El Claustro

Description:

• This stylish and soothing restaurant is set in what was originally built in 1540 as a cloister for nuns. Its soaring and heavily beamed ceiling exudes Renaissance artistry, and windows overlook the graceful symmetry of an arcaded courtyard where nuns used to pray. Some diners come here for the chance to view the unusual hotel that contains it. Others come with the understanding that the place has become an "important" dining venue for the political and media grandées of Granada since its opening late in 2001.

  Menu items are savory, well conceived, and imaginative, and include such starters as a salad of marinated rabbit; red lentils with razor shell clams; Granada-style salad of cod with oranges; and pickled sardines served with a cream of asparagus soup. Main courses change several times a year, but we've enjoyed Norwegian lobster with artichoke salad, black rice with large prawns, filet of sole with a confit of carrots, and a succulent roast suckling pig.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010