When we decided to stay in the Russafa neighbourhood of Valencia, we knew that it was home to many restaurants, cafes, and bars. But we didn’t realize the extent of the choices until we were there. During our three week visit we ate most of our meals in this compact area within walking distance of our apartment, yet we barely scratched the surface of potential places to eat.
Much like our home in Toronto — and in contrast to Seville where we stayed last winter — there were restaurants of nearly every variety. This means that although we enjoyed our share of tortillas española and croquetas de jamon we also enjoyed good-quality Japanese, Mexican, Thai and Moroccan food.
Below are some of the places we enjoyed most.
Café ArtySana
One of the great things about the “cafeterias” in Spain is that unlike the tapas joints or traditional restaurants, they tend to open in the morning and stay open until late in the evening. That is, they don’t suddenly close for seemingly random siesta hours that we’ve never been able to quite figure out, even after spending months in Spain over multiple trips. Café ArtySana was one such always-open place near our apartment.
We visited ArtySana several times for their tasty menu del dia lunch specials where we enjoyed appetizers, drinks, mains (sandwiches or burgers) and desserts all for a fixed low price. One of our surprise favourites were their contrasting vegetarian “pâtés” made from beets (sweet) and roasted peppers (savoury).
The staff were very friendly and spoke English, and one woman even had a Canadian connection with a husband from Ontario.
Bluebell Café
Another slightly more upscale cafeteria near us was the very pretty Bluebell Café. The pride and attention to detail was clear in the decor, the service, and the delicious fresh food.
The Bluebell is one of the places where I first tried the local Turia Marzen beer, named after the riverbed park that cuts through Valencia. It’s an easy-drinking mild beer but it has a little bit of malt sweetness and a nice clean finish compared to the interchangable Cruzcampo, Estrella Damm, San Miguel and Mahou beers that dominate most of Spain.
Jardin Urbano
Sporting a more bohemian vibe was the vegan Jardin Urbano, just past Russafa Market. Their portions are very large (especially the patatas bravas) and they have lots of plants and greenery both inside and out. I can see how their patio would be an appealing place to hang out in the summer months.
Taqueria La Llorona
Our previous experiences with Mexican food in Spain had been mixed, and none of it had really resembled Mexican food as we’ve experienced it in North America. Taqueria La Llorona changed that impression with a trendy space and an impressive menu of delicious tacos.
We enjoyed a variety of tacos including al pastor, carnitas, barbacoa, and something called taco campechano (“hearty taco”) which contained a magical mix of potato, chistorra chorizo, veal, chicharrón, and green pepper mole. Notice that five words in the previous sentence refer to different delicious pork products.
Dionisos
A block or so away from La Llarona was Dionisos, a Greek restaurant. We enjoyed an affordable fresh lunch here, including a large Greek salad and a delicious chicken gyro sandwich on pita bread with tzatziki .
La Finestra
The little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint La Finestra was one of the few places we returned to three times during our three weeks in Valencia. And why not? The place has a fun, studenty vibe, with small pizzas costing only €1.60 each, as well as large delicious salads and very cheap drinks.
We liked how you just ordered at the bar and paid up front, meaning we could just pop in and out without the prolonged hassle that many restaurants in Europe still insist on.
Hamburgueseria Bufit
The fancy burger trend has definitely reached Spain and Bufit, serving properly-cooked burgers with creative toppings, is a perfect example. Their only obvious nod to Spanish culture is a substitution of patatas bravas for French fries (which were good but there were far too many of them for two people to eat!)
We both enjoyed our burgers, which had nicely cooked good-quality beef, appropriately squishy buns, and a good ratio of toppings to meat.
We were also provided with two small eyedroppers of hot sauce that we were warned were “muy, muy, muy picante!” But after cautiously applying their contents to our burgers a few drops at a time, we found the sauce was mildly hot at best — and we are by no means spice afficionados. The Spanish don’t really seem to like spicy food, and whever we were warned of spiceyness it did not materialize.
Restaurante Zakaria
North Africa is just across the Straight of Gibraltar from Spain, which is easy to forget until you see the Moroccan restaurants. There aren’t as many in Valencia as in Granada, but Restaurante Zakaria was just down the street from our apartment and had very good reviews.
Zakaria is a cozy, family-run restaurant. We ordered some classic Moroccan dishes: veggie couscous, a lemon chicken tagine stew, and a delicious type of Moroccan flatbread.
All the homestyle food was delicious. The woman serving noticed Josie’s camera and offered to take a photo of the two of us — the only time that’s happened on our travels and it was a very nice touch.
La Consentida
Although pintxos (aka pinchos) are a type of tapas that originates in Northern Spain, there are a few places in Valencia that specialize in it, including the tiny La Consentida. Pintxos are generally small snacks, often on wooden skewers, that are pre-prepared and displayed in a refrigerated case where customers can choose what looks good. You pay when you order and then they heat the food and bring it to you.
We popped in one night for a snack-sized meal when we were both full from a large lunch. The staff didn’t speak English and I didn’t know what any of the specific pintxos were called, but after much pointing and nodding we figured it out.
Hikari Yakitori
We were excited to come across a Japanese restaurant specializing in yakitori — skewers of meat or vegetables grilled over a special charcoal. There are some very casual yakitori bars in Toronto, but Hikari Yakitori had kicked things up a few notches, with a very trendy and refined menu and decor.
This was the most expensive meal of our trip by a wide margin, but it was also one of the best and we saved it until near the end of our stay in Valencia. We sampled a pretty wide variety of different skewers including chicken thigh, unagi (BBQ eel — my favourite), asparagus, and miso eggplant.
Madrigal Bar Cafe
We were lucky to find Madrigal Bar Cafe only a few steps from the front door of our apartment building. It was a cozy little cafe with a small rotating chalkboard menu of vegan dishes. We returned numerous times and the staff was always welcoming and the food was delicious and a great bargain.
On our last night in Valencia, we returned to Madrigal one last time. The waiter recognized us by then and after we settled the bill he asked if we’d like to try some Mistela de Moscatel, a type of Spanish fortified wine. We chatted with him and the owner for a bit about the differences between Canada and Spain, and they were both happy to hear how much we’d enjoyed our time in Valencia.
Josie also got some great tips on how to make the egg-free version of tortilla española that we’d enjoyed so much. It was a great way to end our time in Valencia.