I’ve been lucky enough to visit Spain’s sunniest city, Valencia, multiple times over the past decade. My brother lives in Valencia part-time, and I’ve visited him almost every year since he moved there (except of course in the dark days of 2020). So this foodie guide is an ongoing labour of love: during every trip, I eat in some new restaurants and re-visit some old favourites, tweaking my recommendations as the years go by. My brother is as much of a foodie as I am, so unsurprisingly our lunchtimes and evenings turn into a culinary tour of Valencia – tapas, paella, horchata, you name it… This article covers all that and more – buen provecho!
Transport and accommodation in Valencia
Before you can start eating, you’re going to need to travel to Valencia. There are direct flights to Valencia with Dutch airline KLM, Spanish airline Iberia, UK airline British Airways and German airline Lufthansa, as well as low-cost airlines like Vueling, easyJet and Transavia. You can compare times and prices among all airlines on sites like Skyscanner, Expedia and Omio. From Valencia airport, it’s a short hop on the metro into the centre of the city. Valencia is very walkable, but you can also hire a car or a bike (handy for getting to the beach) or take public transport.
Finding the right accommodation can be one of the biggest challenges when it comes to foodie adventures abroad. (As someone with a love-hate relationship with Airbnb, I know this first hand). But there’s a site out there that lets you search for places to stay – from boutique hotels to youth hostels to local apartments – across all different channels: cozycozy. It covers hundreds of cities all over the world, including Valencia!
Markets in Valencia
Valencia’s Mercado Central is architecturally beautiful, even before you’ve got to the food. Grab yourself a bocadillo de jamón while you wander around the stalls selling the very best Iberico ham, Manchego cheese, fresh fish, olives, nuts, dried fruit and of course garrofó – the mysterious beans you find in paella… Just outside the main entrance to Mercado Central you’ll also find a typical Valencian stand selling a drink called horchata (or orxata, in Valencian dialect). It tastes a little like sweetened almond milk, and it’s made by burning and grinding chufa beans. The drink is traditionally served chilled with fartons – much like iced buns – and you can get them from L’Orxateria as a pick-me-up between sightseeing in the historic centre.
For a truly local shopping experience, drop into Mercado de Ruzafa in the Russafa neighbourhood. With its colourful façades and some 160 stalls, it offers fresh produce, seafood, cured meats and bakery treats in a lively but less tourist-heavy setting than the city centre markets.
Paella restaurants in Valencia
While many versions of paella are made with various seafood, Valencia’s very own version is made with meat: chicken and rabbit, to be precise. This seems a little unintuitive given that Valencia is right by the sea, but since the city is reputed to be the birthplace of paella I’m not going to argue. That said, we did cycle to the coast on more than one occasion to eat ours…
Casa Carmela
With its long-standing reputation for being one of the paella greats of Valencia, Casa Carmela is packed at every hour it’s open. And given that it’s set behind the beach, with no sea view, there’s good reason for that. Their paella is cooked over open wood fire: look in the kitchen on your way through the restaurant – it’s quite theatrical! The rice is sticky with umami goodness, and just charred on the bottom. We also enjoyed Casa Carmela’s esgarret (a Valencian roasted red pepper salad with cured tuna and hard-boiled eggs) and seafood salad, all washed down with a refreshing bottle of Albarino. Classic but perfectly executed.
La Pepica
In El Cabanyal neighbourhood, La Pepica is one of these large, seaside-y places whose décor doesn’t look like it’s changed much since the ’80s and whose clientele have clearly been coming here for decades as well. Their paella Valenciana is a specialty, and comes according to the traditional recipe with garrofó (a large variety of butter bean), their green bean counterparts (like runner beans but larger), and plenty of aromatic rosemary and saffron.
Maremar
If you prefer your paella with seafood, you’ve got plenty of options along the beach too. We cycled in the opposite direction, down south to Playa de Pinedo, which felt like the quieter half of the Valencian coastline. Stopping at Restaurante Maremar for a restorative cola, we decided it looked so nice that we’d pop back for lunch a couple of hours later. Their paella was everything you’d expect: ocean flavoured and sticky on the bottom of the pan. But their charcoal-grilled vegetables were possibly the stars of the show. Not to mention the uninterrupted views over the ocean…
Casa Roberto
If you don’t have quite the time or the energy to head to the beach and are staying more centrally, Casa Roberto’s “house of rice” is a good choice in the Gran Vía neighbourhood. Inside, it’s quite traditional but we sat outside on the sunny pavement terrace to watch the world go by. Roberto’s paella Valenciana came stuffed with all the things you’d expect (chicken, rabbit, beans) but also artichoke and snails, which made it feel a little different. Their grilled vegetables were also excellent, if somewhat pricey, and they served a nice white wine (Rueda) by the glass.
