Follow us as we take you through Els Magazinos
Whilst out walking in the Fisherman’s District of Denia (Baix la Mar), you can’t fail to miss Els Magazinos – the market of gastronomy and culture.
Walking through the cobbled main entrance from Carrer del Pont is special, with its grand steel structured gates, you instantly feel with a warm, relaxed and welcome.
We start our gastronomic journey at Fresh
Just inside the gates of Els Magazinos to the right-hand side, where they have an extensive wine list both by the glass and bottle and do a mean Larios rose gin with tonic.
The layout is standard tables and chairs with glass patio heaters, which are turned on if there’s a chill in the evening, bringing a touch of luxury. Behind the bar at the back is the restaurant – and we have agreed they serve one of the best pizzas we’ve ever tasted in Denia.
If you venture upstairs, you’ll find a relaxed bohemian rooftop bar – think cushions, throws and with views down to the port and up to the castle it’s an ideal place for a sunset cocktail – make mine a Pina Colada!
We get to taste more wonderful food
Moving further into Els Magazinos, you’ll find another 20 indoor and ‘outdoor’ stalls serving up different foods to tickle your taste buds.
Our next stop is Patagonia – an Argentinian stall serving Empanadas – or little pies – filled with everything from chicken to wild boar. The waiter, the son of the owner, gives us the lowdown on each one and recommendations on what are his favourites. We go with his recommendations and aren’t disappointed.
The wild boar comes out on top – excellent!
Next door to Patagonia is El Baret de Robert which predominately sells pinchos. Similar to a tapa, the pincho is a small appetizer, thought to have originated from the Basque country, which is usually bread based and served with a skewer or toothpick – to hold the topping onto the bread.
The ones here are typically baguette based. Our favourite has an iberico ham topping – delicious.
Croquettes to die for
Moving further along the line of outdoor stalls, next on our hitlist is Croqueteria Qmcomo.
Serving only Spanish Croquettes, this stall is always busy. They offer meat, fish and vegetarian croquettes and give you the option to buy singularly or on ‘offer’ in groups of 4 or 6 as a mix and match.
As big meat eaters, we always have each of the meat options. We love them all, but our favourite two are the sobrasada and wild boar.
Meet The Dutch Viking
Next up is Soulchica – owned and run by only what you could describe as a Dutch Viking!
On arrival, we are greeted with high fives and hugs – just the warm welcome we’ve come to expect here. We order our ‘usual’ – a large bowl of nachos and fries, accompanied by a couple of bottles of craft beer to help wash it down.
Swiftly followed by a couple of glasses of Rioja and a walk around the art gallery situated facing Soulchica – and now we’re ready to move across to Vegamar.
Delightful wine and cheese
Vegamar is by far the most sophisticated of all the stalls in Els Magazinos. Set in an ‘inside’ stall, it seems more like a shop.
Here you can sample wine sent down from the bodega in Valencia, accompanied by local Iberico ham and Manchego cheese laid out in a platter.
We order a bottle of the Bodegas Vegamar Vino de Autor Reserva – otherwise known as the bottle with the blue leaf on it. We settle down on the high stools at the island in the middle of the stall to lose ourselves in perfection.
Acoustic sounds of live music
Hearing ‘live’ music, we venture further along the alley of cobbles to our penultimate stop – The Speak bar. We stop here for a nightcap and to listen to the acoustic sounds of their resident guitarist.
This place is always packed to the rafters when there’s live music on, so it’s best to get here as early as possible to guarantee a seat if you plan to stay for a while.
A desert for the walk home
So, now it’s time to head home – but not before we stop off at Waffle Wrap for a belly busting dessert.
As the name suggests, it’s a waffle moulded into the shape of a wrap or cone and filled with a variety of ice creams, toppings and sauces – ideal for the walk back to our AirBNB.
