¡Hola Valencia Man! I thought you might like some suggestions for food and drink since you are on your way to the ciudad de Valencia very soon. I have not been to these places, but they were in the June/July 2005 issue of Saveur, which is a gourmet food and travel magazine. So, perhaps they might be of interest to you as you try to decide where to eat. I will skip the "expensive" listings and include the "moderate" and "inexpensive" listings.

Restaurants

1. Bar Pilar is located at Moro Zeit 13. It is "tapas: inexpensive." The description: "A lively, old-style place; numerous tapas are served but the clochinas (Mediterranean mussels) are essential."

2. Burdeos in Love is located at del Mar 4. It is closed Saturday lunch and Sundays and is "moderate." The description: "Imaginative food, sometimes overly ambitious but often successful, in an attractive, wine-themed room."

3. Casa Montaña is located at José Benlliure 69. It is closed Sunday evening and Monday and is "moderate" for lunch or dinner. The description: "A must for wine lovers, with a large, well-chosen list of good wines from Valencia and elsewhere in Spain (and beyond), plus top-notch tapas and good, simple main dishes."

4. Casa Ripoll is located at paseo Marítimo de Valencia, Módulo 7. It is closed on Wednesdays and is "moderate" for lunch or dinner. The description (a bit odd!): "Nothing special, but a nice place to stop on a sunny day for well-prepared Valencian specialties."

5. La Matandeta is located at carretera Alfafar-El Saler, Alfafar (so I'm thinking it's a bit outside the city?). It is closed Monday lunch and is "moderate" for lunch or dinner. The description (sounds interesting): "Real paellas and other rice dishes, plus more sophisticated fare, served in an Albufera farmhouse."

Bars

1. Acuarium is located at Gran Vía Marqués del Turia 57. The description: "A nautical-themed bar serving snacks (like warm Spanish almonds and superlative anchovy-stuffed olives) and what are arguably Valencia's best cocktails."

2. Café San Jaume is located at Caballeros 51. The description: "An old, elaborately decorated pharmacy turned into a bustling little bar. Try the agua de Valencia."

Ah, I'm hungry already!

If you're on the beach near the harbor, I'd also suggest Gabbana. They have some of the best mixed drinks we've ever had. I suggest the Gabbana Julep, a mix of rum, fruit juices, and muddled kiwi, melon, pineapple, orange, and some others. FANTASTIC!

i been there many times and still have relatives living there at El Saler. best is to go there
Casa Carmina, Embarcadero 4 try arros amb fesols i naps (valenciano ok) castellano CALDERA.

tambien estoy de acuerdo con El Pilar, moro zeit 13 try the clochinas (mejillones)

Bienvenido a Vàlencia.

Wow! I read your description of El Pilar and it sounds great. I'm surprised that it wasn't more full of tourists given that it was in two of your guide books as well as the magazine article I mentioned above. But, the food and the atmosphere sound fantastic. Keep writing the travel log when you can; it's fun to read the daily updates.

la historiadora, ARGH!!!! I'd been without internet connection for 3 days and didn't find your thread until JUST NOW and I LEAVE TOMORROW!! ARGH! I'll be sure to refer to this thread NEXT time I come to Valencia, hopefully in the autumn.

Had dinner last night at the famed "La Pepica" here a few doors down along the Avenida de Neptuno, facing the beach. Ernest Hemingway ate here (at least once) - they have the photo on the wall to prove it. While wanting something OTHER than paella and/or seafood, I opted for the solomillo steak. Wow. Tender. Juicy. Grilled to perfection. More about that in my journal later.

Bar El Pilar was good. I'll definitely go back but can imagine that in summer it'd be much more difficult finding a table as that's when they're probably buisier. The place is small, intimate, definitely old school. I loved it.

Yesterday (also soon to be included in the journal) I had lunch at Restaurante Ca'an Bermell, which was listed in ALL the guidebooks (I'd bought/brought 5). I'd gone the day before/Tuesday but since I didn't have a reservation I couldn't get a table in the small dining room, only next to the bar. Yesterday I was passing by again, just after 3pm, and thought I'd pop in to see, and sure enough they had a table available. It was good and not surprised it was listed. Had the "special of the day", the Fideua, which is a kind of paella but with small noodles instead of rice. All Spanish staff and the owner/chef went table to table to see how things were. It was kind go expensive, though, but not as expensive as La Pepica last night.

