In this paella route, we show you some of the best restaurants in Spain in which you can enjoy this dish. There is just one true paella valenciana, and these establishments know how to cook it. There is no need to be in the Valencian Community in order to taste this dish: there are other restaurants in Spain that follow the classic recipe to the T and cook it perfectly. We begin the paella route wanting for more and more.
We couldn’t start our paella route anywhere else but Valencia. This modest restaurant, open since 1963, is one of the best places to eat paella valenciana, which is one of its specialities along with its empanadillas. Apart from the paella cooked with chicken and rabbit, this restaurant also offers arroz al horno (oven cooked rice), arroz negro (black rice) and fideuá, among others.
In this restaurant you can taste the true paella valenciana without leaving the capital. The owners are from Valencia and they know how to make a traditional paella, which their customers very much appreciate. You can also order a customised version and they even bring it to you. They have several establishments in the capital.
Furthermore, they offer other equally delicious rice dishes, such as paella de la abuela with pork ribs, red pepper and chickpeas; and arroz del Turia with cuttlefish, squid, shelled shrimp, artichoke and fumet.
We continue our paella route in Barcelona, specifically in the emblematic Mercado de la Boquería. Here we can find this paella and rice specialised restaurant. You can enjoy a good paella valenciana for under 20 euros in a fresh culinary market style. They also prepare paella catalana with butifarra (Catalan sausage), chicken and seafood.
This arrocería (rice specialised restaurant) is perfect to taste typical dishes of Córdoba such as salmorejo or oxtail (rabo de toro). However, if you find yourself in Andalusia and want to try a classic paella valenciana, this is your place. Its paella valenciana was in the Paella International Contest 2016 in Sueca, Valencia, and it received the World’s Best Paella Award. This restaurant offers a vast menu with dishes like arroz meloso de perdiz (thick rice with partridge), paella with octopus, broad beans and garlic shoots and bacalao a la valenciana, among many others.
This hotel restaurant is part of our paella valenciana route thanks to its excellent flavour. It also received the World’s Best Paella Award in 2013 and 2015. This establishment offers good quality products and recipes. The paella is plentiful and you can taste it in the dining room or in the terrace. Placed in a traditional villa manchega, we recommend an after lunch walk to settle the stomach.
Text by: María Jesús Colombo
