L’Estret Del Mascarat Walk (Altea), A Spot Of Bungee Jumping (not us!) And Lunch In Restaurante Tossal Roig

Well I’m back before I thought I would be, although it’s mainly because I’m not writing about what I thought I was going to write about next! I do hope that makes sense. I had presumed that my next post would be about our week’s trip to León over the New Year but seeing as our holiday posts can sometimes take forever to complete, well, that’s just not going to happen at the moment. This post will be a minuscule fraction of the size of my last posts but that’s probably a good thing once in a while 😁.

I’m here to tell you all about the short walk that we did last Sunday. A walk that I have wanted to do ever since I can remember. Why I had never got round to it, I can’t really say. Pep informed me a few days ago that he had booked lunch in a restaurant near Altea that I had been hinting about wanting to try. We were planning on having a stroll to the Albir lighthouse beforehand and, although the walk to the lighthouse is a lovely one (you can read my post on it here), we’ve been up there quite a few times and I thought it would be nice to find something new. That’s when I remembered the L’Estret del Mascarat walk.

When we first moved to Spain many moons ago (38 years ago today to be exact, how frightening!!) I was amazed at the ravine where the tunnels are in between Calpe and Altea. The height of the railway line before it disappears into the rocks, the bridges where people would often be attached to bungee ropes, ready to jump off into oblivion, and the fabulous views towards the Med would always leave me in awe as we drove along the coast. Even now, when we embark on our little train journeys from Benissa to Altea, when the Mascarat comes into view I always stop whatever I’m doing just to stare out the window and take it all in.

The Estret del Mascarat is a massive gorge located between the Bèrnia and Toix mountains. It separates the two Marina regions (Marina Baixa and Marina Alta). The Barranc Salat gathers water from Benissa and eventually sends it out into the bay of Altea. I’ll attach a photo below where you can read a bit more info about it and how it was formed.

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The walk, which isn’t too long but it’s best to have an hour or so to wander around, passes through the bottom of the gorge, just under the bridges. Although we went on a Sunday I would probably advise you to go on a week day if you can. It was a beautiful day and there were quite a few people about. Mind you, if you want to see the bungee jumpers, Sunday is the best day for it. It wasn’t overly crowded, I just prefer peaceful strolls without too many screaming kids around. But that’s just my preference 😂.

We parked at the urbanisation just down the road and had a 5 minute stroll to the start of the route. It’s signposted and is impossible to miss, the bridges up ahead are a bit of a giveaway too.

A few minutes later we’re in the centre of the gorge. It’s quite breathtaking to see. The rocks are slippery and we had to do a small amount of scrambling. Definitely a good idea to have decent walking shoes on.

Since it was too early for lunch, we walked back to the urbanisation for a stroll. There are some marvellous views towards Altea, the Sierra de Toix sea cliffs, as well as the little “calas” (coves).

Right, onto our lunch. The Tossal Roig restaurant is on the road towards Altea’s motorway entrance, not far from the N332. We had driven by it on numerous Sundays, it always appeared to be full. They serve typical local cuisine. A quick search on TripAdvisor informed us that people’s opinions of the different rice dishes were very good. We had to give it a go!

Pep ordered the rice we fancied when he rang to book. Most rice restaurants seem to prefer it when you tell them beforehand. We did hear one of the waiters telling a couple near us that if they wanted a rice dish it could only be a couple of different ones as they hadn’t ordered it previously. At least we think that’s what he was saying to them.

Our usual choice when it comes to rice is the “arròs senyoret”. If you’ve read any of my previous posts on the Cantonet restaurant in Calpe you’ll know that their’s is hard to beat. In fact it’s our favourite. They set the bar very high for all the other eateries that serve this particular rice.

For starters we wanted something light, otherwise we can’t fully enjoy the rice. I ordered a tomato and “capellà” (dried salt cod) salad and Pep ordered a couple of homemade croquettes. I should know better not to order tomatoes this time of year, Pep always says “I told you so” when I do. The salad was ok but too dear (12€) for what it was in my opinion. There should have been more capellà for the amount of tomato and obviously the tomato had no taste at all. I drenched it in olive oil which helped but next time I shall order something else. Pep said the croquettes were very good and much better value for money (1,20€ each). I forgot to take a photo though.

But the main reason for going was the arroz. And it didn’t disappoint thank goodness. No awful artificial flavourings in it and it had a nice creamy taste. The rice wasn’t overcooked which we’re always thankful for. In fact I’d say it was “al dente” (can you say that when you talk about paellas??). As usual I couldn’t eat all mine so brought it home for lunch the following day and it was just as good.

Pep had tiramisu for dessert (what a surprise!) It was ok but nothing spectacular and pretty expensive for the size of the serving (6€). Forgot to take a photo again though. Whoops. All the desserts are homemade and they have quite a good selection. I just had a cup of green tea, I can’t eat gluten or lactose and it’s quite rare to find a restaurant that serves desserts that don’t contain either. Especially this sort of restaurant. I was full anyway so I wasn’t bothered.

We shared a big bottle of water and Pep also had a café solo. The bill came to 59€, not bad but the Cantonet is a much better deal. Still, it was good to try somewhere different and we shall return for their rice, I just won’t order the tomato salad for starters.

Well that was a short and sweet post, most unusual. Talking about sweet, I made these wonderful vegan, gluten free Ferrero Rocher the other day. They are divine!!!! Albeit very rich, I can only eat half of one. I didn’t have the sphere silicone moulds (or whatever they were) the recipe calls for so I just used plastic ice cube trays and greased them with a bit of coconut oil. So we had oblong Ferrero Rocher. But who cares what shape they are when they taste so good. Here’s the link to the recipe if you fancy making them. You won’t regret it. In fact Pep has asked me that if he buys all the ingredients and pays me the amount of what a box of normal Ferrero Rocher costs, would I make them all the time!!

Unfortunately I can’t tell you what’s going on in our huerta because nothing much is going on. The weather has been so dry that it’s all quite disastrous. Actually it’s very worrying, everyone is praying for rain. Lots of the trees are dying and the reservoirs are extremely low. I don’t think there’s been a drought like this for many, many years. Fingers crossed we soon get a week or so of downpours, I know it will make Pep a happy man.

Well shiver me timbers, I can’t believe I’ve finished writing already. I should do this more often! Right, I’m off. As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be back eventually with that post on our travels to León, promise! Take care all of you. Lots of love, Georgie and Pep xxx