Restaurant in Alcanar, Spain
Estate tasting menus, one Michelin star, book early.
Citrus del Tancat holds a 2024 Michelin star and sits at €€€, a tier below most comparable starred restaurants in Spain. Chef Aitor López builds three tasting menus around Ebro Delta seafood and estate-grown produce on a historic orange-grove property in Alcanar. Book four to six weeks out minimum; the kitchen is closed Wednesday and Thursday.
If you are planning a serious meal in the southern Costa Daurada or northern Valencian Community, Citrus del Tancat earns its Michelin star honestly. The practical tip before anything else: Wednesday and Thursday are closed, so your viable dinner windows are Friday and Saturday evenings (8–10 PM service), with lunch available Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 1–3 PM. For a first visit, the Friday or Saturday dinner slot gives you the most relaxed timing, especially if you are staying at the attached Tancat de Codorniu hotel and can walk back to your room after the meal.
This is a tasting-menu restaurant built around a working estate: over 2,000 fruit trees (predominantly orange, which gives the restaurant its name), a large organic vegetable garden, and the historic grounds of Tancat de Codorniu. Chef Aitor López drives the kitchen with a sourcing philosophy anchored to the Ràpita fish auction and the Ebro Delta, a stretch of coastline and wetland that sits at the boundary of Catalonia and the Valencian Community. That geographical straddle is not incidental. López draws directly from both Catalan and Valencian culinary traditions, which means his menus carry recognisable references — fish suquet, roasted alliums, rice preparations — rendered through a modern tasting-menu format.
Three tasting menus are on offer: Lo Canar, Montsià, and Sol de Riu. The Michelin inspectors specifically cited dishes including roasted onion with langoustine and fish suquet as examples of López's approach: produce-led, technically considered, and grounded in regional identity rather than imported technique. For a food and travel enthusiast coming from Barcelona, Valencia, or further afield, the draw here is not novelty for its own sake. It is the combination of a credentialed kitchen, a distinctive agricultural setting, and a cuisine that reflects exactly where the restaurant sits on the map.
The kitchen-counter or chef's-table angle matters at a restaurant of this scale and setting. Citrus del Tancat operates within a historic estate environment where the dining room is intimate by nature. At a one-star restaurant with a serious tasting menu programme and a relatively small operation, counter or chef-adjacent seating , where available , consistently produces a more connected experience: you see the plating, you can ask questions about the ingredients, and the provenance story that López is telling through the menu becomes legible in real time. When booking, it is worth asking specifically about counter or open-kitchen adjacency. The restaurant's own description emphasises the chef's personal involvement in the sourcing and cooking narrative, which suggests that proximity to the kitchen amplifies rather than merely adds to the meal.
At the estate entrance, Els Jardins del Tancat (Mediterranean Cuisine) offers rice dishes and grilled fish at what is likely a more accessible price point and without the tasting-menu commitment. If you are travelling with someone who is less interested in a multi-course format, or if you want a lower-stakes first look at the estate before committing to the full Citrus experience, Els Jardins is a practical option. It is not a substitute for the starred restaurant, but it serves a different need and shares the same provenance story.
The 4.8 Google score across 256 reviews is a strong signal for a restaurant of this type and location. One-star restaurants in rural or semi-rural Spain often see more polarised reviews because the travel commitment filters the audience. A 4.8 in this context indicates consistently met expectations among guests who made the journey deliberately.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. A 2024 Michelin star in a location with limited competition and strong destination-dining demand means the restaurant fills well in advance. Book a minimum of four to six weeks out for weekend slots; weekend dinners during summer and holiday periods warrant eight weeks or more. The restaurant does not publish a booking platform in the current data, so contacting the venue directly is the advised route. Closed Wednesday and Thursday , do not assume mid-week availability exists.
| Detail | Citrus del Tancat | Typical Peer (€€€€ one-star, urban Spain) |
|---|---|---|
| Price range | €€€ | €€€€ |
| Booking lead time | 4–8 weeks (Hard) | 4–12 weeks |
| Closed days | Wednesday, Thursday | Varies (often Sunday/Monday) |
| Lunch service | Yes (Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun) | Often weekend-only |
| On-site accommodation | Yes (Tancat de Codorniu hotel) | Rarely |
| Setting | Rural estate, working farm | Urban dining room |
| Michelin recognition | 1 Star (2024) | 1–3 Stars |
One practical advantage Citrus del Tancat holds over most starred peers: the €€€ price tier. Comparable one-star tasting menus in Barcelona or Valencia frequently run at €€€€. If you are calibrating value, the combination of Michelin recognition, estate setting, and a lower price tier than urban comparators makes this a strong proposition for the destination-dining traveller.
