Restaurants
We have used the following symbols to give an idea of the price for a three-course meal for one, including wine, cover and service:
€€€€ over 60 euros
€€€ 30–60 euros
€€ 20–30 euros
€ below 20 euros
City centre
Restaurants
Ana Eva € Turia 49, tel: 96 391 53 69, www.restauranteanaeva.es. Ana Eva serves good, inexpensive vegan cuisine in informal surroundings near the Torres de Quart. For starters try the ensalada silvestre made with beansprouts and mixed varieties of lettuce, for main course mushrooms with tofu in a basil sauce, and for dessert crème caramel made with carob flour. Closed Mon–Sunday.
Joaquín Schmidt €€€ Visitación 7, tel: 96 340 17 10, www.joaquinschmidt.com. Chef Joaquín Schmidt Río-Valle has created a very personal restaurant, somewhere between cutting edge and classic but still charming and intimate. There’s a very good wine list, and the service is impeccable. Choose between three set menus of varying sizes and prices. The largest, and most expensive, the ‘Joaquín Schmidt Menu’, allows you to sample seven dishes, as well as cheese and dessert. The frequently changing lunch menu is less expensive. You can also book cooking classes with the Chef. Closed Monday lunch and Sunday.
La Carme €–€€ Pl. de Mossén Sorell 7, tel: 96 392 25 32. Tue–Sat 9–11pm; Sat–Sun 2–4pm. A no-nonsense, inexpensive place to eat in the Barrio del Carmen. The three-course menu allows little choice, but all the food is freshly prepared with a touch of imagination. Closed Monday.
La Riuà €€ Calle de la Mar 27, tel: 96 391 45 71; www.lariua.com. La Riuà has been serving home cooking by a husband and wife team since 1982. Their Valencian cuisine includes a wide range of rice, fish and shellfish dishes, and the restaurant is acclaimed for its paella, and other rice dishes, fideua and all i pebre. Book in advance at this legendary restaurant. Closed Sunday night and Monday.
Ricard Camarena €€€€ Av. de Burjassot 54, Bombas Gens Centre d’Art, tel: 34 963 35 54 18, www.ricardcamarena.com. This Michelin-star restaurant owned by one of Spain’s rising chefs, Ricard Camarena, has a modern, minimalistic, albeit cozy, wooden interior. It offers a fusion of typical Valencian flavours and cutting-edge culinary art. A short daily menu includes plenty of fresh regional Mediterranean ingredients including seafood, vegetables and rice all prepared in the most creative way. Book well in advance. Closed Mon.
Seu Xerea €–€€ Calle Conde de Almodóvar 4, tel: 96 392 40 00, www.seuxerea.com. A meeting of Mediterranean, British and Oriental cuisines in a slick restaurant not far from the Plaza de la Virgen. Starters might include mussels in green curry or Thai-style fishcakes, while mains might be tuna in teriyaki sauce or slow-roast lamb with cumin sauce; finish with a coconut sorbet. At lunchtimes there is a cheap menú del día. Much more pricey is the excellent menú de degustación (taster menu). Open Tue–Sat 1.30–3.30pm; 8.30–11pm.
Taberna Alkazar €€€ Mosén Femades 9 and 11 (Zona Peatonal), tel: 96 352 95 75, www.tabernaalkazar.com. The Alkazar is an upmarket seafood and paella restaurant that first opened its doors in 1950. Choose a table inside or outdoors in the pedestrianised street. There’s a busy tapas bar if you don’t feel like a full meal. Large selection of wines. Weekdays 10am–midnight, from 11.30am Sat–Sun.
Tapas bars
Note: it is difficult to give a guide price for bars as the bill will vary enormously according to what you order.
100 Montaditos € Plaza de la Reina 10, tel: 96 391 92 27; http://spain.100montaditos.com. One of a chain of bars in a traditional style which specialise in inexpensive tapas, especially, as the name says, 100 different kinds of open sandwiches or montaditos.
El Pilar € Moro Zeit 13, tel: 96 391 04 97. One of the oldest tapas bars in the city, dating from 1912, and as famous as ever for its mussels.
