As Moraira is a coastal town with its own fishing fleet and a strong agricultural tradition various seafood dishes with the accompaniment of fresh fruit and vegetables feature in the local cuisine:-

The PAELLA, probably the best know, is a rice-based dish and comes is various forms.
The PAELLA MIXTA would contain meat (pork, rabbit, chicken etc) pieces of white fish, squid, clams, prawns, crayfish plus strips of fresh pimiento and beans - and of course garlic.
If you want one without meat, you should order a PAELLA DE MARISCO.

The ingredients will always vary anyway, from place to place, according to availability and would normally have to be booked in advance, unless you are prepared to wait for an hour or more.

A "classic" paella is lightly burned in the last moments of cooking to produce a tasty layer on the bottom - which is scraped out with spoons at the end of the meal!

FIDEUA is a special pasta, cooked in seafood stock in a similar way to paella, with vegetables and pieces of squid.

It is not only in paella that RICE (Arroz - Castellano, Arròs - Valenciano) features in the local gastronomy. ARRÒS ABANDA - again with seafood, ARRÒS AL FORN - baked rice, ARRÒS AMB FESSOLS i NAPS - with beans and turnips, ARRÒS AMB BIEDES - with chards.

Outstanding among the bewildering range of fish and seafood dishes are the fish/shellfish soup or stew (SOPA DE PESCADO/MARISCO), octopus stew (PUCHERO DE PULPO), grilled red mullet (SALMONETES), fried mixed fish (PARILLADA), a kind of whitebait, dipped in flour and deep fried (PESCADILLA), rings of squid fried in batter (CALAMARES A LA ROMANA), mussels - boiled/stewed in a sauce (MEJILLONES AL VAPOR or CON SALSA), griddled prawns/crayfish (GAMBAS/CIGALAS A LA PLANCHA), prawns sauted in garlic (GAMBAS AL AJILLO), lobster (LANGOSTA) is cooked in many different ways, the Mediterranean sole is delicious cooked in butter or simply griddled (LENGUADO MEUNIERE or A LA PLANCHA), griddled swordfish (EMPERADOR A LA PLANCHA) - and not to forget the humble SARDINA!
Also recommended is the monkfish baked with potatoes (SUC DE RAPE), the fish casserole (ZARZUELA) and, really tasty, is the large sea-bass baked in salt (LUBINA A LA SAL) - the salt forms a crust, which seals in all the juices, and breaks away with the skin!
Lots of visitors, because they don't really understand, miss out on the best because they stick to what they know. Perhaps, now that its been explained . . . .

In Moraira Village CASA DORITA (in front of the church) provide all of these dishes in very comfortable surroundings. Also specialising are EL REFUGIO, LA SORT and EL PESCADOR and also most of the bars and restaurants in Teulada Town; MEDITERRANEO, AVENIDA etc. Famous for many years (they were actually established in 1941) and patronised by visitors from up and down the coast BAYDAL at the CALPE PORT is well worth the half-hour trip.
Other local specialities include COCAS - savoury cakes with a variety of toppings (tomato, onion, anchovy etc) and the abundant variety of local fruits are employed in the elaboration of desserts (almonds, raisins, figs and nisperos).

The iced fruit juices are extremely refreshing (LIMÓN, NARANJA, HORCHATA) - lemon, orange and the milk from tiger-nuts!

Quite apart from seafood, there are well over a hundred establishments in the area offering everything from "workman´s special" to 5-star restaurants and providing every sort of cuisine - Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, German, Chinese, Indian - as well as English!

All are worth a try but several deserve special mention as being a little out of the ordinary:-

In Moraira Village, LAS PALMERAS (Placita de la Sort) where Peter is still entertaining patrons and providing Rosie´s cooking after more than 20 years in the area.

Nearby (Calle Almacenes) there is a wonderful, cosy atmosphere hosted by Leonora and Juan Valles in EL REFUGIO.

1.5 km. along the Calpe road, located on the cliff edge with steps down to the beach is LA BONA TAULA which specialises in fresh fish and Galician meats.

Towards Teulada, just past the Barclaycentre is EL CASERIO, where Tony and Pauline provide a range of international and local food which can be enjoyed both inside outside on the large terraces. There is also a comfortable bar with drinks at BAR prices!

Two excellent steakhouses are CONNIES (who specialise in meats which are slowly cooked on hot stones at your table) and the MONTE VIDEO at Benitachell.

Also run by the Refugio Valles Family (Isabel and Juan) is the spacious GEMISANT RESTAURANT and PIZZERIA - international and local dishes in a friendly, lively atmosphere with pizzas and pastas to eat there or take away.
Also provided and worth a try if you can manage to put it all away in the middle of the day are the workman's lunches - 4 courses with wine and coffee for under 15 Euros!

Right next door to the Gemisant and specialising in a range of very interesting international dishes is THE OLIVE TREE.

Further afield and quite close to Calpe, for an evening or whole day out, CLUB FUSTERA has an excellent restaurant and bar around their swimming pool where there is entertainment EVERY NIGHT during the summer season.

In the other direction, close to Javea the ELEFANTE RESTAURANT provides "gourmet" cuisine in the rustic setting of a beautiful old country house with surrounding terraced gardens.

Most restaurants offer a MENU DEL DIA (special daily menu) which is reasonably priced and provides 3 courses with wine and bread for under 15 Euros. Care should be taken however, when changing one dish for another, as the subsequent bill might well be calculated on an "a la carte" basis.

Local residents often go to the Gemisant Restaurant in Moraira or make the trip up to Teulada Town just for the menu at the restaurants AVENIDA and MEDITERRANEO (which is actually the dining room of the hostal with the same name). They both provide a salad, starter, main course, desert, coffee, wine and bread for around 14 Euros.