The strange history and brilliance of Spain’s Menu del Dia
Franco did a lot of terrible things, to be sure, but one thing he did right: create the Menu del Dia. In 1964, he designed a set-price menu showcasing Spanish regional cuisine, as well as creating the slogan Spain is Different, to encourage and benefit tourism. His menu del dia (menu of the day) became required by law in 1965 for many restaurants, especially in tourist areas. In the 1970s it became popular throughout Spain and has remained a staple for many restaurants to this day.
We love the Menu del Dia. It generally includes three courses:
- Primero (starter)
- Segundo (main course)
- Postre o cafe (dessert or coffee)
Some restaurants also include the drink, which is generally a soft drink, bottled water, a beer, or a glass of wine. Some restaurants leave the whole bottle on the table!
As supply costs have gone up, many restaurants no longer include a beverage of choice to help keep the meal price down. When drinks aren’t included, they average a low €1.50 to €2.50, including a beer or glass of wine. Few restaurants list the desserts on the menu, even when it’s a signboard that’s written new each day. They verbally name them for you at the end of your main meal.
Today, there’s no longer a set-price mandate, and prices can vary quite a bit. More expensive menus usually include options that are fancier and high-end (such as octopus or steak). In this article, I’ve covered several examples, in a wide variety of prices, to illustrate what you can get. I start with the lowest cost place we ate and move to the most expensive. All of these are in our local city of Gandia, but we’ve had similar meals all over Spain.
For each restaurant, I’ve included their menu for that day as well as a description and picture collage of what we ordered. I didn’t include the dessert picture in all cases, in an effort to keep the collages to a workable size. A slice of pie or bowl of flan isn’t usually that visually interesting.
One thing to note is that some of the less expensive Menus del Dia have smaller portion sizes, and their presentation may look a bit like the Blue Plate Special stereotype from the 1950s in the US, but we have absolutely never left hungry and we have never had an inedible or awful meal. Even when “served plain” the food is well-cooked and delicious. We don’t need a sprig of parsley or artistic drizzle of sauce when our 3-course lunch and drink is less than €10 each.
Another important point is that some of the more expensive Menus del Dia don’t include just one primero. You get multiple primeros for the table, then each person gets their choice of segundo and dessert.
Note: I’ve included the best possible links, but many of the smaller places don’t have their own web site.
Teatre Serrano Restaurante — €8.50 (drink included)
The Serrano Theatre Restaurante is one of the many restaurants dotted along Gandia’s gorgeous Passeig de les Germanies, or Paseo as most people call it, which runs for almost 1.5 km (almost a mile) from west-to-east across the city.
The Serrano originally had no restaurant. That happened thanks to Covid. The theatre had to close down during lockdown, so of course had no income. When they were allowed to re-open, seating capacity was restricted due to social distancing mandates. The theatre was in danger of closing for good. Their solution was to turn their snack bar into a restaurant and open for lunch. It’s one of the most affordable places in Gandia and the food is delicious.
Eric ordered: Ensalada Valenciana (mixed green salad) and nuggets pollo (chicken nuggets) because he wasn’t very hungry. He said the nuggets were tasty enough, although I suspect they’re mostly on the menu for kids.
Janet ordered: Ensalada Rusa (Russian potato salad) and ternera plancha + patatas fritas (steak and fries). My steak was thin but delicious and so tender I could cut it with a fork.
The only dessert choice was ice cream in different flavors, which turned out to be pre-made ice cream cones, but that was fine. They were tasty. I had strawberry and Eric had chocolate.
Blanc i Negre — €9.50 (drink included)
Blanc i Negre is one of the oldest restaurants in Gandia. I would call it an average restaurant with perfectly edible food at a very reasonable price. It’s a good go-to place when you’re running errands and want an affordable lunch.
Eric ordered: Ensalada de gambas con salsa rosa (salad with shrimp and crab), albondigas de carne con pisto (meatballs in sauce with green beans and fries), and flan. Eric’s salad covered a platter and included more shrimp and crab than he expected. The meatballs were well-flavored and made up for the small portion of green beans.
