Start here: the real rules of Valencian food
Valencians take food seriously. Not in a snobbish way, but in the way that people do when they've been cooking the same dish for generations and know exactly when it's wrong. There are unwritten rules, and knowing them makes the difference between a good meal and a forgettable one.
Rule one: paella is a lunch dish. You eat it at midday. Ordering paella for dinner at a restaurant is technically fine, but the ones that serve it at 21:00 are usually the tourist places with photos on the menu.
Rule two: traditional Valencian paella does not contain chorizo, seafood, or peas. It has chicken, rabbit, green beans (bajoqueta), garrofó (a big white bean), tomato, rosemary, and saffron. If the menu says "Valencian paella" and you can see chorizo, it isn't.
Rule three: horchata is seasonal. The real kind is made from tigernuts and served cold. It's a Valencia thing, not a Spain thing. Drink it in summer. Avoid the powder versions you find in most cafés outside the province.
Where to eat paella properly
El Palmar, about 20 kilometres south of Valencia, is the undisputed home of the original Valencian paella. Dozens of restaurants line the village, all cooking the same dish in wood-fired pans. The quality varies but rarely drops below good. Sunday lunch here is the local tradition.
If you don't want to travel south, the beachfront restaurants on Malvarrosa are your next best option. La Pepica (since 1898) is the famous one. The paella is good, the terrace is great, and you'll share it with a lot of other tourists. Book ahead at weekends.
For a quieter option, the side streets behind Cabanyal have smaller family restaurants that do paella for two without the crowds. Ask us when you arrive, we know which ones are worth it this season.
Mercat Central: go early
The Central Market is the best food market in Spain, by most accounts. Built in 1928, it covers 8,000 square metres and has over 400 stalls. The produce quality is genuinely good. The fish is local and fresh. The charcuterie section alone takes 20 minutes to walk properly.
Go between 08:30 and 10:00. After that, the tourist groups arrive and the atmosphere changes. It closes at 14:30 Monday to Saturday. Sunday it's shut.
If you're staying in one of our apartments, you have a full kitchen. The market is about 20 minutes by metro. Picking up ingredients there and cooking on a Tuesday evening is one of those trips you remember.
Breakfast: the local way
Valencians eat breakfast at a bar. Not a café, a bar. The distinction matters: a bar opens early, has a coffee machine that gets serious use before 09:00, and sells a tostada con tomate (toast rubbed with tomato and olive oil) for under €2. A café usually opens late, serves brunch, and charges €7 for the same thing with an avocado it didn't ask if you wanted.
Horchata with fartons for breakfast is the purely Valencian option. Fartons are long, sweet pastries made for dipping. The combination sounds odd until you try it. Horchatería Santa Catalina in the old town is the place people go when they want the reference version.
Near our building, there are a few good neighbourhood bars doing coffee and toast for under €3. Ask us when you check in and we'll point you to our current favourite.
Menu del día: the best-value meal in Spain
Every weekday at midday, almost every restaurant in Valencia offers the menu del día. For €12 to €15, you get three courses: a starter (salad, soup, pasta, or legumes), a main (meat or fish), dessert, bread, and either water or wine.
This is how locals eat lunch. Not as a tourist option but as a daily routine. The quality is almost always good because the restaurant's reputation depends on it. A bad menu del día loses regulars fast.
Pick places that don't have the menu written on a laminated card in six languages. Those tend to be the tourist ones. Look for handwritten chalkboards or a waiter who reads it to you from memory.
Tapas in the Ruzafa neighbourhood
Ruzafa is Valencia's most interesting neighbourhood for food right now. It's about 10 minutes by metro from Poblats Marítims and worth the trip for an evening.
The streets around Calle de Sueca and Calle de Dénia have a good concentration of small tapas bars, natural wine shops, and places doing modern Spanish cooking that doesn't take itself too seriously. Prices are reasonable. Most places are walk-in until 20:00, then you'll want a reservation.
Ruzafa also has one of the better Sunday markets (Mercat de Russafa) with local food producers, bread, cheese, and seasonal vegetables. A good alternative to the Mercat Central if you're around on a weekend.
Drinks: what to order
Agua de Valencia is the local cocktail: cava, orange juice, vodka, and gin. It's sweet, it's cold, and it's dangerously drinkable on a summer afternoon at a terrace. The touristy bars in the old town serve it in jugs. The neighbourhood bars do it in proper glasses, and usually better.
Local beers to know: Turia is the Valencia regional beer and pairs well with anything. Mahou and Estrella Damm are everywhere. For wine, ask for something from Utiel-Requena (the Valencia wine region, about 70 kilometres west). Bobal is the main grape there. It's worth knowing.
What to avoid
Any restaurant with photos of food on laminated menus near the cathedral. Paella served in individual portions at €18 each. Horchata from a powder machine. Anything described as "authentic Valencian" on a sign in English, French, and German simultaneously.
None of this means you can't eat well near the tourist areas. You can. But you have to look past the first row of places and find a bar where the customers are eating in Spanish.
Cooking in your apartment
Our apartments have full kitchens: hob, oven, fridge, and everything you need to cook properly. We get guests who buy from Mercat Central on Monday and cook most of their meals themselves. For a week-long trip with two people, that approach can save €300 easily.
The Mercadona supermarket (about 10 minutes on foot) is good for staples. For fresh produce and fish, the local market near Cabanyal opens Tuesday to Saturday morning.
If you want outdoor space to have breakfast before a market run, Loft 0B has a private patio and jacuzzi. If you're a group of four sharing costs, the 2A penthouse has a full kitchen and a terrace that's good for an evening in.