Along the river
A Tu Gusto €–€€ Escritor Rafael Ferreras (on the corner with Avenida Instituto Obrero), tel: 636 557 476, www.atugusto.com. Relaxed place a few streets away from the City of Arts and Sciences where you can enjoy creative Mediterranean dishes and a very good value lunch-time menu. Closed Mon.
El Colmado de la Rivera €€ Calle Rivera 14, tel: 96 381 97 01; http://elcolmadodelariveravalencia.com. Conveniently located opposite Plaza de Toros, ‘El Colmado de la Rivera’ serves arguably the best squid in town. Other specialities include a great variety of exquisite tapas and paella made upon order. A reasonably priced menú del día is good value for money. Open daily 11am–1am.
Marisquerías Civera €€€ Mosén Femandes 10, tel: 96 352 97 64, www.marisqueriascivera.com. Fish and seafood restaurant of long standing in the historic centre of the city. Apart from the seafood, there are also some meat and vegetarian options. Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Submarino €€€ L’Oceanogràfic, City of Arts and Sciences, tel: 96 197 55 65, www.oceanografic.org/restaurante-submarino. Relatives of the fish on your plate swim around you at this novelty underwater restaurant at the L’Oceanogràfic aquarium. Rice dishes are also served. Reservation is essential.
The seafront
Restaurants
La Paz €€ Paseo Neptuno 68, tel: 96 356 19 83; www.restaurantelapaz.es. Splendid location with sea view makes it one of the best places to have paella and seafood dishes. Daily menu is a perfect budget option. Daily noon–5pm.
La Pepica €€€ Paseo Neptuno 6, tel: 96 371 03 66, www.lapepica.com. A classic Valencian restaurant founded in 1898 and visited by Ernest Hemingway and other writers, as well as bullfighters, artists and assorted VIPs. It is situated on a street along the beach which is lined with paella restaurants – some cheaper and where, arguably, you can eat just as well. La Pepica is known not only for its rice dishes but also for its lobster stew and grilled fish. Try the speciality of the house Paella Pepica. Daily lunch, Fri–Sat dinner.
La Rosa €€–€€€ Paseo Neptuno 70, tel: 96 371 20 76. Not as well-known as La Pepica, this is another good place to eat paella while watching the waves at sea. Also good for fish and seafood. Good wine list.
La Sucursal €€€€ Muelle de la Aduana, tel: 96 374 66 65, www.restaurantelasucursal.com. A Michelin star restaurant offers not only the very best of Valencian haut cuisine but also splendid views over marina and the surrounding area. Mon–Fri lunch and dinner, Sat–Sun dinner only.
L’Estimat €€–€€€ Paseo de Neptuno, 16, tel: 96 371 10 18; www.restaurante-cocinamediterranea.com. You can eat gazing out to sea in this restaurant, which is one of the more traditional ones on the Playa de las Arenas beach. It has been serving paellas and other rice dishes since 1927. Closed Tue.
Taj Mahal €–€€ Doctor Candela 20, tel: 96 330 62 64, http://restauranteindiotajmahal.com. This Indian/Pakistani restaurant, decorated with handicrafts and paintings, is in the suburbs between the city and the seafront (between Avenida del Puerto and Avenida Blasco Ibáñez). All the spices are imported from the Indian subcontinent. Open daily lunch and dinner.
Tapas bars
Casa Montaña €€ José Benlliure 69, tel: 96 367 23 14, www.emilianobodega.com. This tapas bar, which was founded in 1836, has been turned into a tasting centre for fine wines. Around a thousand types from around the world, but especially Valencia, can be ordered by the glass. All the dishes on the menu are made from carefully selected ingredients and include mussels, grilled sardines, squid, anchovies, typical Cabañal recipes, codfish croquettes, and different Spanish cheeses and cold meats. Open daily, only lunch on Sunday and holidays.