For a full picture of dining and travel options in the area, see our full Alcanar restaurants guide, our full Alcanar hotels guide, our full Alcanar bars guide, our full Alcanar wineries guide, and our full Alcanar experiences guide.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citrus del Tancat | Modern Cuisine | If you happen to have at your disposal an estate with plenty of history, an attractive small hotel (Tancat de Codorniu) surrounded by landscaped grounds, over 2 000 fruit trees (mainly orange, hence the name Citrus) and a large organic vegetable garden, you have the cornerstones of a project that is steeped in the local region. Here, the gastronomic cuisine comes courtesy of young chef Aitor López, who flies the flag for Mediterranean cooking that is based around locally sourced ingredients from the Ràpita fish auction and the Ebro delta, with a constant nod to Catalan and Valencian recipes that result from the restaurant’s location straddling both regions. His delicate cooking, including dishes such as roasted onion with langoustine and fish suquet, is centred around three tasting menus: Lo Canar, Montsià, and Sol de Riu. At the entrance to the estate you’ll find a second restaurant called Els Jardins del Tancat offering more straightforward cuisine based around rice dishes and grilled fish.; If you happen to have at your disposal an estate with plenty of history, an attractive small hotel (Tancat de Codorniu) surrounded by landscaped grounds, over 2 000 fruit trees (mainly orange, hence the name Citrus) and a large organic vegetable garden, you have the cornerstones of a project that is steeped in the local region. Here, the gastronomic cuisine comes courtesy of young chef Aitor López, who flies the flag for Mediterranean cooking that is based around locally sourced ingredients from the Ràpita fish auction and the Ebro delta, with a constant nod to Catalan and Valencian recipes that result from the restaurant’s location straddling both regions. His delicate cooking, including dishes such as roasted onion with langoustine and fish suquet, is centred around three tasting menus: Lo Canar, Montsià, and Sol de Riu. At the entrance to the estate you’ll find a second restaurant called Els Jardins del Tancat offering more straightforward cuisine based around rice dishes and grilled fish.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| Aponiente | Progressive - Seafood, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | Progressive, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| DiverXO | Progressive - Asian, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Citrus del Tancat and alternatives.
Yes, for destination-minded diners willing to travel to Alcanar. Chef Aitor López builds three tasting menus (Lo Canar, Montsià, and Sol de Riu) around ingredients from the Ràpita fish auction and the Ebro delta, and the 2024 Michelin star confirms the kitchen is operating at a level that justifies the €€€ price point. If you want a single-menu format with clear regional identity, this delivers. For a à la carte fish and rice option on the same estate, Els Jardins del Tancat is a lower-commitment alternative.
Within the immediate area, options at this level are limited, which is part of why the restaurant fills quickly. For Michelin-starred Mediterranean cooking elsewhere in the region, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona offers a more urban tasting-menu format. If you want to stay in the Ebro delta area and eat well without the tasting-menu commitment, Els Jardins del Tancat on the same estate serves rice dishes and grilled fish at a more accessible price.
Book at least four to six weeks in advance, more for weekend lunch in summer. A 2024 Michelin star in a destination with few comparable restaurants means demand comfortably outpaces covers. The restaurant closes Wednesday and Thursday, so Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the only full-week options alongside Monday and Tuesday. Friday and Saturday tend to be the most competitive sittings.
At €€€, it sits in the same price bracket as many one-star restaurants in Barcelona or Valencia, but the estate setting (over 2,000 fruit trees, an organic kitchen garden, and the attached Tancat de Codorniu hotel) adds context that urban equivalents cannot offer. The Michelin recognition is recent (2024), so the kitchen is cooking at the level required to hold it. For diners already planning a stay in the area, the value case is strong. Driving specifically from Barcelona or Valencia for dinner alone requires more conviction.
The venue is an estate-based restaurant with a hotel on site, which suggests capacity for private dining or group bookings, but specific private room availability is not confirmed in current venue data. check the venue's official channels to ask about group arrangements. For parties of six or more, it is worth asking whether the full tasting menu format is required or whether a set menu can be arranged, as tasting menus at this level typically demand full-table participation.
There is no confirmed bar or counter seating option at Citrus del Tancat in available venue data. If informal seating or a shorter meal is the priority, Els Jardins del Tancat at the estate entrance is the practical option, with rice dishes and grilled fish at a less structured format. For the main restaurant, tasting menus are the core offering and the experience is designed around a seated, multi-course format.
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