Where to eat in Valencia, Spain
Valencia eats on its own clock: a sandwich at ten, lunch at half past one, dinner after nine. Paella is a lunch dish, cooked to order in a wide pan, and it needs a booking. Here are the places confirmed open this month, what to order at each, the markets, and the signs of a table to walk past.
The short answer
- Best area to eat
- The old town for a market breakfast and tapas, the Malvarrosa seafront for paella, and the streets around the Estación del Norte and Ruzafa for dinner.
- Order this
- Paella valenciana at lunch, with chicken, rabbit and two kinds of bean. At ten in the morning, an esmorzaret. In the afternoon, horchata with fartons.
- When to eat
- Lunch from 1:30 to 3:30, dinner from 9 to 11:30, and the mid-morning sandwich between 9 and 12. Paella is a lunch dish.
- Book or walk in
- Book paella a few days ahead: Casa Carmela and La Pepica both take bookings by phone. Central Bar and El Colmado de LaLola take none, so arrive early.
- Tipping
- Optional, and usual only for good service. Round up the bill, or leave a few euros after a long lunch.
What to eat in Valencia
- Paella valencianaSaffron rice cooked in a wide, shallow pan with chicken, rabbit, flat green beans, butter beans and tomato, traditionally over an orange-wood fire and eaten at lunch. Snails and a sprig of rosemary go in at some tables. Casa Carmela cooks it on orange wood, and La Riuà and Casa Isabel list the traditional recipe.
- Seafood paella and arroz negroValencia also cooks rice with seafood: paella de marisco, and arroz negro with squid ink, fish and shellfish. La Pepica's house paella, with the shellfish already peeled, is the best known.
- Arroz al hornoRice baked in a clay dish with meat, chickpeas and potato. La Riuà lists a version with raisins and chickpeas on its menu.
- FideuàThe paella idea with short noodles instead of rice, usually with seafood. Casa Isabel and La Riuà both list it.
- All i pebreA stew of eel from the Albufera with potato, garlic and paprika, and the lagoon's best-known dish. The eel is at its best from October to April, and Casa Isabel makes it its signature.
- Esgarraet and titainaTwo classic small plates. Esgarraet is roasted red pepper with shredded salt cod, and titaina, from El Cabanyal, is tomato, pepper, salted tuna and pine nuts. Pelayo Gastro Trinquet serves a titaina marinera with a fried egg.
- ClóchinasSmall, flavorful Valencian mussels, in season from May to August and eaten as a tapa. Casa Isabel lists them among its starters.
- Horchata and fartonsHorchata is a cold drink made from chufa, the tiger nut grown around Alboraya, which carries a Valencia designation of origin. The long, soft pastries called fartons are for dipping. Horchatería Santa Catalina in the old town serves both every day.
- EsmorzaretThe mid-morning sandwich, eaten between about 9 and 12 with a cold beer, or wine mixed with sparkling water, and finished with a cremaet: a short espresso with burnt rum, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest. Central Bar in the Central Market and Pelayo Gastro Trinquet both serve it.
- Agua de ValenciaA cocktail of orange juice, cava, vodka and gin, created at Café Madrid, which calls itself its birthplace. El Colmado de LaLola and Micub in the Mercado de Colón serve it too.
Where to eat in Valencia, by neighborhood
The old town and the Central Market
Start here: a market breakfast at the Central Bar, tapas around the cathedral and a rice lunch in El Carmen. El Colmado de LaLola, La Riuà and Horchatería Santa Catalina are all a short walk from the Miguelete. Walk past the terraces on the big squares and eat in the side streets.
Ruzafa and the Estación del Norte
Ruzafa is where the city goes out for dinner, with the market at its center and terraces that fill at sunset. Goya Gallery serves rice on Calle Burriana, and Pelayo Gastro Trinquet, beside the old pilota court two minutes from the station, cooks from breakfast to midnight.
El Cabanyal and Malvarrosa
Paella has been served on this seafront for more than a century. Casa Carmela, La Pepica and Casa Isabel face the Malvarrosa beach, and Bodega Casa Montaña sits a few streets inland in the old fishermen's quarter. Go at lunch, when the rice is at its best.
The Albufera and El Palmar
Ten kilometers south, El Palmar is rice and eel country, with a fish market open on weekday mornings and restaurants that cook all i pebre. EMT bus 25 runs there from the center. Go for lunch, and from October to April look for the eel.
Best restaurants in Valencia: places worth a booking or a queue
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Casa Carmela
€€€Paella house · Malvarrosa
OrderPaella valenciana, cooked over orange wood
Open since 1922 and still cooking its paella over orange wood, which is the old way. Lunch only, a few minutes from the Malvarrosa beach.
