As the World’s 50 Best Restaurants prepares to bring a night of glitter, glamour and high-end gastronomy to Valencia, the home of paella is looking tastier than ever.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants comes to Valencia
As it enters its third decade, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is getting ready to bask in some Mediterranean sunshine. As the official host destination, Spain’s third-largest city is preparing to host a series of culinary events that will be held across the city, region and province of Valencia in the coming days, culminating in the unveiling of the annual ranking at the gala awards ceremony on June 20th.
Not just the birthplace of paella
Best known as the birthplace of paella, Spain’s third city is home to some 800,000 people and no fewer than 22 Michelin-starred restaurants spread across the greater region. And yet, when traveling food lovers wax lyrical about the likes of Barcelona, San Sebastián or Seville, Valencia seldom gets a mention—or, at least, it didn’t use to.
"While it’s true that Valencia may be less known than Barcelona or the Basque Country, the city is far from undiscovered. It already has an incredibly strong food and drinks culture," says William Drew, Director of Content for 50 Best, adding that part of 50 Best’s mission is constantly to showcase different regions, cuisines, and cities.
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"We want to keep spotlighting the world through food," he continues. "By hosting the gala in Valencia we hope to help celebrate and elevate it even further.
Here are some tips for what and where to eat on your next trip to Valencia, according to 50 Best.
For many, food in Valencia is synonymous with paella Valenciana, which originates from the Albufera rice-growing region to the south of the city. The dish can be traced back to when rice was first cultivated in these parts in the 8th century, and is traditionally infused with saffron and made not with seafood but with rabbit, chicken and green beans.
A less known but equally irresistible Valencian must-try is all i pebre: eels with potatoes, garlic and paprika. The local region also produces seafood aplenty, from Dénia prawns to Valencian clotxina, or mussels.
Meanwhile, popular local drinks include horchata and Agua de Valencia. Horchata (or orxata de xufa) is a refreshing milk-like drink made from chufa, or tiger nuts, that is ubiquitous in local cafes and often accompanied by a small pastry finger, or farton. Agua de Valencia combines fresh orange juice and sparkling cava with gin and vodka, served over ice.
As for where to try some of these local delicacies, there’s no better place to start than these 50 Best-approved spots:
Mercado Central
Valencia’s central market is not only the largest fresh-produce market in Europe, it is also one of the most prominent examples of Valencian Art Nouveau, or Modernisme, in the city.
"Take a tour around the market, eat and drink at the different small stalls," says William Drew. "There’s plenty of seafood, as you might imagine, but also fruit and veg."
Top market eateries include Central Bar, with its gourmet sandwiches and tapas, by local superchef Ricard Camarena, whose eponymous fine-dining restaurant has already been named among the top 100 of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2023.
Casa Carmela
"You can’t come to Valencia and not have paella on the seafront, and nowhere does it better than Casa Carmela," says William Drew about this classic establishment that has been dishing up traditional Valencian paella and seafood rice dishes to hungry locals since 1922.
In keeping with the instructions passed down from Carmen, the great-grandmother of the current owners, only orange wood and the freshest local ingredients are used to create a perfectly thin layer of rice with an authentically smoky firewood taste. In accordance with the age-old tradition, the paella is placed in the middle of the table and served with a wooden spoon.
El Poblet Restaurant
It is hard to compete with local star chef Quique Dacosta in the fine-dining stakes. While his eponymous restaurant can be found down the coast in Dénia, he opened El Poblet in 2012 to bring his brand of haute cuisine closer to the region’s capital. These days, Dacosta has entrusted the latter to Luis Valls, who leads a young kitchen that sources much of its produce—like wild duck, eel, carob, and rice, of course—from the nearby Albufera Natural Park.
"Quique Dacosta has long made the Valencia region his home and has embraced and enhanced its gastronomy over the last two decades," says William Drew. "In the city of Valencia, his restaurant, El Poblet, is overseen by Chef Luis Valls, a long-time protégé of Dacosta and a serious talent in his own right. Expect a vibrant, contemporary Valencian dining experience."
Where to stay
In recent years, an influx of stylish new openings has given Valencia’s hotel scene a much-needed glow-up. One such example is Palacio Santa Clara, which forms part of Marriott’s upscale Autograph Collection group of independent hotels.
Completed in 1916, the work of renowned Valencian architect Francisco Javier Goerlich, Palacio Santa Clara started out as a family home and is now the first Autograph Collection hotel in Valencia. Following a painstaking renovation, the elegant Moderniste details of the original palazzo have been preserved to blend perfectly with all the comforts of a modern luxury hotel.
The ultra-sleek high-tech rooms feature plush beds, alongside the curved lines and exotic motifs typical of the early 20th century, while the breezy rooftop terrace, with its gastronomic restaurant and plunge pool, overlooks the building’s stunning domed roof.
