Advice for living in Alicante

[NickLam]

Hi everyone, its my first post in this section of the forum.

Was hoping to get some advice and information for living in Alicante cheaply.

I'm planning to stage at Pasterleria Totel for 3 to 6 months in pastry and though they will provide lodging, other expenses will be mine to bear.

They suggested having 500 Euros a month as a minimum and though its fine with me, I would like to get some first hand advice from people who have experienced living in Alicante or its thereabouts.

I'm interested in:

(1) Normal cafe/bistro/restaurant prices for a quick meal

(2) Prices of raw produce from the market

(3) Cost of getting around

(4) Weekend travel into Barcelona to check out shops like Enric Rovira, Oriol Balaguer, etc...

Hoping to live as cheaply as possible as the exchange rate from EU to Singapore dollar is double.

Thank you so much for any help given, its greatly appreciated!

[MoGa]

I'm afraid it's been about 4 years since I spent any significant amount of time in Alicante. I went back for a weekend a couple of weeks ago and there had been enormous changes which makes most of the information I knew about restaurants and prices redundant.

First, be reassured that there are some excellent markets in the centre of Alicante with very good prices. The Mercado Central has 3 large, separate sections. One is for meat, another for fish, and another has fruits and vegetables. A kilo of young artichokes was around 1.6 Euros.

You might find even cheaper produce at Campoamor, where a large, temporary market is held weekly (near the Plaza de Toros).

As the local produce is so good, I tend to indulge in cooking it when I'm in Alicante rather than going to restaurants.

There has been a very recent 'boom' in kebaps in Alicante, kebap takeaways are now everywhere!

Rotisserie chicken from pollastres is an enduring lunchtime favourite 'fast food'. These cost just over 5 Euros.

The Casco Antiguo has also been revitalised and many restaurants have opened in the past few years. You're probably best off asking for recommendations when you get there.

Depending where you live in Alicante, you may know someone who is a member of one of the regional associations. Once invited, these are wonderful places to eat. They specialise in food from the area they promote and this is offered at little above cost. On my last trip my husband and I had a two course evening meal with drinks for 5Euros each.

List of associations here: http://www.alicante-ayto.es/p_ciudadana/po.../principal.html

These associations tend to organise annual trips to the regions and can be excellent places to find out more about these areas.

www.renfe.es will give you information about travelling to other parts of Spain. Murcia is one hour away by bus and costs about 4 Euros to get to. There is a stunning, newly built tram system (TAM) which will take you right up the coast to the edge of the region. Tickets start at 1 Euro.

Apart from the more expensive Euromed and Talgo trains, there are a few cheaper trains each day to Valencia. These take only half an hour longer yet cost half the amount (just under 13Euros each way - you get a 40% discount on the return segment).

I would recommend you avoid doing your grocery shopping at the Corte Ingles. The food is more expensive but does not taste better. It has more packaging and the food is more even, glossy and standardised (similar to how it is presented in the UK). They have opened a new gourmet section with specialities from around the country. Tempting, but very expensive.

If you keep your travel to Barcelona to a minimum, 500Euros a month will be fine. (I've lived there spending much, much less than that and ate like a princess)

I'd be very interested to find out which restaurants you like best.

Edited March 20, 2008 by MoGa (log)

[MoGa]

My mum's from Alicante and I have family (and a house) there. I've been going back regularly since childhood and went to University there (4 years). Unfortunately, not so much lately as I used to. My husband is Japanese, with holiday time being limited I've ended up in Tokyo instead. I did spend 3 months about 4 years ago and went back for a few days a couple of months back (HUGE changes had taken place in the interim regarding eating out options).

Most of the time I've been there (certainly when I've gone for long periods) has been on a budget where I've got by on under 100 Euros a week. Prices have gone up a lot in the past 4 years, Alicante has also be getting hotter and more humid during the summer and from earlier in the year (the sea temperature seems to go up noticeably every year and this affects the land temperature, especially at night, making it difficult to sleep). If you're used to Singapore, you should be fine.

As I said, the standard of fresh produce and food is very high, it's also very cheap as long as you stick to local food in season. Thankfully, the variety available is very wide. If you hunt around you'll also find a few stores run by East Asians offering dry and frozen Oriental food and cooking utensils, so staples such as fish sauce and Asian rices are also available. (Unfortunately, I don't remember addresses, but there are a few of these stores). More and more shops are selling South American foods as there's been a recent influx of South American immigrants.

Harder to source cheaply are bags of Italian arborio-style rice and other Mediterranean foods not-native to Spain. For instance, you'll find a lot of capers, but in vinegar, you pay a big premium to have them packed in salt. Thankfully, the premium for Italian pasta (not the El Gallo brand or any of the horrid Spanish variants - similar to Japanese pasta) isn't too excessive. This would be a good thing to make yourself.

Best way to eat well and have money to spare is to adapt your cooking and tastes to the local produce.

Eating out is getting more and more expensive. I think the recent boom in Kebap places is reflecting this as it offers a cheap, somewhat dependable alternative.

