Delicious food & drink in Valencia

We’ve had fun trying the local food and drinks . Luckily on one of our first days we found a traditional tapas bar near our place that was open throughout the afternoon/evening (so no waiting until 8 pm if we were hungry earlier) and we had delicious traditional tapas there a few times. During our food tour we learned about the best place to have an Aqua de la Valencia, the locals cocktail (see photo caption first recipe). It was not far from our apartment so we popped in often during our stay in the city. Another local drink is Vermouth. Many places have a house vermouth just like some places have a house wine. We also enjoyed a horchata or two at a historical cafe. Every time you order horchata in Valencia you will be served a pastry called a farton (something like deep fried donuts).

With Valencia being located on the Mediterranean Sea it’s no surprise that we ate a lot of delicious seafood. I’ve tried to describe our favorite dishes in the captions. One place we went to was Hemingway’s favorite paella place (Pepica) . He spent time in Valencia, enjoyed the bull fights and being part of the political talk about what happens with Spain. He also wrote The Sun Also Rises while staying in the city in the 20’s.

Being here for two weeks has allowed us to try many bars, cafes and restaurants in the city, and no where have we had a bad meal. The food is very reasonably priced as are the cocktails and wine. We tend to have a lite breakfast at our apartment, then one main meal at either lunch or dinner time depending on what else we are up to that day. Luckily we’ve continued to walk a lot and that helps burn the extra calories we are taking in. As someone who likes to cook I’m leaving the city with lots of inspiration for things to make at home.Read more