Tapas bars in Valencia
The Valencians typically don’t go out for dinner until after 9 pm, and if you’re anything like me, you can’t possibly wait that long to eat. Luckily, the tapas bars are generally open earlier, so you can stop by for a snack and a drink before dinner, or turn it into a full meal.
Taberna Pare Pere
An ultra-local tapas bar just inside the Russafa neighbourhood, you won’t see many tourists in Taberna Pare Pere. This simple spot is known for its fish and seafood: think just-seared tuna fillets with pistachio sauce, or langoustines cooked with ajo tierno (young garlic shoots that taste somewhere between a spring onion and wild garlic). The menu seems to be a general guideline rather than an accurate list: while several of the items weren’t available, many other (unwritten) daily specials were. So it’s worth asking what’s on offer before you get too far in your decision-making process.
Casa Montana
Located in El Cabanyal near the coast, you’ll find queues out the door to get a table at well-known Casa Montana so be sure to reserve in advance. This place is ultra-traditional, but in the best possible way: mouth-watering jamón Iberico, silky Rioja and steaming piles of mussels. They also specialise in artisan canned fish, so we tried the razor clams – I was sceptical but they were briny and good. Also delicious were the young broad beans fried with lomo, the tuna cured in seven spices, and the red piquillo peppers stuffed with cheese, coated in flour and deep-fried. Go hungry because you’ll want to order everything on the menu!
La Pilareta
In Valencia’s central El Carmen neighbourhood, picture-perfect Roman and Gothic buildings nuzzle up against colourful street art and sunny terraces. But one of the more traditional bars in the area is La Pilareta, where the mussel shells are still thrown into crates in front of the bar as the staff have done for decades. Better than the mussels, however, were the montaditos: halved, toasted bread rolls topped with grated tomato plus other variations. We tried the morcilla (blood sausage) and the chorizo, which tasted a lot better than they looked!
El Rodamón de Russafa
For a modern, creative, fusion version of tapas and wine, head over to the hipster, minimalist El Rodamón de Russafa. On the menu, you’ll be greeted with some Asian flavours in the form of sweet & sour aubergine or duck spring rolls alongside Spanish pulpo and calamari. On the wine list, you’ll find Spanish bottles next to other European wines at a variety of price points. It’s worth taking a look at the huge array of bottles displayed at the far end of the restaurant. We loved the Priorat: a Garnacha-led blend from Catalunya that was full-bodied and boozy but still fruity and balanced.
Modern Spanish restaurants in Valencia
Timoteo Gastrobar
Located in Arrancapins, just west of Valencia’s old town, Timoteo Gastrobar is serving up a Spanish-international fusion of family-style sharing plates. Patatas bravas came with sobrasada – a sort of spicy, cured sausage meat that’s a bit like ‘nduja. Roasted aubergine was smoky and savoury, with what tasted like a sesame-miso sauce, while tuna tataki had equally Asian accents with ginger and sesame. Finally, the jamón “bikini” in brioche bread echoed a Cuban sandwich. The service was a little chaotic, but it’s forgivable for food this good.
Agua Salada
Literally translating as “salt water”, it’s no surprise that Agua Salada specialises in fish and seafood. And while I’m sure these are locally caught, the flavours borrow from many different cultures. Cuttlefish came in wasabi mayo, while shrimp tartare was creamy and spicy with perhaps a touch of shiso. Tuna tataki (seemingly a favourite on Valencian menus) was served with giant capers and za’atar-style seasoning, while baby scallops came with a soy-based sauce. For those in search of something more traditional, the squid stew tasted resolutely Mediterranean, while the smoked fish appeared in a Russian salad format that we saw a lot elsewhere. Agua Salada was one of my favourite meals from my most recent trip, and is well worth the trek outside of the city centre.
El Aprendiz de Tapas
Off the beaten path in the Benimaclet neighbourhood, El Aprendiz de Tapas is a delightful combination of cool minimalism and colourful flowers. It also has what looks to be a fantastic terrace in good weather, overlooking a quiet square. The menu is eclectic, but somehow the kitchen nails absolutely everything. European flavours included smoky aubergine with mozzarella and mint pesto, or slow-cooked beef with couscous. Asia was represented by Chinese-style pork dumplings and Thai-style pork ribs with the most fragrant yellow curry sauce. Even traces of nikkei were present in the form of tuna ceviche (served seared, “caliente” style, with plantain chips and cancha corn) and salmon tataki with sesame and kimchi. It sounds like a lot could go wrong, but trust me when I say that it was all spot on. Even the desserts were a joy: the most unctuously creamy, baked cheesecake, plus a refreshing yuzu mousse with mango sorbet. Perhaps because of its up-and-coming location, the bill at the end was staggeringly reasonable. Go before they put the prices up!
