Parador de Mérida Restaurant

Eating in the orchard of a Baroque convent

The Parador de Mérida restaurant occupies the Convent of Jesús, the Baroque building of 1725 raised over the old Roman praetorium, on Calle Almendralejo, two minutes' walk from Plaza de España. What is special about this table is outside: the terrace is set up in the Garden of Antiquities, the convent's former orchard, among fountains, ponds, greenery and Roman, Visigothic and Mudéjar archaeological pieces.

The Badajoz pantry on the menu

The cooking is Extremaduran at its root, with Roman and Arab influences, and relies on the province's produce: acorn-fed ham from the Dehesa de Extremadura D.O., lamb from the Corderex PGI, Retinta beef and Iberian pork of native breed. The menu also features local goat's cheeses and Trujillo retorta, migas, bacalao monacal, Iberian pluma or a creamy rice with Iberian rib and La Vera paprika.

The specialities Paradores highlights are grilled Retinta beef sirloin, Extremaduran lamb caldereta with shepherd's bread omelette and Iberian pork sirloin with boletus sauce. For dessert, sweet repápalos scented with sesame, a fried breadcrumb sweet typical of Extremaduran cooking, or the convent millefeuille.

La Alacena del Foro, the other menu

In the same building is La Alacena del Foro, the parador's informal gastronomic space, with its own menu of products from the Badajoz regions. It is good for a nibble without sitting down to a three-course meal.

Hours with no closing day

Paradores publishes lunch from 13:30 to 16:00 and dinner from 20:30 to 23:00, every day of the week, so it works for Sundays and for Mondays. The café opens from 11:00 to 24:00. Book on 924 313 800 or at [email protected]; for the garden terrace, say so when booking.

You do not need to stay at the parador. If you are doing the monuments route, the Temple of Diana is a stroll away, and to sleep in the same house there is the Parador de Mérida.