Food Guide: Valencia

I planned my time in this delightful Spanish city around my restaurant reservations. I ate until I was fit to burst and it was a feast. So, here are the very best things for you, all in a row.

Food and drink in Spain is dirt cheap compared to the Netherlands, so you really don’t need to hold back. Prepare yourself for a huge food fest.

Morning

A day in a Spanish city starts tranquilo. Spain gets going late in the morning; most shops and museums don’t open until between 10:00 and 11:00. You can often have breakfast from 9:30 onwards—much earlier is difficult.

Breakfast is an unimportant meal in Spain. Don’t expect much more than a sweet bun with coffee or a piece of toast with tomato. Unless you go to Dulce de Leche. You won’t see many Spaniards there, but you will have a delicious brekkie. Freshly baked rolls with mortadella, for example, or a croissant with ham and cheese from the oven. Add a cortado (espresso with a splash of warm milk) and a zumo de naranja (fresh orange juice), and you’re ready for the day.

Afternoon

You can make a lunch reservation for 2:00 p.m. at the earliest, but 3:00 p.m. is fine too. Lunch is the main meal of the day, so the average Spaniard is happy to take their time over it. Most shops and museums are therefore closed between 2:00 and 4:30 p.m. After all, everyone has to eat and then take a nap.

Arroz (rice) is eaten in the afternoon. If you order a pan of paella in a restaurant in the evening, you’ll get some strange looks. Paella originally comes from the province of Valencia, so it tastes best here. The dish is unbelievably delicious and you absolutely have to try it. If you only have one day in Valencia, order paella for lunch at Navarro: a family restaurant right in the city centre. I had the paella here with squid through the rice and a lobster on top, but according to the original paella recipe, the rice is eaten with chicken, rabbit and snails. They also serve this version at Navarro.

If you have another afternoon in Valencia, go to Canalla Bistro. It’s the bistro of top chef Richard Camarena. He also has two Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, but this bistro is fantastic and much cheaper. You can have a lunch menu for € 15,-. No joke. If there are two of you, you get three starters to share, plus a main course and dessert each. And it’s delicious. Grilled mozzarella with crab pesto and yuzu mayonnaise, and a salad of courgette, green mango and Parmesan, were my favourite dishes. But I believe the menu changes regularly, so those dishes may not be on it.

Snack

Spain is a snacking nation. In any case, you get a bowl of nuts with every beer you order, and I love that.

The best snack I had was at Tasca Angel, a tiny place in the city centre. You stand among the Spaniards at a little bar, while people shout at you in Spanish and laugh at you. My advice is simply to laugh back; it’s all worth it. The sardines are famous. And rightly so—they’re fantastic. For €4,- you get six fish, and for one euro more you get as much bread as you want. And you need that bread to mop up the oil the fish are sitting in.

At Mercado Central, the central market hall, I had delicious croquetas de bacalao (cod and potato croquettes) at Central Bar.

You shouldn’t skip this either: a bocadillo con tortilla (a sandwich with Spanish tortilla). I had no time left for a proper meal, so I bought this sandwich at a train station on my way home and ate it on the flight back. Even at the station, they make good sandwiches.

And buy some turrón to take home. Read here what it is.

Evening

In the evening, you sit down for tapas at around 10:00 p.m. Of course, there are places where the Dutch can get an evening meal at 6:00 p.m., but those restaurants are specifically geared towards tourists. I’d say: adapt and go along with the rhythm of the country. It’s wonderful.

On my first evening in Valencia, I ate at Jamón Jamón. Although the name of the place might suggest that you’ve been lured into a tourist trap, this was the best first evening I could have wished for. I had foie on toast, juicy grilled octopus with romesco (a kind of pesto made from almonds and roasted peppers), morcilla (blood sausage filled with rice), and of course a platter of manchego (Spanish sheep’s cheese) and jamón iberico (Iberico ham). A real feast.

Casa Montaña is a classic near the beach where I ate the best sepia a la plancha (cuttlefish) ever. The aioli with the patatas bravas (fried potatoes) was also mind-blowing. I was there in the afternoon, but the restaurant is also open for dinner. Another plus: they have an extensive wine list and can give you excellent advice.

Reservations

They are important. These places are all extremely popular, so without a reservation you’ll most likely walk out disappointed after just one minute. And that would be a shame.