Benidorm Directory

Food, Drink & Tobacco

Food

One of the things Ex-pats find hardest to get used to when they move to Spain, is the food. It is very different to English food. There are many meats you didn't even know existed, most of which really do take some getting used to, if ever. If you don't like tenticles, claws, heads & tails all over your fish, oh boy, you're in for a tough time here. There's practically no such thing as filleted fish, and that includes in restaurants. If you have a car, you're in luck, with two excellent British Cash & Carry's open to the general public. You can get it all - Pork pies, kipper fillets, Heinz spaghetti, Bird's custard, even parsley souce mix, etc, etc. Yummmm.

Bookers		Partida Torres, 38. N332	965895323	Cash & Carry. All English brands. Open to public. No minimum.
Carrefour		Nueva de Finestrat a La Cala, km. 5	966818204	Hypermarket. Small English food section near the far left.
Día		Severo Ochoa, 4	N/A	Supermarket. Low price. Largely Día brand name goods.
Eroski		Alfonso puchades, 9	N/A	Supermarket. Bit pricy. All Spanish foodstuff.
Mercadona		Invierno, s/n	965860396	Supermarket chain. Good prices. Online shopping in English.
Mercadona		Mercado	965859800	Supermarket chain. Good prices. Online shopping in English.
Mercadona		Comunidad Europea s/n	965856293	Supermarket chain. Good prices. Online shopping in English.
Trade Wise		N332 before Villajoyosa	677171881	Cash & Carry. All English brands. Open to public. No minimum..

Its an aquired taste, but those legs of ham you see hanging up in many butcher shops and even cafés, are the best ham in the world. The best quality ones are called Jamon Iberico (Iberico ham) and the mid priced ones are calle Jamon Serrano (Serrano ham). I have to admit, I hated the stuff when I first moved to spain, now, having given it many tries, every one of my friends knows the best gift they can give me is a few slices of Jamon Iberico. If you want the type of ham you serve at Xmas in the UK, its not east to find, but its called Jamon de Gran Canaria - (Ham from Grand Canary). There is also Jamon York, which is processed ham similar to what's sold in the UK. Another very popular food in spain is the fish & rice dish Paella.

Drink

It ain't hard to buy booze in Spain. A full range of beers, wines and spirits are available in every supermarket, and its really cheap. If you like wine, try some of the spanish ones, they're some of the best in the world. If you like your little tipple of Sherry, guess what? There's no such name as Sherry in Spain. Its called Vino de Jerez (Wine from Jerez) or Vino dulce (Sweet wine). Did you know? Tio Pepe = Uncle Juan.

You'll find small and large supermarkets which sell booze, scattered all over the town.

Tobacco

If you're a smoker, you can't help but love Spain. Fags are so cheap here. From about 2.30€ to 3.50€ a pack and although I don't know the exact amount, you can take a hell of a lot of cartons of 10 packs back home with you. Cigarettes are now only sold in 'Estancos', which have a purple & yellow 'Tabacos' sign, or in vending machines, which you first have to ask the barman/waiter to turn on for you by a remote control behind the bar. It costs 15 cents per pack more from a vending machine, than from an Estanco. Most estancos are open from 9:30 am to 1pm and 5pm to 8pm Monday to Friday. 9:30 am to 1pm Saturdays and closed on Sundays.

You'll find estancos scattered all over the town and many bars, restaurants & cafés have cigarette machines.

Comida = Food. Bebida = Drink. Tabaco = Tobacco. Cigaro = Cigarette.

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