The Best Places To Eat In Benidorm

Beneath the high-rises and behind the party scene, Benidorm’s authentic side houses surprising culinary experiences. This is my guide to the best places to eat in Benidorm.

Ok, so, if you’re here looking for the best takeaways or cheapest Full English breakfasts in Benidorm, I’m afraid you’re going to be very disappointed. However, if you have an open mind and actually want to experience one of the most surprising culinary scenes in Spain then stick around and let me show you exactly where you should be eating when visiting Benidorm.

I spent three nights in Benidorm recently with Jet2holidays and the tourism board and we were treated to meals at some of the best restaurants in Benidorm. Honestly, I was surprised generally when visiting Benidorm that there’s an entirely different side compared to the infamous strip but I think I was even more surprised when the food on offer here blew me away. It’s fair to say that some of my favourite ever food has been eaten right here and no that’s not me exaggerating for blogging sake; you’ll see what I mean.

As a cavaet before we dive right in, I obviously haven’t visiting every restaurant in Benidorm so no doubt there will be many more great options and I appreciate too that standards can fluctuate. This is therefore my guide to the best places to eat in Benidorm, which hopefully I will add to over time, and it’s based on a visit during May 2025.

THE BEST PLACES TO EAT IN BENIDORM

D’Vora Restaurant

D’Vora Restaurant, in the Old Town of Benidorm, is probably the first place I’d recommend to visit to anyone travelling to Benidorm. This restaurant not only has some of the finest views across Levante Beach and the, in some ways, picturesque high rises of the city but also has some of the best food around.

Hopefully you can tell just from the photos below the standard of food on offer here. As there were eight of us, we decided to share a variety of starters from the menu such as chicken caesar salad and huevos rotos or ‘Broken Eggs’ (a Spanish dish with fried potatoes, eggs cooked at 65°C, Iberian ham and foie gras – decadent I know!). For main there was only one dish that I was ordering (as you’ll see below, Iberian pork is all you need in life when in Spain); Iberian pork with chimichurri sauce, sweet potato, crunchy onion, confit cherry tomatoes and asparagus. It was divine.

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Tapas Alley

Ah, Tapas Alley. The Old Town of Benidorm is beautiful and so far removed from the wild Benidorm strip that you’d think you had been transported into a different Spanish town altogether. Tapas Alley, an alley full of Tapas bars, is the best place to eat in the Old Town as you can hop from one to the other snacking of pintxos as though you are in San Sebastian or sit down for delicious tapas shared between friends.

We visited La Tapeira Aurrera, an incredible restaurant serving up dish after dish until we couldn’t possibly have eaten any more. First up were roasted padron peppers, Iberian cured ham and broken eggs with more Iberian ham before we turned to chefs ourselves cooking our own sirloin steak at the table. For dessert, there was French toast with toffee sauce and meringue milk ice cream, Basque style cheesecake and chocolate brownie with ice cream. Even after all those sweet treats, there was still a little room to fit in one of the delicious pintxos out of the counter; I went with the black pudding, caramelised onions, cheese and pepper one which was out of this world!

Tapas Alley itself is a must-visit in Benidorm and you’re guaranteed an authentic Spanish evening full of great food!

Restaurante Ulia

This restaurant is a beautiful beach front property on Ponienete Beach; the quieter and more local part of Benidorm west of the Old Town. From the airport, we headed straight here for a well deserved lunch and what a lunch it was. We had tuna salad, croquettes and fresh Andalusian fried calamari to start. The fried calamari with freshly squeezed lemon was a gamechanger and instantly made me realise that perhaps there was good food in Benidorm after all.

We also shared quite possibly the largest paella I’ve ever seen; there was more than enough for eight of us! Restaurante Ulia had a really relaxing vibe and with being further away from the more tourist side of Benidorm, it allows a great introduction to what life is really life for those that call this city home. Such a great restaurant!

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restaurant ulia three nights in benidorm

Urban Beach

Whilst housed in an unassuming building along the promenade on Levante Beach, Urban Beach Gastro Bar will definitely surprise you. The decor is cool and modern (with great views of the beach) and the food is fantastic; there’s a good range of seafood as well as high quality meat dishes some with unique twists. We had a selection of starters including croquettes (you can never go wrong with a croquette) and caesar salad before I devoured the Thai Black Angus Burger. The fresh herbs in the beef burger made this such a unique and light burger compared to normal plus I loved the chipotle sauce and caesar cheese sauce. So good!

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Exotico

Exotico probably just about stole the number one spot for food now that I have had some time to process everywhere we ate whilst in Benidorm. Exotico is housed within the Primavera Park Hotel but don’t let that put you off. This is such a unique and immersive experience with a tasting menu on offer for just €55. This included four courses, one of which I cannot even believe that I loved.

To start, we had red tuna tataki marinated in citrus peels, shaved wasabi, truffle, roasted cherry tomato and yondu. This was the dish that I could not stop eating. Tataki is a Japanese method of cooking whereby the meat is briefly seared on the outside though the inside is completely raw. Raw fish is something I have never liked though the taste of this dish was incredible. I regret entirely not trying something like this whilst in Japan as I can only imagine just how good it might have tasted! Next up was a bao bun filled with slow-cooked beef cheeks, tzatziki, hummus and pickled onion – also incredible. For main, my choice was the Iberico pork with Korean BBQ sauce, red wine reduction and olive mayo. When dining in Spain and Portugal, you can never go wrong with Iberico pork; it’s just that good. Finally, it was a relatively light cheesecake with caramel sauce to end an absolutely fantastic meal.

I really recommend this restaurant and, if you plan in advance, you might be able to enjoy your meal alongside live music and shows.

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Bonus – Selvatico Rooftop Bar

I know this isn’t technically a place to eat in Benidorm but it’s one rooftop bar that you must visit whilst in the city. It’s a world away from the British bars along the strip; the cocktails are incredible (I went with a pineapple whisky sour!) as are the views across the quieter part of Benidorm towards the mountains. A little bonus is that the rooftop bar is atop the same hotel that houses the Exotico restaurant above so you could easily combine both for a lovely and respectable night out in Benidorm.

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That wraps up my short guide to the best places to eat in Benidorm, in my opinion based on a short three night trip. I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations so that, when I do plan a visit back to Spain, I have even more great restaurants to try!