Hotel Mont-Sant Restaurant

Eating inside a thousand-year-old estate

The Mont-Sant restaurant occupies one of the hotel's rooms, on the climb to Xàtiva castle, among the gardens of an estate that was a centre of Islamic power, a royal residence after James I's conquest and a Cistercian monastery from the fourteenth century, before becoming a country house and opening as a hotel in 1994. Its website describes it as Mediterranean cooking with local produce and a contemporary touch. It is open to everyone, not just those staying at the hotel, and is the table closest to the castle: you come down from the visit and eat without going back to the centre.

The Montsant menu, for the whole table

The house offers a €45 menu per person, without drinks, served to the whole table: every diner has it. It begins with an appetiser and continues with the acorn-fed ham, foie gras and pine honey croquetón, an oyster with citrus, a titaina pepito, Mediterranean bluefin tuna with cherry gazpacho, smoked eel with grilled plum and blanquet, sole with pil-pil, oxtail ravioli with mango and, for dessert, Valencian citrus and petit fours. There is no vegan version. If you are short of time or someone doesn't want a long menu, order from the menu.

À la carte: grill and rice dishes

From the menu, the croquetón (€5.95), the oyster (€7.95), Cantabrian anchovies (€15.95 for six), a Valencian tomato salad with La Llosa cheese (€13.95), 5J ham (€29), the oxtail ravioli (€21.95), grilled sole or monkfish (€22.95) and grilled Japanese wagyu loin (€35). There are three rice dishes: paella valenciana and baked rice, at €19.95, and a seafood one at €22; the baked rice, Xàtiva's dish, is made to order, so ask for it when booking. The grill also has fish and shellfish by weight, such as lobster or sole, and desserts run from €7.95 to €10.95. All prices include VAT.

Hours and booking

It is open Monday to Sunday, from 13:30 to 15:00 and 20:30 to 22:00, and the kitchen takes orders until 15:15 and 22:15. Book on the form on their website, on 962 275 081, on 658 962 659 or at [email protected]. They serve in Spanish, Valencian, English and French. The estate also hosts private and corporate events in its rooms: if you go at the weekend, confirm when booking that the dining room is open to the public that day.

To walk up from the centre you pass the hermitage of Sant Feliu, right beside the estate, and the castle is further up the same road. If you stay the night, the rooms of the Hotel Mont-Sant are on the same estate.