- Book
- Book by phone or email. A booking counts only once the restaurant has confirmed it.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open: casa-carmela.com
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La Pepica
€€€Historic paella restaurant · Malvarrosa promenade
OrderPaella Pepica, the seafood paella with peeled shellfish
On the seafront since 1898, and its own history page says Hemingway came back many times. Rice is made to order in at least 45 minutes, so the table waits.
- Book
- Book by phone or through the form on its site. Paella is for two or more, with one rice per table of up to six.
Confirmed open: lapepica.com
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Casa Isabel
€€Rice restaurant · Malvarrosa
OrderAll i pebre, the eel stew, or a traditional paella
A family restaurant on the Malvarrosa promenade, open since 1967 by its own account. The menu lists paella valenciana, fideuà and all i pebre, with clóchinas among the starters in season.
- Book
- Book online through its booking page. Lunch every day but Wednesday, with evening service only in July and August.
- Closed
- Wednesday
Confirmed open: casaisabel.es
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Bodega Casa Montaña
€€€Bodega and tapas bar · El Cabanyal
OrderSeasonal tapas with a glass from the wine list
A bodega open since 1836 in the old fishermen's quarter, with a wine list of about 600 labels and a kitchen that follows the season, according to the tourist board.
- Book
- Book through its website or by phone. Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday, and for lunch only on Sunday.
- Closed
- Sunday evening
Confirmed open: emilianobodega.com
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La Riuà
€€Rice restaurant · El Carmen
OrderPaella valenciana, or one of the brothy rices
A family restaurant in El Carmen for three generations, with a rice list of about thirty dishes: paella valenciana, baked rices, brothy rices and fideuà.
- Book
- Book through its website or by phone. Lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturday.
- Closed
- Sunday and Monday
Confirmed open: lariua.com
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Pelayo Gastro Trinquet
€€Gastro bar and rice restaurant · Estación del Norte
OrderTitaina marinera with a fried egg, or esmorzar in the morning
Beside the old Trinquet de Pelayo, two minutes from the station. It serves esmorzar, a menú del día, rices and grilled dishes, and its site names titaina as the neighborhood's favorite plate.
- Book
- Book by phone on +34 963 514 156. Open every day from 9:30, with the evening service from 8.
Confirmed open: grupogastrotrinquet.com
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Goya Gallery
€€Rice restaurant · Ruzafa
OrderA rice dish: rice is the house speciality
A rice restaurant on Calle Burriana, near the Estación del Norte, which the tourist board lists as a rice specialist. Open for lunch Tuesday to Sunday and for dinner Thursday to Saturday.
- Book
- Bookings only through its website or by phone, on +34 963 041 835 in the morning, Tuesday to Sunday.
- Closed
- Monday
Confirmed open: goyagalleryrestaurant.com
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Central Bar
€Market bar · Mercado Central
OrderA bocata or the day's tapas, for the esmorzaret
Ricard Camarena's counter inside the Central Market, where the choice is tapas or a sandwich, plus daily suggestions such as marinated anchovies and mussels in escabeche.
- Book
- No bookings. The kitchen runs from 9 to 3, and to 3:30 on Friday and Saturday.
- Closed
- Sunday and public holidays
Confirmed open: centralbar.es
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El Colmado de LaLola
€€Tapas bar · Old town, by the Miguelete
OrderValencian oysters, then cod fritters and croquetas
A small counter that grew out of a family grocery, serving Valencian oysters, sea urchins, cured and smoked fish and cheese, and classics such as cod fritters and home-made croquetas.
- Book
- No bookings: walk in and wait. Its own site gives no opening hours, so check before you set out.
Confirmed open: lalolarestaurante.com
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Horchatería Santa Catalina
€Horchatería · Plaza de Santa Catalina
OrderA glass of horchata with fartons
Two centuries of tradition on the square beside the Santa Catalina church, serving horchata with fartons, hot chocolate with churros, ice cream and coffee.
- Book
- Walk in. It is open every day from 8:15 to 21:30.