Outskirts
Alquería Del Pi €€–€€€ Camino Viejo de Godella 55, tel: 96 365 17 70, www.alqueriadelpi.com. A traditional Valencian farmhouse of the huerta standing in a 19th-century Mediterranean garden. Off a small road heading north out of the city.
El Rek €€ Pintor Martí Girbés 1, El Palmar, tel: 96 162 02 97, www.elrek.com. El Rek is located outside the town of El Palmar, in the heart of Valencia’s rice-growing area and beside La Albufera. The menu consists of traditional Valencian cuisine, including paella, arroz a banda and arroz negro. The restaurant has its own landing stage for boat trips around the lake. Wed–Sun 1–5pm.
La Matandeta €€€ Carretera Alfafar–El Saler km 4, Alfafar (7km/4.5 miles from Valencia), tel: 96 211 21 84, www.lamatandeta.es. Fresh fish and seafood are served in a typical country house in the huerta. Here paella is cooked over an open wood fire, which gives the dish a delicious smoky flavour. Wed–Sun 10am–5pm.
Raco’ Nou €€€ Carretera de El Palmar 21, El Palmar tel: 96 162 01 72, www.nouraco.com. Typical Valencian cuisine at this long-established restaurant – including rice dishes, seafood and all i pebre – served beside La Albufera. Set menu options start from €33 per person.
Bunol
Venta Pilar €–€€ Avenida Pérez Galdós 5, tel: 96 250 09 23. At around 300 years old, this former staging post turned hotel-restaurant serves simple, homemade food. The daily menu offers excellent value compared with the more expensive à la carte options. The dishes, which include local as well as Spanish specialities, can be served in one of the dining rooms or at the outdoor patio. Try one of its wonderful, smoky rice plates prepared over an open fire. There is also a 1960s-style café which does breakfast and lunch.
Cullera
Casa Salvador €€€ L’Estany de Cullera, tel: 96 172 01 36, www.casasalvador.com. Casa Salvador is in two barracas (typical Valencian farmhouses) next to a freshwater lake used for fish farming. It is a family business which claims to have been open every day for the last 50 years. Choose from a wide range of rice and fish and other typical Valencian dishes, including arroz negro and whole fish baked in a salt crust. There’s an outdoor terrace overlooking the lake. Open daily 1–5pm and 9pm–midnight.
Denia
Quique Dacosta Restaurante €€€–€€€€ Urbanización El Poblet, Carretera Les Marines 3km, tel: 96 578 41 79, http://quiquedacosta.es. This three-Michelin star restaurant is famous for its innovative take on Mediterranean cuisine. The DNA the Search menu pays homage to regional culinary traditions while being blended with the chef’s boundless imagination and creativity. Wed–Sun lunch and dinner. Booking essential.
Gandia
Telero €€ Calle Sant Ponc, 7 Bajo, tel: 96 286 73 18, www.telero.es. Friendly atmosphere and excellent service make this homely restaurant a perfect place to try traditional Valencian cuisine. The rice dishes and tuna steak are highly commendable. Vegetarian and gluten-free dishes also available. Good choice of regional wines. Closed Sun.
Peniscola
Casa Jaime €€€ Avenida Papa Luna 5, tel: 96 448 00 30, http://xn--casajaimepeiscola-pxb.com. The menu is mainly strong on rice dishes and fresh fish from the coast of Castellón. Fine selection of home-made desserts. Closed Wednesday in winter.
Sagunt
La Mandorla €€–€€€ Subida al Castillo 44, tel: 96 266 43 82. Arguably one of Sagunt’s best restaurants is in the old Jewish quarter, on the way up out of the old town towards the Roman theatre and the castle. It serves excellent Italian cuisine with dishes on the menu including pizzas, risottos, meats and tasty steak tartar. Daily 6pm–midnight.
Xativa
Casa La Abuela €€–€€€ Calle Reina 17, tel: 96 227 05 25. ‘Grandmother’s House’ has changed over its 50-year existence from a simple restaurant into an establishment renowned for its cooking, still based on traditional local recipes, particularly Valencian rice dishes. Excellent arroz al horno is worth a try. Closed Wed–Sun night.