The drink of choice in Valencia is Agua de Valencia. Made from cava, orange juice, gin, vodka and sugar it is a devilish drink. Tastes like juice, but strong as a cocktail. So drink it at your own risk. The best place we found was the Café de las Horas. Agua de Valencia has to be served in champagne coupe glasses, don’t settle for anything less.
Agua de Valencia @Valencia
Funnily enough I got asked by someone if I did anything else besides eating while in Valencia. As you can read now, I also drank a little bit. But of course in between our sightseeing we sat down to quite a few snacks and delicacies. We had two amazing meals, one at Central Bar and the other at Boatella. Both were to die for! But let’s not forget about the other stuff.
The food in this country is sooo good and Valencia is well-known for the paella. It’s actually the only place where you should eat it. According to the locals everywhere else they just serve rice with stuff. Ha, that was the most entertaining thing I heard on the Free Tour Valencia. So of course we had to try paella too. It’s not going to be one of my favorite dishes but from time to time it’s quite tasty. We ate ours at La Pepica’s restaurant directly at the beach.
La Pepica boasts to have the best paella of Valencia. Which basically means then to be the best in the world. We started with mussels and then moved on to the paella. The vegetarian paella by the way tasted better than the seafood one which I found a bit too salty.
mussels @La Pepica
paella @La Pepica
At an Italian restaurant called Bacco D.O.C. we had fabulous anchovies on diced tomatoes. Simple but beautiful.
anchovies with tomato @Bacco D.O.C.
You will also find this recommended in every guide-book: Horchata de Chufa which you eat with fartons. Horchata is a milky white drink made from tiger nuts and tastes in my humble opinion like filling compound. I am really sorry if I hurt some feelings here, but this was disgusting. It’s probably just an acquired taste but I know I will never come to that.
The farton meanwhile is a sweet roll, not unlike a brioche. My friend liked it so much that she ordered it for breakfast as well (sans horchata though). I preferred the churros con chocolate. This is always a classic no matter where in Spain. Most famous place for the horchata is the Horchateria Santa Catalina. Even if you don’t dink anything there, a look inside is worth your time.
horchata and farton @Valencia
Always a must in spain are patatas bravas (roasted potatoes) and pimientos de padron (grilled peppers). You can’t really go wrong with either of these dishes, only the aioli varies.
patatas bravas and pimientos de padron @Valencia
A cerveza (an ice-cold beer) served in a frozen glass is always delightful. Especially though when you drink it while looking at the sea.
enjoy a cold beer while at the beach @Valencia
By far my favorite breakfast was on a sunny morning eating a “pan con tomate“, drinking a coffee and reading my book. I love that I have friends who let me do that.
pan con tomate, a tapas you can eat for breakfast @Valencia
Last but not least get a bag full of mixed goodies from the bakery next door to the Horchateria Santa Catalina. The small almond paste cookies will bring you joy long after you left Valencia. Yours, Pollybert
almond paste cookies @Valencia
