Restaurante El Arco

Restaurante El Arco sits on Calle Leal, a short walk from the Murallas Reales (Royal Walls), the monumental seventeenth-century fortifications that constitute Ceuta's most visited historic landmark. The restaurant's position between the old town and the Royal Walls makes it a natural destination for visitors completing the sightseeing circuit of the historic quarter, and the kitchen caters accordingly with a menu of approachable Spanish Mediterranean cooking. Corvina a la plancha — meagre (Argyrosomus regius), a prized white fish from the waters around the strait — is the signature main course: grilled on the flat iron and finished with olive oil, lemon, and fresh parsley, the fish is firm and clean-tasting, a proper expression of the quality available from local fishermen. Cazuela de fideos con mariscos — a clay-pot noodle stew with clams, mussels, prawns, and a tomato-saffron broth — is a more substantial option that sits between a soup and a paella in character, and is a classic of the eastern Spanish coastal kitchen transplanted to Ceuta's table. Pimientos de padrón — small green peppers blistered in olive oil and finished with sea salt — are the reflexive first order and an ideal companion for cold dry sherry or white wine. The wine list includes Galician Albariño for the seafood-inclined diner. Evening dinner is the primary service, with the proximity to the Royal Walls making a pre-dinner visit to the fortifications and moat gardens a natural pairing.