The best restaurants in the province of Castellón
BENICARLO
Raul Resino _(Alicante, 2; tel. 964 86 55 05; €€€) _
Chef of the year in 2016 and also one of the most personal and emphatic bets in Castellón. The past of this Madrilenian is not trivial: Martín Berasategui, El Racó de Can Fabes and El Celler de Can Roca.
From the sky to this corner of the Maestrazgo and the Costa Azahar in an offer (without menu) addressed to 30 diners through 19 plates that they talk about territory , fish from the market, organic vegetables and an endless number of preparations based on the garden and the sea (no meat): seaweed sandwiches, cod brandade with sweet chili, Pa Amb Tomàquet deconstructed or stew of the ancients Benicarland sailors . It is a luxury to have Raúl so close.
Despite the avant-garde, there is also a place for traditional dishes such as “** that little rice in Castellón”.**
This oyster will make you cry
CASTELLON DE LA PLANA
** Float ** _(Navarra, 58; tel. 964 03 16 84; €€) _
Adrian Merenciano comes to revolutionize the often boring panorama of that city. Missed him.
A (gastronomic) earthquake as opportune as it is unexpected. This restaurant, which is only a year old –it's a baby–, is uncompromisingly committed to creative cuisine by the hand of Fran Bonachera and the aforementioned chef . Dishes where aesthetic beauty also makes an appearance (it is appreciated) and rounds off a proposal without fear of the avant-garde.
We like the game that beats in creations like smoked mackerel with thyme, dewasabi ice cream and teriyaki; the canvas that draws the strawberry and buffalo salad or the Pekinese poularde. Merenciano can only go further and we are happy.
When in doubt, he chooses the long menu: 11 plates in which Flote shows all his creative arsenal.
Or the impossible dishes of Adrián Merenciano
PEÑISCOLA
James House _(Avda. Papa Luna, 5; tel. 964 48 00 30; €€€) _
All rise: we are before a piece of history of the gastronomy of Bajo Maestrazgo.
We like restaurants like James House. We like the sense of honesty and family (“all my life I have fought to protect my family”, Michael Corleone) of this temple dedicated to seafood cuisine, founded by Jaime Sanz in 1967 and today in the solid hands of his son, too James.
fabulous the Mediterranean red prawn carpaccio , ortiguillas, espardeñas or Peñíscola prawns cooked with sea water. Don't be in a hurry after dinner, enjoy the chef's conversation and the toasted egg yolk French toast with nougat ice cream
His love for cinema is breathed in dishes like the Calabuig rice, heartfelt tribute to Berlanga's film.
VALL D'ALBA
Cal Paradise _(Avda. Villafranca, 30; tel. 964 32 01 31; €€€) _
Creative proposal whose pantry is based on the culinary tradition of Castellón; a gem in the town.
Since Miguel Barrera and Angela Ribes take command of this family dining house founded in 1973 nothing has been the same in Castellón.
You can – and should – delve into the territory and look for that great kitchen that looks in the face of any other: no complexes! The proposal is divided into four menus (**Daily, Gastro-mercat, Tradition and Miguel Barrera)** that range from the classicism of sticky pigeon rice with mountain snails to the 11 stations of the gastronomic menu . Market kitchen, pantry and common sense; we need more houses like Cal Paradis.
Fabulous seafood and fresh fish from the Grao fish market, in Castellón.
The games of Miguel Barrera and Ángela Ribes have no limit
DAIMUS
House Manolo _(Pº Marítimo de Daimús, 5; tel. 962 81 85 68; €€€€) _
The best beach bar in Spain? Loud and clear: it is.
The progression as a chef and gastronomic entrepreneur of Manuel Alonso (from a small family establishment, the family's eating house Alonso Fominaya, in the almost unknown Daimús , even one of the great restaurants in the Valencian Community) has an explanation as simple as it is unusual: faith. Sculpted in iron and embers, without a spark of hesitation in her kitchen and in his talent.
Today, the creative proposal of this restaurant is unparalleled: mackerel with chamomile, sea urchin, octopus with cauliflower, eggs and eels or the totem turbot.
Happiness is having an amontillado after the tasting menu , leisurely watching the evening fall on one of its sun loungers facing the sea.
€ Less than €10
€€ Up to €20
€€€ Up to €50
€€€€ More than 50 €
*You can find the 2018 Gastronomic and Wine Guide in a digital version for your devices, at Manzana , Zinium Y google play .