#ALICANTE - ALCOY - VENTA SANT JORDI

An amazing bike ride and food trip in and around the mountains near Alcoy by Howard Goldsmith of Alicante Sunshine Villas

December 2020

Venta Sant Jordi Alcoy

Yesterday, Ben (my son) and I went out on the motorbikes. Having only ever ridden motorbikes for the last few years and starting with a 50cc scooter, I now have a Suzuki GSR 600 and Ben has a quite stunning Triumph Speed Triple. Don't worry if you are not into bikes as this is more about experiences and food than bikes. Basically, both bikes are fast and by fast I mean f**king quick, 0-60 without the need to change gear more or less.

I like pootling along and taking in the scenery whilst Ben loves pushing the bike and getting close to the road when cornering, which is what his bike is built for and he rides well and not stupidly. Motorbiking with my son is something I could not have imagined in a million years but Spain changes you and the roads and scenery here are magnificent. Some of the scenery we saw yesterday was breath-taking as we climbed to 720m above sea level and up to 1025m near to Alcoy where they had snow on Thursday.

A big part of the ride is the camaraderie with other bikers and food. Yesterday we ended up at Venta Sant Jordi 3km outside of Alcoy which had a better class of restaurant than we would normally choose.

There were two Menu Del Dia (Finde - weekend Menus) one at €17.50 and the other at €29.99. We chose the cheaper one as the only difference we saw was rib-eye and we prefer solomillo.

A selection of starters included embutido (smoked ham) and cabra de queso (strong goats cheese),

along with croquetas of bacalao (cod) and jamón y queso (ham and cheese).

and an ensalada Rusa (Russian salad) con pan casero caliente (with hot homemade bread).

We chose the solomillo for the main course, which was cooked to perfection and tasted buttery with a hint of herbs, it was delicious.

Sadly, I didn't get a photo of the desserts before demolishing them, or, so I thought, but Ben had taken a picture. A very creamy cheesecake and a homemade coffee flan,

We had stunning food, served in a lovely restaurant with great service. I would imagine a similar meal in London would be £100 for two and you wouldn't be disappointed. One for the list if you are ever out this way.

Update:- We went back exactly one week later with three friends and the food was as good if not a touch better. We were warmly welcomed and clearly remembered from the previous week. The kitchen has a smoker, a man in the corner with a packet of Gitanes, and also, smokes its own salmon which is a speciality dish that we are going to order one day in advance of our next meal.

The Chuleton at €40 per kilo is sensational.