Breakfast like a local

We do not do breakfast at Alirena. It is not an oversight: it is a decision. Three minutes on foot away there are five cafés where the neighbourhood has its coffee, where the waiter knows you by your third morning and where toast with tomato costs €2.80. If we served it to you ourselves it would cost twelve. There is your reason.

The five, in order of how close they are

1 · Bar La Mahonesa

C/ Doctor Sapena, 67 · 1 minute away. Opens at 7am. Marble counter, vermouth at midday, breakfast in the morning. Toast with tomato and oil: €2.80. White coffee: €1.40. The best toast in the area, crusty bread and garden tomato.

2 · Cafetería Lola

C/ General O'Donnell, 12 · 3 minutes away. Opens at 7:30am. Pastries from the bakery next door: napolitanas, ensaimadas and local mantecados. Breakfast combo (coffee + toast + fresh orange juice) for €4.50.

3 · Panadería Casa Mateo

C/ Bailén, 28 · 4 minutes away. More bakery than café: freshly baked bread, filled rolls of sobrasada, ham or pork loin. €3.80 the roll + coffee. For a standing breakfast at the Formica counter.

4 · El Café del Mercado

Plaza 25 de Mayo, 6 · 5 minutes away. Right opposite the Mercado Central. It starts filling up at 9am with market traders. Strong coffee (cortado: €1.30), freshly made omelette roll (€4), juice squeezed to order (€2.80).

5 · Bonet

Avda. Alfonso X El Sabio, 14 · 6 minutes away. A classic Alicante café, open since 1932. Mallorcan ensaimadas still warm at 8:30am, homemade cakes and naturally roasted coffee. Pricier (€5.50 full breakfast) but worth the detour.

What to order

• Toast with tomato and oil. Toasted bread, freshly grated tomato, olive oil, salt. Between €2.50 and €3.50.
• White coffee. Ask for it "with hot milk" if you want it that way (by default it sometimes comes lukewarm). Between €1.30 and €1.80.
• Orange juice. If it says "natural" it is. If it does not say so, it is not. Between €2 and €3.50.
• Omelette roll. Hot, best without cheese. Between €3 and €5.
• Pastries. The ones from the oven cost between €1 and €2.50. The factory ones: run.

The Alicante breakfast hour

We locals have breakfast in two shifts. The first between 7am and 8:30am (early risers heading to work). The second between 9:30am and 11:30am (office workers on a break, retirees, people with flexible hours). If you come between 10am and 11am there is room without a wait.

What we avoid

• Cafés with a photo of the menu at the door and flags from many countries: they are aimed at tourists and the coffee is weak.
• The American "brunch" places in the centre: €18-25 and almost never worth it.
• Anywhere serving avocado toast for more than €6 unless they are expressly a specialist.