La Plaça Bar Restaurant

La Plaça is the bar restaurant of the upper village, the one inside the enclosure you can only enter on foot. It is at 12 Calle de la Iglesia, the same street as the Casa Orduña, a few steps from the square where the San José tunnel drops you. If you have come up to see the castle and don't want to go back down to the arrabal to eat, it is the table closest at hand.

A terrace above the reservoir

What the town council highlights about the house is the views: from above the reservoir opens out and, behind it, the Xortà and Serrella mountains. It has a terrace, and that is where you will want to sit if the weather allows. Inside there is room for 45 people, so the dining room is small and fills up quickly.

Menu of the day or à la carte, €10 to €20

The cooking is home-style and traditional. There is a menu of the day and also à la carte, and the average price published by the town council runs from €10 to €20 per person. There is no menu published on the municipal website or on a site of its own, so ask by phone what the set menu includes if it matters to you. As a bar it opens from 10:00, and is good for a coffee before going into the Casa Orduña, which opens at 10:15.

Book, especially at midday

It is open from 10:00 to 19:00, hours that change with the season, and the town council says booking is necessary. That makes sense: with 45 seats and the village full of day-trippers at midday, without a booked table you can be left outside. Call 965 88 51 16 or write to [email protected]. Outside summer, confirm that it opens on the day you go.

Getting to the table

Cars stay down below, in the car parks on Avenida de Alicante. From there you walk up and cross the San José tunnel, cut into the rock; when you come out you are in the church square, and the restaurant is a few steps away. It is a few minutes on foot; if you have a pushchair or someone who walks with difficulty, ask at the Tourist Info beforehand which stretches are accessible.

Lunch fits between a morning visit to the San José castle and Casa Orduña and an afternoon in the valley: the museums of the arrabal if it rains, or the reservoir if it is hot. If you want something more than a set menu, on the Callosa road are the Xortá and the Nou Salat, by car this time.