Eating out in Andorra is fun - and so much less expensive than in the rest of Europe. Andorra has over 200 restaurants (not counting the bars that serve snacks and the hotel dining rooms) and in the great majority of them one would be surprised to spend more than 20€ a head.

The range of ethnic restaurants is growing by the month. At present, apart from traditional Catalan restaurants and those with a more international flavour, Andorra boasts restaurants serving Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Basque, Indian, and Portuguese food and we seem to add a few new national cuisines every year.

Wine lists in Andorra are a lot more wide-ranging than is general in either France or Spain, if only because we have to cater to large numbers of visitors from both countries. Portuguese, Italian, German and South American products also feature regularly.

In summer, the regular mountain-food standbys of the traditional Catalan repertoire such as dry-cured hams, cassoles similar to the French cassoulets and escudelles (a warming one-pot meal of chicken, ham, black pudding, cabbage, chickpeas and half a dozen other ingredients) give way to other specialities.

Salad lovers should look out for local rocket and sorrel and if you are really in luck the restaurant might have xicoies fresh from local sellers in the street markets of La Seu d'Urgell and Puigcerdà. These are delicate and delicious salad leaf- like fronds that sprout wild in mountain pastures. Trout from the mountain streams are normally offered in the higher parishes during the summer fishing season and you really shouldn't pass up the opportunity of tasting that deservedly famous catalan speciality calçots .

When a restaurant has them, the staff will chalk up a small sign perhaps on a slate 'tenim calçots' and all the locals troop in. They are a type of fat spring onion and are put straight onto an open wood fire in great piles. Eating these is not only an art but an experience. First you will be supplied with a big bib (the black ash gets everywhere!)and a bowl of orange-coloured romesco sauce and then a pile of blackened onions arrives. Never mind your manners: pick them by the root end, place vertically above your mouth and tease out the soft interior leaving the outer leaves intact. By the time you have finished you will have had a hugely enjoyable time. Traditionally, you then tuck into grilled lamb chops and aïoli a garlic mayonnaise, but first-timers never seem to leave enough room.