Spain’s most famous dish, paella, was ‘born’ on Valencia’s freshwater floodplains. Traditionally cooked over charcoal fires in capacious, flat-bottomed pans, it includes beans and rabbit or chicken – although just about anything can be added to it, such as shellfish, squid ink and spinach.
Each Valencian community has its own recipe, and along the coast the rice and fish are cooked separately and served as ‘arroz banda’ (rice with fish) with a rich garlic mayonnaise aioli.
Rice dishes are eaten at lunchtime, and many of the best places to settle at midday are along the coast at Malvarossa, where the beach-front restaurants run into each other.
While Hemingway and King Alfonso XIII may have dined at the pricey La Pepica, you can forgo the stiff bill and take your rice at the other end of the beach in the weathered Restaurante Llevant. In town, go for the classic seafood paella at the 1950’s Alcazar, or one of many traditional ‘arroz’ dishes offered at La Riua next to the cathedral. And if the sheer size of paella daunts you, try a single ‘ration’ for the good-to-go tourist at Austria 7.
Lunch done, post-siesta temptation continues with a little something before dinner. Tapas comes from the word tapar, which means ‘to cover’, and originated from slices of ham that were served across a glass to keep out the flies. Never intended as a meal in itself, over-ordering is easily done. No alcoholic beverage would be considered complete without a snack on the side. The tapas bars in Spain exist to serve your every nibbling desire. A bodega (wine cellar) also offers various house wines by the cask and on tap, usually locally produced.
Apart from the sturdy regional reds such as Tempranillo and Bobal, sweet dessert Moscatel wines from the Moscatel de Alejandria grape are a must to try, as are any local Cavas produced.
When cocktail hour hits, go for an Agua de Valencia (cava, orange juice and cointreau or vodka – think super strong Bucks Fizz). On a hot sultry night, hit the baroque Café de las Horas where Valencia’s glitterati hang out.
The Spanish eat tapas in style. There are few options for vegetarians and in many cases ‘house recommendations’ are not for the squeamish. There is nothing unusual about displaying a complete leg of ham (hair, hoof and all) in a large vice on the bar. Be prepared to be confused, intrigued and delighted by the local delicacies. In other words, don’t ask … just savour.
‘Safe’ options include Patatas Bravas (pan fried or roasted chunks of potato, dusted with paprika and served with thick garlic aioli) and Albondigas (lightly fried balls of meat/cheese or root vegetables, beautifully seasoned).
Things that arrive ‘escabeche’ have been pickled in either vinegar or brine, and can vary from a vegetable skewer, Bandarillo, to the slick silver fish, Boquerone. And the size of your wallet will determine whether you choose to anchovy or not, as it can set you back one euro apiece. Know, too, the difference between an Ensalada, based on lettuce, tomato and herbs, and an Ensaladilla, a traditional 1970’s potato salad tapa.
Pescaditos (fried miniature sardines) may make a tasty snack for some; for others the seafood is so sensationally 
fresh it would be a crime not to try at least one plate of Tellinas (tiny sweet clams steamed with butter and lemon) or Caracoles Picantes (seasnail or winkles sautéed with smoked chilli and laurel leaves) as well.
Valencia, as Spain’s third largest city, has some of the very best tapas bars and bodegas to graze in. According to myth, the number of napkins and cocktail sticks on a bar floor indicates the superiority of the tapas therein.
Otherwise, you can just frequent the bars the locals do, such as:
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Valencia’s covered fresh produce market, the largest in Europe, will dazzle and overwhelm your senses. If you can’t buy it at Mercado Central, it’s just not edible.
The market covers 8000 square metres, offers over a thousand different stalls and is housed under Francisco Guardia and Alexandre Soler’s stained-glass cathedral. Completed in the late 1920s, it is a blaze of art nouveau oranges, azure tile work and wrought iron sculpture.
One of the most enduring delights for visitors to Valencia are the small specialist shops. Milliners and philatelists thrive alongside shops that sell only hair ornaments and alpargatas (traditional espadrilles made from canvas ribbons threaded through a grass sole).
Fabulous handmade fans, shawls and lace by the yard can be bought for equally fabulous prices in the small boutiques around the cathedral square. At the annual fortnight festival of Fallas, you’ll find the locals donned in the most magnificent lace and silk.
If you’re after gloves or handkerchiefs, indulge at J.Camps, or for the full traditional fallera costume try either Casa de los Falleros or Artesian Fidela, which trade in Calle de que Vedo. A single petticoat starts at 150 euros (around $240) while a dress, apron and mantilla easily runs into the thousands. A crowning glory of false hair plaits, gold and pearl earrings, and tortoiseshell combs or peinetas finishes a fallera’s outfit. And the place to go for your ultimate hair set is M.Perez Martinez (trading since 1793), where you can also pick up a plaster saint!
Don’t forget to replenish as you shop; a cooling glass of milky white horchata made from sweetened chufa (tiger nuts) will quench your thirst. Traditionally served with fartons (sweet bread sticks), the drink is served at two of the oldest nineteenth century parlours in Valencia: Horchateria de Santa Catalina and Horchateria el Siglo, both in the Plaza Santa Catalina. The labyrinthine alleyways outside will take you to the Plaza Redonda. This tiny, circular marketplace sells lace and ceramics during the week, and caged birds on Sunday.
Stop for a coffee where and when you can. For primo people watching, pick a table under the olive tree behind the fifteenth century La Lonja at Café Lisboa. The local coffee pick-me-ups include a cortado (espresso with a dash of milk), carajillo (whisky with a dash of coffee), bonbon (with a sediment of condensed milk) or solo (black).
A traditional cafe worth visiting is the Chocolateria Fabian, where the cocoa is as thick as sauce in a cup and all the pastries are homemade on the premises. Try an ensaimada (a circle of flaky pastry shaped like the ornate hair plaits of a fallera), or on Sundays go for half a dozen bunelos (‘little clouds’ of pumpkin batter fried and sugared into doughnuts).
The latest building renaissance has blessed the city with a number of newly renovated hotels within historic buildings, such as the Hotel Ad Hoc and the Consul del Mar.
Ad Hoc is a 28-room gem centrally located in a nineteenth century building that overlooks the Turia garden riverbed. Contemporary fabrics and antique furniture from the owners’ collection warm the stripped brickwork.
Equally well rejuvenated is the 1905 building of the Consul del Mar. Of its 57 rooms, the attic chambers are the most enchanting, while downstairs all modern amenities are offered, from gym and sauna to swimming pool.
If the grand hotels around the Plaza Ayuntamiento appeal, consider a palatial room at The Reina Victoria.
During the day you can laze on the shores of the Mediterranean or visit the churches and Valencia Cathedral in the Old Town. You may also like to wander around Palacio de la Generalidad (a 600-year-old palace) and the La Lonja monument. There’s also plenty to do to occupy you during La Movida (the time between Friday night and Sunday morning), particularly in Canovas, El Carmen and Juan Llorens.
Valencia benefits from a multi-faceted history of Roman, Moorish and Christian occupation. The city seduced the Arabs, Romans and Visigoths, and it will seduce you, too.
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