February 2010 – Christophers is probably our favourite restaurant locally so when we heard they had adopted set price menus, it gave us an excellent excuse to bumble on down there just to make sure nothing had changed. Once again John & Glenda were our companions of choice and they brought along Tony & Helen, a couple of their neighbours who are over here on holiday.

Despite the freezing weather, the restaurant was almost full and the atmosphere was warm and cosy. Christopher and his staff gave us an enthusiastic welcome, as they always do, and we settled down with a couple of bottles of very acceptable house wine to check out the menu. All the old favourites are still there but the menu has now been divided into Menu A at 16,95€ or Menu B at 19,95€. With two pages of starters and more than enough choice on both main menus it was, as always, so-o-o hard to choose.

Christopher has put together a great menu with a perfect mix of classic dishes and his own recipes, with flavours and combinations you won´t see anywhere else. I always try to order something a bit different here so in the end I plumped for Carribean Prawns with warm pitta bread, followed by Three Mustard Beef from Menu A. For starters our companions chose Warm Date salad (dates wrapped in bacon), classic Prawn Cocktail, and Salad Foie (chicken livers). Other options include Duck Pate, Brie & Smoky Bacon salad, Smoked Salmon Platter and Prawn Saganaki, all of which we have sampled on previous occasions. Everything was presented beautifully and tasted delicious.

More vino needed and duly supplied as we tucked into our main courses. Fillet steak from Menu B for Tony which came as it should (in my opinion anyway), plainly cooked on a griddle exactly as ordered with chips, mushrooms, onion rings and tomato…perfect. Helen and Glynis both had Lobster Thermidor from Menu B, which they pronounced “gorgeous”. The rest of us had gone for Menu A choices, Glenda opting for Cajun Chicken, very tender and tasty with chips and fresh vegetables. John´s Lamb Kleftika was so huge I had to help him out…slow cooked to perfection it fell off the bone and tasted just fantastic! I was just a bit disappointed with my beef, which turned out to be a kind of stew, rather than beef slices as I had envisioned but very tasty nonetheless, and served with dauphinoise potatoes (my favourite!) and fresh vegetables.

The portions were ample but not excessive so we were pleasantly full rather than stuffed when it came to ordering desserts. The girls chose Chocoholics Delight, chocolate tart with chocolate ice cream and warm chocolate sauce  (just few calories then..), John sampled the Meringue Nest with Peach and ice cream and Tony had 3 flavours of ice cream. Lastly there was coffee, served strong and piping hot, a welcome change from the wishy washy stuff most places serve. Other desserts on offer included Cheesecake, Waffles, Apple Pie and Carrot Cake, all home-made.

Yet again I can´t fault Christophers. Everything is right…the ambience, the service, the menu choice, the presentation and now even the price. Gourmet dining for 27€ per head with wine, water and coffees is not be missed.

Restaurante Christopher can be found tucked away in the pool area of Residencial Eliseos Playa in Mar Azul on the coast road just south of Torrevieja. Booking is advisable especially at weekends and for Sunday lunch. Review supplied by Premier Costa Blanca Rentals