Meson Dona Juana - Torre De La Horadada

Venue:- Meson Dona Juana

Location :- Torre De La Horadada - Murcia



Spent the weekend away and found myself with friends in a large square a mere stones throw from the beach in Torre De La Horadada, there on one side of the square sits the Meson Dona Juana. This to me is a typical Spanish meson with an outside area - now covered in for the winter and a largish interior. The ‘catch of the day’ and the various steaks were displayed in a cabinet separating the inner and outer areas. The night we ate we sat in the outer section in the window overlooking the square - we were the only diners tonight and even the square was very quiet - not unusual for this time of year but we found it quieter than Mojacar area. Ok, lets get down to the food ….

Starters. Good selection of about 10 to 15 starters ranging in the main from 8 to 14 euros a couple cheaper a couple dearer.

Ensalada Templada Dona Juana (13) the house warm salad, which consisted of green leaves, grilled whole cherry tomatoes, warmed goats cheese, walnuts, raisons and drizzled in a honey dressing. A very nice, delicious starter. Crujientes de Berenjena con miel de Romero (11) coated and fried aubergine with rosemary honey. An unusual starter which was basically a tastefully piled up collection of aubergine crisps, plentiful and delicious. Pulpo a la Gallega (13) A Gallega style octopus with olive oil and red pepper powder, again a plentiful plateful of succulent octopus (note! Octopus not squid) which was firm in texture and nicely cooked so not to be rubbery. Lastly Revuelto de Bacalao con ajos tiernos y trigueros (10) - scrambled egg with cod, soft garlic and asparagus. Nice dish but for me too much asparagus and not enough cod, the fish was barely present in taste at least, none the less a tasty dish.

Mains. Four fish choices, six meat a few specials and a rice menu - mains mostly 12 to 16 with the rices 10 to 15 and unusually but good the rice dishes could be ordered for one! We had … Rodaballo Frito con ajos tiernos (16) Fried turbot with soft garlic - a plentiful plate of fried turbot, cross cut so you had the central bone and skin on each of the several pieces, served with potato slices and a few small green peppers - a very tasty dish with mild garlic taste. Entrecote de Ternera a los tres quesos (14) Beef entrecote x2 medium done with chips and a few small peppers - steak cooked as requested, good size - 10oz my guess - and a mild but tasty cheese sauce, I was unable to detect what cheeses were used, a comment, not a criticism. Lastly medallones de solomillo de cerdo a la pimienta (11) - pork medallions with chips and guess what? Small green peppers - once again a nice dish nicely presented and well liked.

Desserts. Leche frita con helado de turron (5) fried and coated milk (egg custard) with turron ice cream. A truly delicious and very Spanish dessert if you haven’t tried it, do so! Pastel de Coco (5) Coconut cake, more a flan with coconut than a cake, but this is what I expected and very nice it was too. Helado de higos en teja con salsa de almendra (5) fig ice cream with almond sauce - another truly Spanish pudding and again very nice. Damn and blast can’t remember the fourth dessert but it must have been good because all the plates were cleared. There are nine desserts to choose from all around 5 euros.

All was washed down with a bottle of rose and a bottle of local shiraz and coffees including one I had not seen before - Bombon, a single shot of coffee served on a layer of condensed milk with a small amount of brandy in it - too sweet for me but liked by the guest.

Unable to give total costs as I was a guest, but I did look at wine prices but not the actual wines and thought the prices steep for a meson. The food is about 10 to 15% more than Mesons in my area - Mojacar.

All in all a very nice meal and I assume that the price paid was typical of the area, but I must say food and drink were cheaper in the four star hotel we stayed in whose restaurant appears in the Michelin guide.