Canalla Bistro
Chef Ricard Camarena holds two Michelin stars at his eponymous restaurant. But for those of us who don’t have the funds to splash on Michelin-starred dining, Camarena also runs the more affordable Canalla Bistro on the outskirts of Russafa. Think international fusion dishes that aren’t afraid of bold, spicy flavours. I particularly enjoyed the Peruvian-style seabass ceviche and the Asian-style tuna tartare, but literally everything we ordered was delicious – including the veggie dishes like spicy aubergine and vegetable tempura. Despite Camarena’s culinary cachet, dinner at his bistro was extremely affordable (especially by northern European standards).
La Tasqueta del Mercat
In the same neighbourhood and a good alternative if you can’t get into Canalla Bistro is La Tasqueta del Mercat – close to Russafa market, as the name suggests. Each lunch and dinner time, they have a few set menus that are extremely good value for money. We paid under €25 for a five-course menu (this little Amsterdammer’s jaw dropped!) plus only a few extra euros for a fabulous bottle of Ribera del Duero. I especially liked the bacalao croquettes that were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, as well as the tuna tartare with chilli and peanut sauces served with crisp corn tortilla. Plus, the chicken-liver pâté with focaccia and pickled onions was simple but perfectly prepared.
Karak
Bang in the centre of the old city, modern fine-dining restaurant Karak is the brainchild of the extremely talented Rakel Cernicharo. We tried her ten-course tasting menu, which was a creative fusion of European and Asian flavours – playful but still recognisable. One of my favourite dishes was the shrimp ravioli with red curry sauce, seaweed and a garnish of fascinatingly sour green leaves – a veritable flavour bomb. Beef tataki with beurre noisette, hazelnut sauce and leeks (pictured below) was delicate and subtle by contrast, but no less delicious for that. While Karak’s signature dish of salmon cured for four days in soy sauce with sushi rice and kimchi cream was an umami hit. What’s more, the sommelier was very knowledgeable about suitable wines to pair with the dishes, and you get a great view of the kitchen if you sit at the long communal tables upstairs.
International food in Valencia
You probably didn’t come to Valencia looking for Indian curry, or Italian pizza, or Argentinian steak. But once you’ve gorged yourself on tapas and paella for a few days, you might be ready for something different…
Kathmandu
Since the first time I visited Valencia, there seems to have been an explosion of Indian restaurants – and some of them are really surprisingly good. One such eatery is Kathmandu, in the Gran Vía neighbourhood, which specialises in Nepalese dishes as well as traditional North Indian fare. I especially enjoyed the chana masala (chickpea curry) and the special Nepali curry with tamarind and peppers. But everything was great, right down to the naan bread and the service.
Asador Argentino Gordon 10
Essentially an Argentinian steakhouse, Asador Argentino Gordon 10 is filled with British and Dutch tourists – but don’t let that put you off! One for the meat eaters, the kitchen serves up a truly excellent ribeye steak, done simply with baked potatoes and grilled vegetables. The wine is affordable and the service some of the best we had. A carnivore’s paradise.
Interno Mediterraneo
I generally don’t eat much Italian food outside of Italy, but we’d had a recommendation for pizza in Russafa and off we went in search of it. Unfortunately, the pizza joint in question (which shall remain nameless) was abysmal. But by that point we needed a dough fix – fast. We stumbled upon Interno Mediterraneo quite by accident, but it turned out to be exactly what we were looking for. Pillowy Neapolitan-style crusts with fabulous-quality toppings, and some lovely cocktails to wash it all down with. I particularly enjoyed the jamón y trufa pizza with melt-in-the-mouth ham and a burrata-truffle cream sauce as well as fresh tomatoes. Plus, the smoky negroni made a great aperitivo.
Cafés in Valencia
In need of a restorative coffee fix or a refreshing beer? The coffee in Valencia seems generally to be of a high quality – I tend to order a cortado for a shot of espresso with a shot of warm milk to take the edge off. There’s also been a rise in Valencian craft beer since I started visiting: no longer are you limited to the local Turia lager – now you can find hoppy IPAs, sweet stouts and fruity white beers.
Café Artysana
If you find yourself in Russafa during the afternoon, looking for either a caffeine fix or somewhere to work on your laptop for an hour, pop into Café Artysana. Good coffee, tasty cakes, and chilled atmosphere to read, chat, or catch up on your emails. I’ve heard they also do brunch…
La Fábrica de Hielo
If you’re in El Cabanyal by the coast (for paella, perhaps), it’s definitely worth popping into cultural centre and hipster hangout La Fábrica de Hielo – literally translating as the ice factory. When I was there, the beer taps were flowing (with local beer Turia, among others), there was various street food on offer, and all this was accompanied by live music from a talented local duo singing and strumming.
Ubik Café
We headed to Ubik Café primarily because we’d read that it was dog-friendly, and once we arrived we discovered it was everyone-friendly. Kids, couples, friends, families and their furry companions are all welcome at this artsy Russafa café that’s filled with bustle and books.