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In this mecca for gourmets, with exquisite views over the hills and coast, chef Joachim Koerper prepares impeccable, award-winning Mediterreanean cuisine using the finest local produce.

Dynamic young chef Enrique Dacosta gives traditional rice dishes a highly creative twist at this excellent restaurant with a wonderful, breezy terrace. This is the very best place to try Denia’s famous prawns, cooked to perfection.

This delightful country restaurant just a few miles from the tourist enclave of Guadalest serves sturdy mountain dishes like rabbit cooked with almonds, or olleta de blat, a traditional stew prepared to a centuries-old recipe.

Set in a charming small hotel in jasmine-scented gardens above the historic town of Xàtiva, the restaurant specializes in traditional regional dishes, but the highlight is the romantic garden setting.

With a perfect location on the port, Dársena resembles a great white ship, right down to its round windows and gleaming brass lamps. The speciality is rice; the menu offers almost 200 different rice dishes. The arroz a la banda is particularly good.

Smart and stylish, Piripi serves some of the finest traditional rice dishes in the whole city. Try their delectable arroz con sepionet con alcachofas cooked with baby squid and artichokes, but save room for the delicious home-made desserts. The tapas bar is a local institution.

Not far from the port, this relaxed and informal little restaurant is wholeheartedly dedicated to seafood, and serves up whatever is freshest that day. You are in luck if the traditional fishermen’s stew caldero is on the menu – the restaurant makes one of the tastiest versions around.

The plushest restaurant in Murcia City, Rincón de Pepe serves exquisitely prepared fresh seafood from the Mar Menor (including a fine seafood stew with sea bass and clams), as well as locally reared meats which are grilled to perfection. Old-fashioned in the best sense, it offers impeccable service and a splendid, rather formal setting.

A beautiful 17th-century silk factory has been handsomely converted to house this elegant restaurant in a rural setting on the outskirts of Murcia City. It uses the freshest local produce, including fruit and vegetables grown in its own orchard, as well as freshly caught seafood from the Mar Menor.

Chef Pedro Morena creates some of the most imaginative fare in Murcia at this excellent chalet-style restaurant. The menu leans toward Basque and French cuisine, with seafood taking pride of place (although there are plenty of delicious options for meat-eaters too).