Janet ordered: Ensalada especial (mixed green salad), chuletas de cordero (pork chops with green beans and fries), and flan. My salad was a pretty typical local salad, including the tuna and olives. I got two pork chops so had more meat than I could actually finish.
Yuzumi — €9.50 (drink included)
Restaurants serving traditional Spanish food are no longer the sole purveyors of the Menu del Dia. Yuzumi is a Japanese restaurant that we eat at often. Their Menu del Dia doesn’t change day to day, but they have a wide variety of options, so we’ve never grown tired of eating there.
Their Menu del Dia includes two mains (segundo and tercer), something we occasionally see when you get a choice of side (such as noodles or rice or even sushi in this case).
Eric ordered: Ensalada wakame (seaweed salad with tuna and salmon), arroz Japones (fried rice), pollo al limon (lemon chicken), and coffee ice cream. The size of the tuna and salmon on Eric’s primero surprised us both. The lemon chicken is his favorite main and he always enjoys it. His fried rice was filled with shrimp and bits of chicken and pork.
Janet ordered: Baozi vapor (steamed pork buns), maki atun (tuna roll), and pollo almendra (almond chicken), and chocolate ice cream. I was surprised that I got two large pork buns as well as eight pieces of maki. My almond chicken was tender and covered with almond bits.
Cocina con Amor — €10.90 (drink not included)
Cocina con Amor is one of our favorite places to take visitors. The food is delicious and always beautifully presented. This is one of the restaurants where you don’t get a single primero. The table gets to choose three to share. Between three large starters, individual mains, dessert, and bread, we always waddle away from this restaurant.
Eric and I shared: Ensalada de pollo crujiente, frutos secos, parmesano, cherry tomates y salsa Cesar (Caesar salad with crispy chicken strips, nuts, parmesan cheese, and cherry tomatoes), berenjenas a la miel de caña (crispy eggplant strips drizzled with honey), nuestras bravas caseras (their homemade “brave” potatoes with spicy sauce), and garlic bread. Their Caesar salad is enough for a meal, and it’s just one of the starters! Even though Eric doesn’t like eggplant, he loves how Cocina con Amor prepares it.
Eric’s main: Salmon fresco con salsa de naranja, toque de canela y verduritas (salmon filet with orange cinnamon sauce and vegetables) and tarta de 3 chocolates (3 chocolate cake). Eric said the salmon was fresh and not fishy and the orange sauce was a perfect addition.
Janet’s main: Solomillo de cerdo con salsa de setas y patatas (pork filet with mushroom sauce and potatoes) and tarta de queso con arándanos (blueberry cheesecake). My pork filets were tender and wonderfully spiced, and the mushroom gravy was rich and peppery.
They also brought us complimentary chupitos (after dinner liqueur). I had limoncello and since Eric doesn’t drink they were happy to bring him apple juice.
Saona — €10.95 (drink not included)
Saona is a chain here in Spain so we were really curious how their Menu del Dia would fare. Most chains we’ve eaten at in the US (TGIF, Chili’s, Applebee, etc.) have mediocre, unimaginative food, because most of it comes from Sysco (a wholesale restaurant food distributor) and is designed for easy preparation and mass-consumption. As research for this article, we decided to give Saona a go. We were blown away with the food quality and presentation, as well as the taste of everything we ordered.
Eric ordered: Aguacate relleno de stracciatella de burrata (avocado stuffed with stracciatella cheese, orange, pomegranate, and purple onion), solomillo de pollo con salsa camembert (chicken filets with camembert cheese sauce over potato disks), and tarta cremosa de lima (lime cream pie with whipped cream). Eric said the camembert sauce was an amazing accompaniment for the chicken.
