Castillo de Conesa – San Miguel
October 2009 - This restaurant sits in one of the most beautiful settings on the Costa Blanca and has gone from strength to strength since opening in the spring of 2008. As well as being a hugely popular venue with all nationalities for lunch and dinner, it is now hosting weddings, parties, theme nights and banquets, so it was a natural choice for our first review.
It was a glorious October day and very busy but we managed to find a table on the large terrace after a short wait and ordered a couple of bottles of wine (very acceptable) while we drank in the atmosphere and looked at the menu. Its fairly simple - meat, pizza and paella mainly, and comes in various languages. Fresh crusty bread with tomato and ali-oli arrived while we were debating and we chose a selections of starters between us all including a huge salad, jamon, machego cheese and sizzling garlic prawns, a real feast!
For main course six of us plumped for the delicious-looking mixed paella, served at the table straight from the pan, with seafood, whole prawns, and good-sized pork and chicken pieces. There was plenty enough for second helpings and it proved to be one of the best we´ve had in our five years here. The other three in our party aren´t seafood fans so one had lamb chops, beautifully cooked and plenty for her, but not enough to satisfy a hearty eater we thought. The roasted lamb shoulder chosen by her husband though was too much so we helped him out…it was delicious! If you love your veggies you will be disappointed in most Spanish restaurants, at Conesa they are typically sparse but at least they were fresh. Predictably the teenager amongst us chose pizza which was home-made on a thin crust and looked good, its must have tasted good too as it was gone before we got a chance for a sneaky taste!
Desserts were predictably the usual selection of cakes and ice-cream from the freezer, though a couple of our friends tried the more interesting-sounding choices, none of which translated well into English and weren´t what they expected. The rest of us opted for coffee instead.
What a great way to spend a warm autumn afternoon! The meal took over three hours but thats they way you are supposed to do lunch in Spain, it didn´t feel like we were waiting at any time. The bill was a bit steep but thats just because we had it all including wine, soft drinks, water, coffees and liqueurs which bumped it up quite a bit. It is possible to eat reasonably cheap at Conesa though, with starters from 2,95€ and main courses mostly around the 10€ mark. And of course, sharing a paella is not only traditional, it works out cheap 
too..
I should mention there is a large restaurant indoors for those who aren´t keen on dining al fresco and there is also a kids play area. The best thing about Conesa though is the fantastic setting, make sure you take time to have a wander round before or after your meal. Apart from the impressive castle itself, there is a lake with ducks, swans and waterfalls, extensive grounds with beautiful gardens, and more terrace areas with pergolas and statues…and its all lit up at night – stunning!
If you want us to check out your favourite restaurant, let us know
