Restaurant Quique Dacosta
Alicante
Reviews
Great food and atmosphere. Just a bit out of balance pricewise. For a 3 star michelin we found foodprice ok, but the price of the winepairing was not according to quality and especially quantity. Just 2 ‘sips’/course for 165€ pp. Better to order a nice bottle for that price.
When you think of Michelin stars, your expectations are always high, and Quique Dacosta lives up to its three stars! First of all, staff (of various nationalities) is not only pleasant and professional, they notice your every whim, they see what you like (or dislike), and they are not rushing you! The food is exceptional not only by flavours or elegant serving, but the more so, by the unusual fusion of tastes that you would not even think of mixing! The tasting menu we took presented hundreds of flavours that I never experienced before marking the value of local products and creating a meal that would surprise your senses with unusual experience . I never thought fried fig leaves mixed with honey can become so tasty or adding a strawberry taste in a rice dish can change the taste completely ! To warm Michelin stars you have to be brave and creative, you have to love experiments and fun! Restaurante Quique Dacosta has it all!
If you combine a very special occasion, my Birthday 🎂 , dining in a 3 star Michelin Restaurant, serving one of the most creative 8 course menus and some of the best wines, enjoying this together with my Love …💕… This was an evening I will truly remember as one of the great moments. We would like to express our gratitude for a fantastic evening at Quique Dacosta restaurant last night. Beyond serving the greatest of dishes the continued attention of all the staff throughout the evening was making the dinner very special and memorable for us.
We had an absolutely fantastic dinner experience. All seven acts were wonderful, full of interesting flavours, and was such a bespoke culinary journey. We highly recommend visiting. Each act was so well thought out, it will be a meal we will always remember. Also a highlight is the warm and friendly staff. Francesca was gracious in helping with our reservation. With myself not participating in drinking alcohol, the sommelier was so incredibly insightful in creating unique mocktails to pair with the acts. It was such a brilliant paired experience and the best mocktails I have ever tasted, especially the Negroni/Americano inspired mocktail. Thank you to all the team at Restaurant Quique Dacosta for such a wonderful evening.
Yesterday we visited Quique Dacosta in Dénia and experienced the Octavo tasting menu. From the moment we arrived, the welcome set the tone. Francesca and her team handled the reception with warmth and quiet confidence, immediately putting us at ease. We have been fortunate to dine in a number of Michelin starred restaurants around the world and, for context, the original Enigma by Albert Adrià in Barcelona remains the benchmark in our minds. That said, this was a memorable and very worthwhile experience. Sitting in the garden for the emotion courses is an excellent idea. It adds a sense of occasion, and we very much enjoyed watching everything unfold around us in such a relaxed and natural setting. Throughout the meal, Maria and John Luca delivered service of a very high standard. Attentive without ever being intrusive, they judged the pace and rhythm of the experience extremely well. John Luca, in particular, deserves special mention. His knowledge of the wines, and more importantly his ability to explain them in a clear, engaging and natural way, added a great deal to the pairing. It never felt rehearsed or overworked, just genuine understanding and enthusiasm for what was in the glass. We opted for the premium wine pairing, which proved to be an excellent decision. Several selections were completely new to us, and thoughtfully matched to the dishes, adding another layer to the overall experience. A small detail, but one well worth mentioning, was the olive oil served with the sourdough bread. On asking, this was El Mil del Poaig, produced from ancient olive trees in Castellón. Quite simply, I have never tasted olive oil like it. It had a remarkable depth, freshness and clarity of flavour, with that distinctive green, slightly peppery finish that lingers. It stayed with us long after the course had finished and is a reminder that when the very basics are done properly, they can be just as memorable as the more complex dishes. As for the food, there is little value in trying to dissect every dish in writing. Much of what is presented is personal and interpretive. It is better experienced than analysed, and I would encourage anyone considering it to simply book and go with an open mind. That said, there were a couple of points that, at this level, are worth noting. I had particularly hoped to spend a few minutes with the head sommelier to discuss the wines in more depth. Unfortunately, he did not visit our table at any point during the service. What made this more noticeable was the amount of time he appeared to spend engaging with a neighbouring table. In a restaurant of this calibre, consistency of attention matters. In addition, the starfish course was disappointing. The concept was interesting, but the execution fell short, as the centre of the starfish was cold, which detracted from the dish and the intended experience. Overall, this is a restaurant delivering a refined and thoughtful experience, supported by a strong front of house team and an excellent wine programme. With a little more consistency in the finer details, it would move even closer to the very top tier. A final thought. After many years of travelling and dining at this level, one comes to realise that Michelin stars, whilst influential, are not always a measure of what truly matters to the guest. The real test is how a place makes you feel, the consistency of care, and the attention to detail throughout the entire experience. When those elements are fully aligned, the stars become almost irrelevant. When they are not, their importance begins to feel less certain.
