Arroz a banda
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/risager/ · CC BY-SA 2.0

Arroz a banda is the Alicante fishermen's rice cooked in a strong stock of rockfish and ñora, served on its own with allioli, and found on seafront menus all over Benidorm.

Arroz a banda is a rice dish of Alicante province: fishermen boiled cheap, bony rockfish (morralla) with ñora peppers for stock, cooked the rice in that stock separately, a banda, and ate the fish another day. Like other Alicante rices it starts from a salmorreta of ñora, garlic and tomato. On Benidorm's beaches it is a standing order: Ongi Etorri Manolo 1 on Poniente names it among its specialities, Ducado lists it beside its lobster rice, and El Barranco cooks it for two or more.

3 editor picks for Arroz a banda in Benidorm, ranked by editorial score. All Benidorm signature dishes · Arroz a banda across every city.

Also in: Valencia.

Ongi Etorri Manolo 1 ★ 4.2

€€ValencianPoniente

Ongi Etorri Manolo 1 has fed Poniente beach in Benidorm since 1968, a family house cooking arroz a banda, paella, bay fish and Basque-style hake by the sea.

OrderArroz a banda for two, or the merluza a la vasca the house calls its signature.

TipThe kitchen runs straight through from noon, so a late lunch after the beach is easy; rice dishes are for a minimum of two.

El Barranco ★ 4.2

€€€ValencianPoniente

El Barranco is a seafront rice and fish house on Poniente beach in Benidorm, cooking arroz a banda, arroz del senyoret and rice with anchovies and spinach.

OrderArroz con boquerones y espinacas, Benidorm's own rice, for at least two.

TipRice dishes are made for at least two; a local quoted by Guía Repsol picks the salt-baked fish and the grilled baby squid.

Ducado ★ 4.1

€€€MediterraneanLevante

Ducado has cooked traditional Mediterranean food in Benidorm since 1980: sea bream, sea bass and other fish, lobster rice, milk-fed lamb and Iberian ham.

OrderArroz con bogavante, or whichever whole fish is on the day's list.

TipRoast suckling pig is cooked to order, so call ahead; Monday is lunch only and the restaurant closes all day Tuesday.

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Arroz a banda makes more sense with someone from Benidorm explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

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