Eating rice in Alicante, properly

Arroz a banda — rice cooked in a concentrated fish broth and served on its own, with alioli. The fish is cooked separately, which is what "a banda" means. This is the Alicante classic.

Arroz del senyoret — the same idea with the seafood already peeled, so nothing needs handling. Arroz con costra is inland, baked with an egg crust. Caldero is the Tabarca and Santa Pola version, broth first, rice after.

• Rice is a lunch dish. Ordering it at 9pm marks you out immediately.
• It is cooked to order and takes 20–30 minutes. That wait is a good sign.
• Minimum two people, priced per person.
• Many places want it booked in advance, especially at weekends.

Photographs of paella on a board outside, a rice dish served in under ten minutes, and "paella" as a single all-purpose item on a multilingual menu are all warnings. Real rice is not pre-cooked and does not arrive instantly.

Bright yellow rice usually means colouring rather than saffron and stock. A good arroz a banda is a modest brown-gold, dry rather than soupy, with a thin toasted layer at the bottom of the pan.

The seafront strip nearest the port has the highest concentration of tourist menus. Better odds inland around the Mercado Central, in the streets behind the Explanada, and along the coast in Campello and San Juan, where rice houses cook for locals at Sunday lunch.

A dining room full of Spanish families at 2:30pm is the most reliable indicator there is.

Before the rice: local salted fish, coca amb tonyina, esgarraet with roasted pepper and cod. Afterwards, turrón from nearby Jijona. Wines from Alicante's own DO — Monastrell reds and Fondillón — hold up well against the fish stock.