Dining in Valencia

Food is very important in Spain. We know, you are thinking that food is very important everywhere, but in Spain it is particularly important. For example, in Spain, there are five meals a day and each has its own verb (!). While the general verb to eat in Spanish is comer, you do not comer breakfast in Spain. Here, you would use the specific verb for eating breakfast (desayunar). The same for dinner (cenar). In effect, Spaniards always "dine", they never "eat dinner."

Beyond language, eating a meal is generally a long process. The main meal of the day, la comida (lunch to us) is eaten around 1:30 or 2:00 pm. La comida is generally a three course meal - an appetizer usually of vegetables, a main dish of meat often with potatoes, and dessert. Obviously, not everyone eats like this every day, but we are often surprised at how many Spaniards we see eating a leisurely lunch (2 hours is not unusual) every day. Note that many businesses close during this time for what is referred to as the siesta, but during which people are more likely to eat and spend time with family rather than sleep.

All of that said, we know that a significant part of exploring a new Spanish city is enjoying its particular food culture and Valencia was no exception. We found that tapas were less a part of the food culture in Valencia than in San Sebastian and other cities we have visited, but we still found several little bars with great food even though they might not even look like restaurants. We also found that the Italian food in Valencia is far superior to San Sebastian and enjoyed our own three-course Italian lunch on our last day there.

But, it was two other meals that really stood out in Valencia. First, we ate at a restaurant called Karak whose chef won a season of Top Chef Spain. Because we did not want a huge tasting menu, we made a reservation for the bar area, which was small (about 25 seats). In keeping with Spanish food tradition, they do not turn tables. If you make a reservation there, the seats are yours for the entire meal time. We sat at the bar where we could watch the chefs work in the open kitchen (something we love). Our meal was fantastic! The most interesting dish was Pescado Rabioso (literally furious fish):

Maybe he is mad that he was fried up for our enjoyment.

Second, we had to eat paella because Valencia is where paella was invented. At the recommendation of some friends in San Sebastian who had a restaurant in Valencia, we hopped on a bus and rode about 45 minutes out of town to El Palmar, which is where the special rice for paella is grown. We chose to try traditional Valencian paella, which is made with rabbit and snails. The size of paella for two was astounding:

No, we were not able to finish all of that paella. Even with just a tomato salad to start, we only ate about 2/3, but it was delicious. I don't think snails will become a regular part of our diet, but it was fun to try them (yes, Shana did try one snail and did not spit it out).

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana