About
Location :
Added by Jopie, at 26 November 2016
Opening Hours
- Monday 1:00 – 4:00 PM, 8:15 PM – 12:00 AM
- Tuesday 1:00 – 4:00 PM, 8:15 PM – 12:00 AM
- Wednesday 1:00 – 4:00 PM, 8:15 PM – 12:00 AM
- Thursday 1:00 – 4:00 PM, 8:15 PM – 12:00 AM
- Friday 1:00 – 4:00 PM, 8:15 PM – 12:00 AM
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10 Reviews
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13 November 2017
The famous restaurant in Alicante. We eat here at least once a month. Fresh produce daily great service been going here for 10 years
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09 October 2017
After 1 year living in Alicante, we can confidently agree that this is the best restaurant around.. and that's a difficult call to make since there are so many wonderful restaurants around!! Make a reservation for a more formal dinner or sit downstairs for the casual experience.. no booking required 😉
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09 October 2017
Been waiting to come for a while Should have come earlier!! Easily the best restaurant in Alicante And that's a very tough call. Must visit when in Alicante!!
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23 September 2017
Excellent tapas. UPDATE: second time there I'm even more impressed. We had (by accident) "foie asado"; not really cheap: 17,60 € but worth every cent! Very very friendly personal, nice place, usually very (!) full. Clear GO!
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03 July 2017
Fantastic restaurant, we hired the private dining room for a double stag party (around 30 of us). The service was superb-the waiters were extremely attentive and food and drinks were served promptly. The food was plentiful, with many options available to cater for any appetite. I would highly recommend this restaurant.
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19 April 2017
Just the best paella I had in my whole life! Appetizers breads are also delicious!
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19 April 2017
To get to this bar you're going to have to walk down a popular street filled with tables for restaurants with loud reps who come up you and try to talk you into going to their restaurant. Nou Mandolin is not one of these restaurants and it is not on that street, but a side street. There is no big sign hanging out front and the reserved door plus the intricate metal exteriors to the window really hide the restaurant. They are not trying to catch random walk in guests who happened to stumble upon the place. You might walk by, turn your head, and see that there is a restaurant there, but you will only catch a glimpse of a small piece of it as you continue walking by. That is unless you walk by there in the 15 minutes before they open. They open at 8:15pm, but at 8p you will find a line of people cued up hoping to get a seat there before it even opens, and that was on a Monday night.
Most of the seating is around a big bar that surrounds the entire cooking area. The kitchen and tapas-bartending work is split up. There is a guy in the middle behind the bar who meticulously cuts cheeses and expertly cured meats by hand to perfectly uniform thicknesses. Another is responsible for cooking all the hot dishes. Three others handle the cold dishes, drinks, and majority of the customer service. Each one seems to genuinely enjoy what he is doing and have fun, friendly conversations with the guests.
But friendliness and job satisfaction is not the limit of this excellent level of service. They are incredibly attentive. The tapas-tenders (new word?) will make sure to be there right when you are ready to order your plate of food or drink (whether it is the first or sixth), and will expertly time the delivery so that as soon as you rest your fork from the previous serving, they will remove your cutlery and plate and replace them with a fresh set and the next food item. They will consult you on the food and ask you questions you wouldn't even think to have asked. When I decided to try something new and outside my comfort zone, the fried lamb brain (yes you read that right), we talked about how this was my first time but that I liked trying new foods. So the waiter offered me a half order since it was my first time. After I felt full and didn't have room for desert, he gave Melissa and I each a slice of homemade fudge, because all good meals need desert. He followed that up with a house made digestive liquor.
The guests all came there with the intention of being there, and are a jovial group. Each their own combination of happy, excited, and hungry, looking forward to having an amazing meal, whether it include a dish that was recommended to them or a favorite they had there on their last vacation. While drinking that digestive liquor, Melissa and I were talking to a Dutch couple that just bought a house in Alicante 3 days before and had come there because they had several awesome meals there before on vacation; unfortunately the dish they really wanted, they didn't have that night. However, they helped me convince Melissa to get the blue fin tuna tartar in pistachio cream sauce, which I had wanted earlier but I didn't have room for on my own. Even though it was after the digestive and fudge, the waiter didn't bat an eye. When he reset my plate and cutlery on the bar, he even gave me a glass of white wine to go with the tuna. That tuna was so savory, it filled your mouth and forced your cheeks to rise in a smile, giving Melissa a glow she doesn't usually get in a restaurant. When we finished, the waiter asked: "How did you like the desert?" To which I replied: "That was the best desert I ever had."
So if you're in Alicante, go there and experience it. More restaurants should have awesome food and service like this. Make sure you have the blue fin tuna tartar with pistacio cream sauce and the fried lamb brain. All together we paid 90€, which included an 18€ tip. The tip wasn't automatically included and you don't have to tip that much, but you should.response / report this review -
04 April 2017
The food was way too salty. I was not able to eat it and had to order something else. I ordered a second dish with no salt . it was still salty but ok. The restaurant (upstairs) it's nice and the atmosphere is cozy.
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28 March 2017
The restaurant (upstairs) has a very nice and warm atmosphere. Personnel are polite and passionate about the food they serve. We asked them to help us with choosing and we loved their suggestions. The food is just amazing.
The price is not cheap, at the end, something like 40 euro p/p, totally worth it.response / report this review -
03 December 2016
More like a bar than a restaurant. It was very full when I was there, have to wait. That all patrons are locals is often a good sign.
Food are good for the price (Northern European standard, but could be on the pricey side for the locals there). I ordered beef and pork, but the pork was softer and better. However none of them taste fresh and juicy, but I didn't expect myth for their price.
Huge wine collection.response / report this review
