Restaurant in Miranda de Ebro, Spain
Detour-worthy lunch; book before you arrive.
Alejandro Serrano holds a Michelin star (2024) and a 4.9 Google rating in Miranda de Ebro — and it is one of the more genuinely surprising fine dining stops in northern Spain. The tasting menu is built around El Mar de Castilla, a historical Castilian tradition of salted and aged fish, reinterpreted with clear technical precision. Book four to six weeks ahead minimum; lunch-only service means covers are limited.
Alejandro Serrano holds a Google rating of 4.9 from 284 reviews and earned its Michelin star in 2024. Those two facts alone make this worth your attention, but the more compelling reason to book is the conceptual clarity behind the food: a tasting menu built around El Mar de Castilla, a historical Castilian tradition of eating aged and salted fish far from the coast. It is a genuinely specific idea executed with the technical discipline you would expect from a chef who trained at Azurmendi and staged at DiverXO. If you are travelling through northern Spain and this is anywhere near your route, you should prioritise it.
The restaurant operates two tasting menus: Bosque Marino S (the shorter version) and Bosque Marino L (the longer version). Both are built around the same conceptual arc — the idea of an inland sea, of Castile's historical relationship with preserved and salted fish, reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. The room itself is described as elegantly contemporary, and the visual presentation of the food is a central part of the experience. Michelin notes the philosophy is organised around three values: flavour, feeling, and aesthetics. That last word matters here. This is a restaurant where the way a plate looks is load-bearing, not decorative.
The price range is €€€€, placing it at the leading of what Miranda de Ebro offers and in the same tier as destination fine dining elsewhere in Spain. For context, tasting menu restaurants at this level in cities like Madrid or San Sebastián , think Arzak or Cocina Hermanos Torres , often carry higher base prices simply due to operating costs. Alejandro Serrano offers comparable conceptual ambition at a price point that reflects its location rather than its pedigree.
Service runs Wednesday through Sunday, lunch only, from 2 PM to 3:30 PM. Monday and Tuesday are closed. That 90-minute lunch window means this is a single-sitting restaurant , plan the rest of your day accordingly, and do not assume you can linger until dinner. The booking window here is the critical planning variable. A Michelin-starred restaurant with a 90-minute single sitting and no dinner service has a structurally limited number of covers per week. Book a minimum of four to six weeks ahead for a weekend table, and contact the restaurant as early as possible for any special occasion or large group requirement. Walk-in availability is unlikely. If you are building a trip around this meal, confirm the reservation before booking travel.
Miranda de Ebro sits along the A-1 motorway corridor between Burgos and Bilbao, which makes it a practical stop if you are travelling between the two cities. It is not a destination in isolation the way San Sebastián or Girona are, but the drive calculus changes when a Michelin-starred lunch is the anchor. For accommodation options in the area, see our Miranda de Ebro hotels guide. For a broader picture of what the city offers, see our full Miranda de Ebro restaurants guide, bars guide, and wineries guide.
The Bosque Marino concept gives the meal a narrative logic that separates it from generic modern Spanish tasting menus. The progression moves through the idea of an inland sea , Castile's pre-refrigeration tradition of salted and aged fish arriving from the coast , and reinterprets that culinary history through modern technique and visual drama. Choosing between the S and L versions is a practical decision: the shorter menu suits those who want the full conceptual experience without committing to a very long lunch, while the L format gives the kitchen more room to develop the arc. Both menus operate within the same aesthetic and philosophical framework. If this is your first visit and you have the appetite and time, the longer menu is likely the better argument for making the journey. That said, the restaurant's Michelin recognition applies to the whole operation, not just one format , either menu will give you the essential experience.
For comparison against other Spanish chefs working at a similar conceptual register, Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María is the closest peer in terms of building an entire culinary identity around a specific regional food history. Quique Dacosta in Dénia offers a comparable commitment to visual presentation and regional concept at three Michelin stars. Alejandro Serrano sits below those in formal recognition but operates with the same design-led seriousness. For explorers interested in how similar thinking plays out in other European fine dining contexts, Frantzén in Stockholm and Maison Lameloise in Chagny are worth understanding as reference points for what a single-star restaurant with serious creative ambition looks like at its leading.
This is the right choice for a food-focused traveller passing through northern Spain who wants a lunch that justifies a detour, for a couple marking a significant occasion in a setting that will feel considered rather than generic, or for anyone building a broader Basque Country and Castile itinerary who wants a Michelin meal outside the obvious San Sebastián circuit. It is a harder book than most restaurants in Miranda de Ebro, but the difficulty is proportionate to the reward. If the concept of an inland Castilian sea interpreted through a contemporary tasting menu sounds like exactly the kind of specific, well-executed idea you travel for , this is worth the advance planning.
Quick reference: Michelin 1 Star (2024) | €€€€ | Lunch only, Wed–Sun, 2 PM–3:30 PM | Book 4–6 weeks minimum | Miranda de Ebro, Burgos, Spain
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alejandro Serrano | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Hard |
| Erre de Roca | Contemporary | €€€ | Unknown |
| La Vasca | Traditional Cuisine | € | Unknown |
| Alex Cool Club | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Alejandro Serrano and alternatives.
Yes — this is one of the stronger special-occasion cases in northern Spain. A Michelin star earned in 2024, a 4.9 Google rating from 284 reviews, and two tasting menus with a clear narrative logic give the meal genuine occasion weight. The lunch-only format (2 PM to 3:30 PM, Wednesday through Sunday) means you need to plan around it, but that constraint also makes the booking feel considered rather than casual.
It depends on your comfort with tasting menus eaten alone. The restaurant's focus on two structured tasting menus — Bosque Marino S and Bosque Marino L — suits solo diners who want to follow a meal with a clear arc rather than order à la carte. The 90-minute lunch window is compact enough that solo dining never becomes a long sit. If you want a livelier counter environment for solo eating, this is a quieter, more contemplative format.
At €€€€ pricing with a Michelin star behind it, the value case rests on how much you weight chef pedigree and concept originality. Chef Alejandro Serrano trained at the Basque Culinary Center and in kitchens including Azurmendi, Coque, and DiverXO — that is a serious résumé for a restaurant in a small Castilian city. If you are already routing through northern Spain, the price is justified. If Miranda de Ebro is not already on your route, factor in the detour cost before deciding.
The restaurant only offers tasting menus, so the choice is between Bosque Marino S (the shorter version) and Bosque Marino L (the longer version). Both are built around the chef's 'El Mar de Castilla' concept, which draws on the inland Castilian tradition of eating aged and salted fish. If you have the time and appetite for the full narrative, choose L. If you are combining this with travel and want a sharper, tighter experience, S is the practical call.
Lunch is the only option — the restaurant serves Wednesday through Sunday from 2 PM to 3:30 PM only, with no dinner service. That 90-minute window is tighter than most Michelin tasting menu experiences, so arrive knowing the pace will be set by the kitchen. Book in advance; walk-in availability at a one-star restaurant operating a single daily service window is unlikely.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