Confirmed open: horchateriasantacatalina.com
Food markets in Valencia
- Mercado CentralMore than 250 stalls under a modernist roof: fish and shellfish, meat, cheese, charcuterie, fruit, spices, and the Valencian rices Senia, Bomba and Albufera. The Central Bar inside serves esmorzaret and tapas.Monday to Saturday, 7:30 to 15:00; closed SundaySource: mercadocentralvalencia.es
- Mercado de RuzafaA brutalist market from 1962 with more than 100 stalls, a fish area, pickles and salt fish, game and produce from L'Horta. Bar Mercado Ruzafa serves the almuerzo, and a paella class uses ingredients bought at the stalls.Monday to Saturday, 7:30 to 15:00; closed SundaySource: mercatderussafa.com
- Mercado del CabanyalThe market of the old fishing quarter, with more than 150 stalls and a fish counter showing what was caught off Valencia's own beaches: bonito, calamari, baby squid and red scorpionfish. The outdoor Tira de Contar is a farmers' market.Monday to Saturday, 7:00 to 15:00; the Tira de Contar Thursday to Saturday, 8:00 to 14:00; closed SundaySource: visitvalencia.com
- Mercado de ColónA modernist market building from the early 1900s that is now a place for a drink and a snack more than for shopping, with around twenty cafés, bars and restaurants, among them Micub, which serves Agua de Valencia.Daily, 7:30 to 2:00 (3:00 on Friday and Saturday)Source: mercadocolon.es
How Valencia eats
- Meal timesBreakfast runs from 7 to 10, the mid-morning sandwich from about 9 to 12, lunch from 1:30 to 3:30 and dinner from 9 to 11:30. A few places, such as Pelayo Gastro Trinquet, open their evening service at 8.
- Paella is a lunch dishIt began as the midday meal of farm workers, and it is cooked to order. Count on at least 45 minutes at the table, which is La Pepica's own figure, a minimum of two portions and a booking. Casa Carmela serves only lunch.
- The esmorzaretThe mid-morning sandwich is a local ritual: a bocadillo with a cold beer, or wine mixed with sparkling water, then a cremaet. Try it at Central Bar or Pelayo Gastro Trinquet.
- Booking, and who takes itCasa Carmela, La Pepica and La Riuà take bookings by phone or online, and Casa Carmela counts one only once it has confirmed it. Central Bar and El Colmado de LaLola take none, so go early. Goya Gallery takes bookings only through its website or by phone.
- Closing daysSunday and Monday are the hard days. Central Bar, the markets and Casa Carmela close on Sundays, La Riuà and Goya Gallery on Mondays, and Casa Isabel on Wednesdays. Check a place's own site the day before.
- Tipping and payingTipping is optional and usual for good service: round up the bill, or leave a few euros after a long lunch. Cards and contactless payments are widely accepted.
Signs of a place to walk past
A paella valenciana with chorizo on top: the traditional recipe is rice, chicken, rabbit, flat green beans, butter beans, tomato and saffron, and many Valencians rule chorizo out.
A paella that arrives within minutes of ordering: rice cooked to order takes about 45 minutes, and a kitchen that serves it at once made it earlier.
Menu boards in six languages with a picture of every dish, and someone at the door calling people in.
A paella for one: the rice places on this page cook for two or more, and La Pepica says so on its own site.
Eating in Valencia: questions people ask
What food is Valencia known for?
Paella valenciana first: saffron rice with chicken, rabbit and two kinds of bean, born around the Albufera lagoon. Then the other rices (arroz al horno, arroz negro, fideuà), the Albufera's eel stew all i pebre, tapas such as esgarraet and clóchinas, and horchata with fartons.
What is the best paella in Valencia?
There is no single answer, but the right questions are easy: is it cooked over wood, to order, at lunch, in a wide pan for two or more? Casa Carmela cooks over orange wood, and La Pepica makes its rice to order in at least 45 minutes. La Riuà and Casa Isabel list the traditional recipe. Book any of them ahead.
Is paella a lunch or a dinner dish in Valencia?
Traditionally it is lunch, the midday meal of farm workers. A few restaurants serve it at dinner too, and La Pepica does, but the wood-fired Casa Carmela closes after lunch.
Do I need to book restaurants in Valencia?
For paella, yes: book a few days ahead, and further for weekends. Casa Carmela and La Pepica take bookings by phone. Tapas places such as Central Bar and El Colmado de LaLola take none, so arrive early, and check closing days, because many places shut on Sunday or Monday.
What time do restaurants open for dinner in Valencia?
Most people sit down between 9 and 11:30pm, and lunch runs from about 1:30 to 3:30. A few places open the evening service earlier: Pelayo Gastro Trinquet at 8, and La Pepica at 7:30.
What do people eat for breakfast in Valencia?
Coffee and a pastry between 7 and 10, then at mid-morning the esmorzaret: a bocadillo with a beer, or wine and sparkling water, finished with a cremaet. Central Bar in the Central Market and Pelayo Gastro Trinquet both serve it.
What is horchata, and where should I try it?
Horchata is a cold, milky drink made from chufa, the tiger nut grown around Alboraya, and it has a Valencia designation of origin. Dip a farton, the long soft pastry, into it. Horchatería Santa Catalina in the old town serves both every day from 8:15 to 21:30.
What is Agua de Valencia?
A cocktail of orange juice, cava, vodka and gin, created at Café Madrid. You can order it there, at Micub in the Mercado de Colón and at El Colmado de LaLola.