Ozono: El Palomar

If you have children, and I have been known to have a few, then a restaurant in a park is an ideal solution. “Go and play with the traffic!” is another option I’ve heard more than once, but El Palomar, near Albaida, has a lovely park based around a natural spring, the Font de Sis.

Here, surrounded by trees and with a terrace next to the children’s play area and far from cars, is Ozono, a restaurant that exudes good smells and even better philosophy, as can be seen by the constant reminders to think big.

An 18€ meal, drinks not included, will give you three starters, a main dish and a dessert, all presented with panache, not to mention various dessicated fruits and vegetables.

Oxtail croquettes are a must, as is the Andalusian squid, cooked in batter but served whole.

The second course included various dishes carrying supplements, some of which required two diners minimum.

Fideuá was prominent, as was the absence of rice dishes, more than made up for by a noodle dish (fideuá) with duck, garlic and wild mushrooms.

El Palomar is inserted in a grape and wine zone with excellent vineyards, such as Arraez, whose wines seem to dominate the list here. No problem!

The house dessert was a cascade of different kinds of cheesecakes, served with a flourish and a giant sweet crisp of some kind. In fact most of the dishes were presented with edible paraphernalia like rice paper.