Also, don't expect too much in the way of nightlife outside of the weekend until the holiday season kicks off. Alicantinians prefer to hold back during the week and then go all out on Friday and Saturday or on festival days. They'll meet their friends for coffee in the evening, have something to eat and only go out at around midnight, staying out until 4-5am. Those with less money to spend may meet up somewhere to have a 'botellon', basically a bring your own party. These aren't always legal and because of the resulting garbage of smashed glass they've been actively discouraged over the last few years. This means you are less and less likely to encounter them in the middle of the city.

There isn't a huge tapas tradition in Alicante compared to other parts of Spain, but more and more tapas bars have opened up. Don't expect anything too wonderful as many of them are part of chains.

Alicante's speciality is its 'arrozes' - not necessarily paellas (although the traditional paella for this region is made of chicken, rabbit & snails). Unfortunately, good arrozes are particularly hard to find, certainly within the city. Try and find a cook off/competition related to a fiesta for a chance of eating this, hopefully you'll meet Alicantinos who can invite you to an event where it will be served (my own family make it at family reuinions). A large proportion of older Alicantinos have second houses, often in the country, this is where they might make it.

It will probably be easier to go to the Albufera region outside of Valencia in order to try it (not Albufereta beach nearby). If you can go as part of a group, all the better. Remember that this is lunch time food - beware paellas sold by the gram or in the evenings.

Outside of the tourist season lots of people go to Benidorm and other nearby towns for BBQ foods such as 'chuletas a la parilla'. A lot of the popular restaurants frequented by the locals are outside of the city centre may be difficult to access without a car, the new tram line should help considerably.

Do try the horchata - it provides wonderful sustenance in the summer. Alas, the gorgeously tiled horchateria azul on Calderon de La Barca has closed (seemed that way on my last visit) but Heladeria Gori is still open. Good horchata shouldn't be drunk with a straw as you lose some of the complexities of the flavour that way. The quality of horchata varies wildly, Gori have a patented method of pasteurising the tiger nuts before extracting the liquid. Other places may wash them using chemicals... sometimes you can taste this Chufas (toger nuts) are readily available, with some sugar, a little lemon and cinnamon you can make your own (the traditional way is with a huge marble pestle and mortar but a minute in a blender will do the work easily, then strain. (I'm pretty sure a 'superbag' would be perfect for this - but a muslin lined colander is fine)

Try Confitería Seguí for another local specialitiy - Coca (coca de molletes is particularly good here). The empanadas are also excellent.

Another reasonably priced treat is the Antiu Xixona icecream parlour on the Esplanada. It's been open for less than a year and Antiu Xixona has a long tradition for making nearby Jijona's most famous speciality - turron. Many of the different kinds of turron offered have their ice cream equivalents here, and these are especially good. I can recommend the yema tostada (toasted egg yolk).

Another famous local company is Valor Chocolate (which started in Villajoyosa in 1881). Personally, I don't rate the milk chocolates very highly, but the dark chocolate, especially with almonds, is pretty good.

You may be interested in making a visit to nearby Elda to sample Paco and Jacob Torreblanca's work:

http://www.torreblanca.net/

there are lots of buses during the day from the bus station - journey time is 35 minutes (avoid some buses that take longer) and costs 3.10Euros each way. Bus company that offers this route is http://www.alsa.es. Generally (Monday to Friday) first bus out is 7am, last 9pm in either direction and they depart on an almost hourly basis. Plug in your route and intended date here: http://www.alsa.es/VentaParticulares/contenidoHorarios.jsp

I remember it from a long while back as Pasteleria Totel (admittedly, I remembered it badly as Pasteleria Total :oops: )

You can also use the Tram to get to Denia - http://www.elpoblet.com/ is very famous (not somewhere I've been able to go myself yet though) Once you've tried a traditional Arroz dish, this might be a good place to try a contemporary twist on the classic.

And at the end of June, Alicante celebrates its wonderful Fogueres festival

Some info here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfires_of_Saint_John

From the 25th to the 29th there is the firework competition on Postiguet beach

(tip - best not to swim in the Postiguet... few locals do, instead they travel up to one of the beaches further North, notably that of San Juan)

I find some of the torreblanca confectionary creations quite reminiscent of some of Alicante's more abstract Fogueres (google images link: http://images.google.com/images?q=fogueres...-US%3Aofficial)

Don't ever eat at a street side Barraca without finding out the price first. A lot of tourists get caught out this way. A modest lunch at one of these places can easily cost 40-50Euros and it won't necessarily be very good. Barracas are erected all over the city during festivals.

Edited April 17, 2008 by MoGa (log)

[MoGa]

You may be interested in making a visit to nearby Elda to sample Paco and Jacob Torreblanca's work:

http://www.torreblanca.net/

Doh! And that's why you said you were going in the first place

Hope the Alicante to Elda bus information is of use at least.

I used to go to Elda occasionally, but that's because a friend of mine had a job calling out Bingo numbers there (it was pretty grim*, the punters took their games very seriously). Did give me a chance to find out about the pasteleria. However, this was many years ago.

*Early 90s but just like the Bingo hall depicted in the 1979 classic "Los Bingueros"

Edited April 18, 2008 by MoGa (log)