A few months ago the male and I went to Valencia. What a great town: the people, the different neighbourhoods and most of all, the food. Before, I didn’t necessarily associate Spain with great food (shame on me), but after our October trip to Valencia I definitely do. So that’s why today I’d like to share 5 of my favourite Valencian food gems with you.
1. El Patio de Pepa
I could have eaten all the tapas on the menu. El Patio de Pepa is a typical, cute tapas bar with friendly staff and, if you didn’t get it yet, tasty food. The place is buzzing with a mix of locals and a few lucky tourists (such as ourselves) and smells of their succulent little dishes.
2. La Serena
The trendy district that is Barrio Ruzafa is the home of many good food spots. La Serena definitely is one of them. We ended up here by accident, as the place we planned on having lunch at turned out to be closed. The menu is great: a starter, main course, and if you’ve got room left even a dessert, for about 10 euros. Incredible. The quality of the ingredients was very good and the portions generous. Make sure you’re hungry before you go here though!
3. Tasca Sorolla
Now this place is my absolute favourite. I think both the male and I fell in love with it. It’s situated on the corner of a street and you can sit on some sort of mini bar outside while ordering through the open window. The place is tiny but gets very busy, mostly with locals. The owner serves the food and his wife (we think) prepares all the tapas in front of you. There are quite a few seafood dishes on the menu, but classics such as the famous ‘croquettas’ are of course represented as well. More than just the food, it’s the whole experience that’s great at Tasca Sorolla: You watch the world go by while enjoying your cold beer or bubbly cava together with the freshly prepared Spanish delicacies. Do I need to say more?
4. La Finestra
Granted, pizza is not a traditional Spanish dish. But if you stay for about a week in Valencia, you might at some point feel like something other than tapas. If you do: try La Finestra. This little place in Ruzafa serves mini pizzas. You can’t choose your pizza, you order and then you see what you get. It will be good no matter what though, so no worries. You probably won’t find a better deal in town either: it’s 2 euro’s for a pizza and 1 euro for a glass of (good) red wine!
5. Ubik Cafe
The reason we ended up at La Serena, the place I talked about earlier? Ubik Cafe indeed. But we tried again, got lucky and went for the lunch menu; a starter that included three different mini starters – toast with tomato salsa and anchovies, a gazpacho of beetroot with bacon and a fresh salad, all bloody good. As a main course we had a crepe with mushrooms and spinach and pork chops with potatoes and a mustard sauce – both very good too. Inside, the place looks super cool; there are books everywhere so I almost wished for an afternoon of rain, just so I could snuggle up on one of the sofa’s with a book. To cut a long story short: Yet another place for you to try in the Ruzafa district.
That’s it for now guys! If you happen to go to Valencia and are on the lookout for some great local food spots, test one (or more) of these little gems and let me know what you thought about it. Happy feasting!
Love,
Neelie
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