Hotel El Raset, Dénia: review of the portside rice and seafood restaurant

What El Raset is

El Raset is two things with one name. There's a small hotel with around 20 rooms on Calle Bellavista, the waterfront strip facing Dénia's port, a couple of minutes' walk from the old town. And a few doors along there's the restaurant, which is the reason most people know the name at all.

The address is C/ Bellavista 1, 03700 Dénia. On Google it sits at 4.5 from 507 reviews, which for a portside restaurant in a town full of them is a solid score. You'll find it in our directory as Hotel El Raset, and the rest of the town is in our Dénia area hub.

This is a rice and fish place. Not fusion, not tapas, not a steakhouse with a token paella. If that's what you're after, read on. If it isn't, skip to the comparison section, because Dénia has other answers.

What to order

The kitchen is all rice and fish, and reviewers rate the arroz a banda highest. That's the one to build the meal around. Other dishes that come up again and again: black rice with octopus, red prawn croquettes, sea bass baked in salt, and fish cured in brine.

Our pick for a table of two: croquettes to start, one rice to share, done. Ask whether the rice is priced per person with a minimum of two, which is the norm around here, before you order one each.

There are pizzas and simpler starters too. That sounds like a downgrade, but it's exactly why the place works for families and mixed groups. The adults get the salt-baked sea bass, the kids get a pizza, and nobody sulks.

The terrace

The terrace looks out over the promenade and the boats, and that's the seat to ask for. The port side of Dénia is where you want to be at the end of a day, and this strip is the front row. The advice from reviewers is to book in summer, which tells you the terrace fills. Out of season you'll have an easier time of it.

Service, the bill and the small print

Service gets described as friendly and attentive. The one honest caveat is that food can take a while when it's busy. That's normal for a rice kitchen on a full night, so build in time and don't come with somewhere else to be.

Two things on the bill. First, a few reviewers were surprised to find bread and butter charged when they hadn't asked for it. If you don't want it, say so when it lands on the table. Second, prices are fair for a portside table in Dénia, but it isn't cheap if you go big on seafood. If you're watching the budget, stick to the rice and the croquettes. The seafood is where the bill climbs.

When to go and how to book

Book in summer. That's the advice from the reviews, and it matches what you'd expect from a terrace facing the port in high season. We'd add: book any weekend lunch too, whatever the month. The phone number in our directory is 965 78 65 64.

A warning on hours. The Google listing for El Raset is the hotel's, and a hotel is open 24 hours, which tells you nothing about when the kitchen serves. We don't have reliable restaurant hours, so check before you set off, especially out of season.

Getting there is simple. From the old town it's a couple of minutes on foot. If you're driving, don't expect to park outside. Reviewers of El Port, a few doors down the same strip, call parking along Bellavista a pain, and it's the same street.

How it compares

Dénia is not short of places to eat rice with a view. Here's how El Raset stacks up against three neighbours from our directory.

El Port Restaurante, Bellavista 12

Same strip, same view across the road to the port, 4.4 from 1,328 reviews. Diners rave about the black rice, seafood paella, grilled octopus, sea bass, tiger mussels and fried anchovies, with a punchy house alioli. The big difference is price: there's a cheap weekday menú del día and a fuller set menu at around 27 euros. Service is what everyone mentions. It's closed on Tuesdays. Pick El Port for a weekday lunch on a budget. Pick El Raset if the salt-baked sea bass or the brine-cured fish is calling.

Restaurante El Pegolí, Les Rotes

Family-run, started as a little beach bar in 1943, and the place locals send you for Dénia red prawns eaten a few metres from the water. 4.3 from 1,673 reviews. Order the prawns, the grilled squid and an arroz a banda or arroz del senyoret. Prawns are priced by the piece and the bill climbs fast. Weekends fill up, parking is tight and there's no car park. Pick El Pegolí when red prawns are the whole point of the trip. Pick El Raset when you'd rather walk from the old town than drive out to Les Rotes.

Peix & Brases, Plaça Benidorm

This is the splurge. Michelin-starred, on Plaça Benidorm looking over the marina, 4.4 from 1,350 reviews. Downstairs is a more relaxed gastrobar; upstairs is the dining room with two tasting menus, at 99 euros and 130 euros. The cellar runs to more than 400 bottles. Pick Peix & Brases for an anniversary. Pick El Raset for an ordinary lunch where the bill isn't the story.

If you'd rather do small plates than rice, El Baret de Miquel in the old town is the hardest table in Dénia, at 4.7 from 1,843 reviews. Book well ahead, and note it's normally closed Sundays and Mondays.

Verdict

El Raset is a good, honest portside rice restaurant with a hotel attached. It isn't the cheapest on the strip and it isn't a destination in the way Peix & Brases is. What it has is a terrace over the boats, an arroz a banda people keep praising, and a menu that keeps a family happy. Go for the rice, ask for the terrace, book if it's summer, and say no to the bread if you don't want it.

More of our restaurant reviews: Bodega Selección in El Campello and La Crispeta in Alicante. For everything else in town, the restaurants directory is the place to look.

FAQ

Is El Raset a hotel or a restaurant?

Both. The hotel has around 20 rooms, and the restaurant of the same name is a few doors along on Calle Bellavista.

What should I order at El Raset?

Reviewers rate the arroz a banda highest. Black rice with octopus, red prawn croquettes and sea bass baked in salt also come up a lot.

Do I need to book?

In summer, yes. We'd book for weekend lunches all year. The number in our directory is 965 78 65 64.

Where is it?

C/ Bellavista 1, 03700 Dénia, on the waterfront strip facing the port, a couple of minutes' walk from the old town.

Is it good for kids?

Yes. There are pizzas and simpler starters alongside the rice and fish.

Is El Raset better than El Port?

Different jobs. El Port has the cheaper set menus and the service everyone talks about. El Raset has the salt-baked sea bass and the brine-cured fish. Both have the port view.