The next journal entry (for yesterday and today) I'll upload later today.

la historiadora, I'll peruse your list later for a possible last-dinner-in-Valencia for tonight. Thanks.

Saludos, MadridMan

MadridMan, it sounds as if you've had some wonderful meals already, so I wouldn't worry too much about missing this thread (I suspected that you hadn't seen it based on your posts in other sections and your travel log). As I wrote, I'm not even sure if the places are any good, since I haven't been to them myself, but they were some ideas for you! And, it looks as if you have a few other suggestions here, too. In any case, they might be helpful to you on your last night, and you can also consult them when you come back for the more MadridMan updates on Valencia later this year. Enjoy your last day there!

And today I left the hostel WITHOUT your list. ARGH! Today I had paella (the real Valencian kind with rabbit!) at Bodegó de la Sarieta next to the cathedral. Nice little place, good food and service.

I'll have your list for all time here in this thread for when I come back to Valencia. Can't wait! But eating paella 4 times in 7 days in 3 different cities has been... well.... a bit much. :p But when in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? But I'm sure the Valencianos are not eating paella more than once a week! But I wanted to try paella as often as possible in different places in order to better "compare and contrast".

Saludos, MadridMan/ValenciaMan

As I wrote in the Favorite Places Forum, the April 2007 issue of Condé Nast Traveler has a short article about Valencia. Here are some of the restaurants and bars the author suggests as well as their (quite brief) descriptions. Unfortunately the article didn't give any restaurant addresses (only bars! )or web sites, only telephone numbers, but I googled the places for that information to see if I could find it. So, here are a few more ideas for anyone going to Valencia in the near future.

Restaurants

1. La Pepica is located at Paseo Neptuno, 6. According to the article, "since this is the hometown of paella, join the locals over a big open pan of it at La Pepica." MM, you said that you went here but actually didn't have the paella! Entrées are $15-$35.

2. Restaurante Oscar Torrijos is located at Calle Doctor Sumsi, 4. The author says this: "Indeed, Valencia is a great destination for gastronomes. Chef Josep Quintana serves nervy tasting menus" here. The tasting menus are $57 and $82, apparently.

3. Ca'Sento is located at Calle Méndez Núñez, 17. According to the article, the restaurant has a "terrific catch-of-the-day menu." The entrées are $34-$82. Valenciano_en_Madrid mentioned this as a great place, too.

Bars

Both of these are in the Barrio del Carmen.

1. Just as the Saveur magazine article suggested Café San Jaume, so does this article. The author says it's one of "two perfect spots for a cervesa" on its terrace. It is located at Caballeros, 51.

2. The other "perfect spot" is Fox Congo, which the author describes as "frisky." It's located at Caballeros, 35.

I just noticed this article, published in the New York Times on April 8, about a restaurant called L'Alter in Picassent. I have never heard of Picassent (apparently it's 20 miles away from Valencia), but this restaurant looks lovely. At least the food looks delicious. You can click the video to watch the chef making paella. Yum! At the beginning of the video is a glimpse of the food market in Valencia, too.

Hey!!!
I ate in that place but it is not 20 miles from Valencia City center, it is 20 km.
My mother grew up in a town called Silla, 2.5 miles from Picassent. These towns are not very interesting though.

My grandfather was a farmer in Silla, he used to cultivate rice, oranges and other vegetables there.

The report about rice and paella is very accurate, it shows how to cook it properly.

Well!! Restaurante L'Alter, they make a good real paella, as valencian people cook, but it's not the best one. Mom's paella is better!.

Paella in valencian language means literaly fry pan. Farmers used to cook rice in a pan and used to call it "arròs en paella" (rice in fry pan). So that's where the name comes from.

Valencian cuisine uses rice in many different ways. There are dozens of different recipies with rice, some with seafood only, others with different tipes of meat and vegetables, and other mixing things. One of my favorites is "paella de coliflor y bacalao"(coliflower and cod fish paella).

There are also "arroces caldosos" ("arròs en perol" in valencian language), wich are rices with broth, like a soup. I love "arròs amb fessols i naps". This rice is made with beans, root vegetable, fresh bacon, pork meat and blood sausage. You have to cook the ingredients over a low heat for 2 hours and then you add the rice and cook it for 17 minutes more, delicious.

where is L\'Alter Restaurant?