Janet ordered: Tortitas tataki de atun (crispy tortillas topped with sushi-grade tuna, avocado, and crispy onion strips), tartar de salmon con aguacate (an avocado stuffed with chopped raw salmon, olive oil drizzle, and spices), and milhojas de mango con fresas (stacked layers of puff pastry, mango pieces, strawberries, and mango puree). My sushi-grade salmon was divine mixed with perfectly ripe avocado.
Eric gave me one of his avocado halves and I gave him one of my tortillas. We both found them delicious and filling. We could have stopped eating after just the primeros and been satisfied.
I absolutely had to include my dessert in the collage (lower center) because its presentation was as amazing as its taste.
Alquimia — €13.50
Alquimia is one of the higher end restaurants in Gandia, so their price is greater, but their food quality is excellent, and they offer some gourmet-level options, including a gourmet burger for the less-adventurous diner. They occasionally have live music in the evenings.
Even though it’s not included in the Menu del Dia, we always order the homemade bread, so I included it in the collage.
Eric ordered: Ensalada de brotes con higos y vinagreta de piña (baby greens salad with figs and pineapple vinaigrette), carillada iberica en su jugo con yuca crujiente (pork cheeks in pork gravy with crispy yucca), and apple pie. Eric’s pork cheeks were fall-apart tender and the gravy was lightly spicy.
Janet ordered: Ensalada rusa con yuca crujiente (Russian potato salad with crispy yucca), pollo strogonoff con arroz basmati (chicken stroganoff with basmati rice), and apple pie. The crispy, curled yucca on the ensalada rusa was a surprise addition to a pretty ubiquitous dish in Spain. My chicken stroganoff was huge and the chicken and mushrooms were tender and well-spiced.
Romanova — €21.95 (drink not included)
When we moved to Gandia, Romanova (then named Sancho’s after the owner) quickly became our favorite restaurant. The cost was €16 and offered the standard Menu del Dia of one primero, one segundo, and dessert. Sancho later went more upscale and a meal there now includes 3–4 primeros to share plus a choice of segundo. The difference between Romanova and Cocina con Amor (which also offers multiple primeros) is that, at Romanova, you get what the chef has prepared for the day — there isn’t a list of primeros to choose from.
Even with the increased price, it’s still a good deal. You get a huge amount of gourmet-quality food that is beautifully presented and delicious. Sancho really deserves a Michelin star. If Romanova was in Austin, I probably couldn’t afford to eat there. This is definitely another place we love to take visitors.
I don’t have a Menu del Dia to include here because Sancho visits each table and personally tells you the primeros you’ll be served and then lists the segundos to choose from. I also don’t have the primero and segundo names in Spanish since I don’t have a menu to refer to and Sancho is a fast talker! (But no worries — he’s happy to repeat the options until you understand, or he gets his chef-wife to come out of the kitchen to translate.)
The primeros the day we visited: Jamón (ham) and potato croqueta with a thin slice of jamón on top; puff pastry cone filled with salmon mousse and avocado; puff pastry pillow filled with shrimp salad; and a mixed green salad with strawberries, walnuts, and goat cheese. Even though we don’t get a choice of primeros, we’ve never been disappointed. Every one of them is 4-star quality and delicious. And they are always presented in a lovely way.
Eric’s segundo: Baked white fish with lemon cream sauce, spinach, and pine nuts; and pumpkin pie for dessert. Eric said the fish was flaky and delicious and the lemon cream sauce was the perfect level of tartness.
Janet’s segundo: Beef filet topped with gravy and mashed potatoes; and cheesecake with raspberries for dessert. I got two thick pieces of beef, which was more than I could eat after all the primeros. The mashed potatoes were creamy and buttery.
This isn’t my usual type of article, but I wanted to give a view of what day-to-day living here is like. I hope these typical examples of the food we get here in Gandia (and really, all over Spain) has shown you how affordable a Menu del Dia can be, as well as the gourmet quality and artistic presentation you can get by spending just a bit more. Spain is an incredibly affordable place to live, and the Menu del Dia continues to be one of the biggest ways we to thrive here.
