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Casa Joya Restaurant and Guest House is on the A327 from Huércal-Overa to Vélez Rubio. If you are coming from Mojácar leave the motorway at junction 553 Santa María de Nieva exit and turn left at the road junction and you will be on the right road. Keep going on this road through Santa María until you see the 13 km marker and just a little bit further down you will see a turning on the left with the sign for La Losilla and Casa Joya. Follow the road it’s very easy to find as there are yellow flags all the way. It probably takes about 30 minutes after you leave the motorway, but believe me, it is worth every minute of the drive as this is a very special restaurant.
You enter the restaurant and go into the very cozy bar area which has nice comfy sofas and chairs where you can enjoy a drink .We chose to go one evening with our two friends and whilst having our drink, we studied the menu. It’s a fixed price menu and costs €25 for three courses, so the only extras are the drinks. The menu is superb and quite different to most other restaurants in this area. It is printed daily so as to make the most of the fresh produce available. Starters include amongst other things cajun fish fillets, baked stuffed mushrooms oxtail and rioja soup to mention a few .Main courses include fillet steak with a truffle sauce, duck breast with an orange sauce and sea bass fillets with salmon in a prawn sauce. After studying the menu, my partner and my friend’s husband chose the cajun fish fillets, my friend chose the mushrooms and I chose the monkfish and prawn tempura with a sweet and sour sauce. For the main course the two men had the fillet steak, my friend had the veal and I ordered the lamb. To compliment this we ordered a bottle of Rioja. The wines start at €9.50 for the house wine and go up to €17.50. The wine list also offers some nice French wines.
We were shown to our table and offered a lovely selection of bread which is all home made. Our starters arrived looking absolutely delicious. We were not disappointed; the quality of the food and the presentation would be hard to beat. The cajun fish fillet was perfect, just enough seasoning so as not to be overpowering and the tempura prawns and monkfish were one of the nicest starters I have had in a very long time. Service here is just right, with just the right amount of time in between courses. Main courses were every bit as delicious as the starters. The fillet steak was cooked to perfection and all meals came with fresh vegetables. Desserts are all home made and sounded lovely. They included pear tart, dark chocolate mousse, crème brulee with blueberries and a cheeseboard. Although we all were very full we could not resist the temptation and chose a crème brulee with bluberries, a treacle sponge with vanilla sauce, banoffee pie and for me the pear tart. The minute they arrived at the table you could see that they were home made, they all looked fantastic and the pastry with my pear tart was the lightest pastry I have ever tasted. The quality of the food and the cooking here is superb and I can’t think of another restaurant in this area which equals it both for quality and price. Casa Joya is comfortable, cosy with a very rural feel to it and has a very relaxed atmosphere. It is run by husband and wife team, James and Mary. James, who has much experience as a chef, has worked in several well known restaurants in London and also opened three restaurants for the Langans Group.
I can’t stress enough how good this restaurant is, the only way you will find out for yourself is to give it a try. Please notice that booking is essential and you might not be able to get a booking immediately.
Category: International
Restaurant: 13.00 for lunch and 19.30 for dinner
Closed: Monday and Tuesday
AMBIENCE 5
FOOD 5
SERVICE 5
VALUE FOR MONEY 5
OVERALL 5 |
