Granada in Spain is probably best-know for the Alhambra compound on top of the hill. Because of this tourist attraction, the town is teeming with hotels and restaurants. Like in all town, the quality varies immensely; Some are in great locations where others really focus on serving great food. With a view of the Alhambra, on the bottom of the hill is located you will find Ruta del Azafrán.
To be honest, the best feature of this restaurant is its view. This does not mean the food is bad, but the term “gastronomic” or “fine dining” that it has been given on at least one restaurant booking site is a bit too much credit. The design of the restaurant is nice, with modern which seats and nice tables. There is plenty of room between tables, but it can get a bit chilly when seated in the wrong place (i.e. in the air flow of the air conditioning).
The waiters are nice and make an effort to serve you in English, but having one more waiter during the dinner service would be good. Where the waiters are nice, some are a bit clumsy. On the one evening we were there, they spilled food and/or drinks over their guests no less than three times.
The food is decent but it is possible to find something better. For starter I had some Iberico ham. Where this was served on a nice plate, I could have done without the walnuts and the rather high temperature. The ham was freshly cut/sliced by hand, which is not the case in some other restaurants in town. What I did like about this particular ham is that it was slightly less salty than some others we have eaten.
For main course there was tuna with pineapple chutney. The pineapple has some cloves in it, which would have been a bit better if the kitchen had taken out the cloves after its flavor was cooked into the dish. Around the tuna there was some nori, yes the stuff you’d normally find on sushi. As if that isn’t bad enough, it felt like it was deep fried. Because of this it was very chewy. Remove this “skin” and you have tuna that is eatable, but a little cold. The combination of the tuna with pineapple is unusual and tasty.
Dessert is something you really cannot mess-up; Chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The cake was like a brownie and the hot ‘brownie’ with stone cold ice cream is simply delicious. The cake is a bit sticky on the inside, just as I like it. Needless to say that this is the best dish of the evening.
Overall, I had the feeling that the main attraction of this place is the view. Would I go here again? Well, seriously doubt it. Would I recommend this to friends and family? Sadly, I won’t feel comfortable doing that. If you do decide to go here, expect to pay approx. EUR 40 (excl. drinks) per person for the dishes mentioned above. As the restaurant is quite busy, so making a reservation is recommended.
Restaurant location: View on Google Maps
Restaurant website: http://www.rutadelazafran.com