not changed in a while, so confirm prices when you sit down.
Before you go
Its website does not publish opening hours: call the hotel, on 91 888 67 26, to book and confirm whether it is open the day you go. For a drink without sitting down to eat, the hotel has a terrace on the square.
It fits after the University visit, which you have opposite, on the university and Complutum day. If you stay, the Hotel El Bedel is above.
What to order: Raciones to share: Iberian ham croquettes (€10), broken eggs with small prawns (€14) and grilled sirloin (€29); for dessert, Alcalá costrada (€5.50)
Practical details
- Phone
- +34 918 88 67 26
- Cuisine
- traditional, market cuisine
House specialities
- Home-made Iberian ham croquettes
- Broken eggs with small prawns
- Tiger mussels
- Baby squid with onions on creamy rice
Tips
- Ask for a table by the window It is the one facing the university façade.
- Share raciones The menu is designed for ordering for the middle of the table.
- Try the costrada It is Alcalá's sweet.
Frequently asked questions
Where is La Cátedra?
On the ground floor of the El Bedel hotel, at Plaza de San Diego, 8, opposite the university.
How much does a meal cost?
Raciones range from €10 to €29 and desserts are €5.50, according to its menu.
What are its opening hours?
It does not publish them: call 91 888 67 26.
Is there wine by the glass?
Yes, several reds, whites and finos.
Does it have an allergen menu?
Yes, on request.