In Search of Paella

We couldn’t come to Valencia without trying Paella.  Trev has had it before but not me. I’ve only seen cooking shows with the dramatic presentation of the large pan of goodness. The rice and the saffron are as key to the dish as the protein you add. I know that much. There is a lot of rice growing in the Valencia region, introduced when Arabs controlled this part of the Iberian peninsula. Being by the sea, you can certainly find paella with seafood such as prawns, clams, mussels, and other seafood. However, there is actually a traditional Valencian version that includes pork, rabbit, duck, and snails.  We set our sights on that.

As you walk around the touristy areas, you can find paella everywhere. I’m sure some of it is authentic but we didn’t just want to sit in the middle of a busy street or plaza with hundreds of other tourists around. Plus, I read some articles that some restaurants serve it reheated from frozen portions. We were looking for a different kind of experience.

AirBNB Experience? Not

We did find an AirBNB experience where you can spend several hours revolving around the making of paella. Spoiler alert, we didn’t do it.  It sounded great. You are part of a group that meets up with your guide. You go shopping and then head to a kitchen somewhere to learn to cook it and then enjoy it together.  The catch for us was they mentioned an age limit for children of 8 or older. I love kids but at this point in our trip, I’m not interested in having to work around some strangers kids. Nuff said.

Enter Google Reviews again. We honed in on a place – El Raco de la Paella – a 45-minute walk from our rental in a part of town that seemed quite far. But the reviews were too enticing and the fact that they only do wood-fired paella seemed to be the best choice.  I tried with translated emails to contact them inquiring about reservations and never heard back. I wasn’t sure if it was that they could tell I wasn’t not a native speaker (and my last name is Scottish-Irish) or that they just don’t embrace tech.  So we decided to just head on up and be there when they open and try our luck.

For once, Trevor luck failed us.  Such nice people but they had no space. Standing there talking to one of the waiters we caught a glimpse of the inside and knew immediately this was the place and we would come back whenever. I should add they are only open for lunch from 1:00 to 3:30 and the only entrees they have are variations on paella. The beauty of being in Valencia for weeks is that missing it this one day wasn’t a big deal. We booked a reservation for the next week.

Plan B – Margot Cafe

So then, hungry and 45-minutes from home, we needed a plan B.  I had a feeling we might be out of luck so had done some additional research and found another restaurant, Margot Cafe, in the area that sounded great. The waiter made an interesting face when we asked his thoughts on the place. I think maybe now it was more about the fact that if we were looking for paella we wouldn’t find anything like that there. In any event, it seemed our best bet.

This plan B turned out to be wonderful. Walking in, it isn’t fancy, which was fine. Just a cafe with six to eight tables but not the quaint woodwork and charm that saying ‘European cafe’ might conger. Imagine a very scaled down subway sandwich shop with a counter on the right and a TV in the corner playing MTV of all things.

As soon as we walked in, two guys behind the counter greeted us. English wasn’t an issue and one of them was fairly fluent. As we sat waiting for our food we had quite a conversation with him about his time in New York, Florida, and some place out west. We ordered ceviche, two beers, and two sandwiches.  They warned us the ceviche would take 20 minutes or so because I guess they weren’t sure that would be ok. In my opinion, a good ceviche is worth waiting for and if they were making it as we waited, how could it not be good.

Trev had a potato and egg sandwich with garlic aioli and I chose what really was like a cheese steak sandwich with pesto.  These may sound simple but the place cooks with a slant towards Argentinian flavors. And sometimes simple is the hardest thing to get right, but they did. The bread was outstanding and we learned it came from a bakery in the area. They brought out nuts with the beers and the sandwiches weren’t too far behind. Absolutely delicious and a total of 29,90 €.

So when we arrived at the cafe, it was empty. Given it was around 1:15 pm and after what we perceive to be lunch time, a place being empty can signal the food isn’t that great.  However, as we started eating our sandwiches, a couple of others wandered in closer to 1:45. And then others trickled in. It was a reminder that everything in Spain seems to be shifted about two hours later than what is normal in the States.

The sandwiches were so big we would have been fine without the ceviche, but I’m still glad we had it. It was with shrimp and it wasn’t cold but room temp because he had just made it. That was a surprise at first because usually when I have it in a restaurant it is cold as it is likely scooped out of a batch made (hopefully) earlier in the day.  It wasn’t served with crackers, just forks! It was also delicious.  

Campanar is a Hidden Gem

We finished with two espressos, absolutely stuffed and having had a fantastic lunch. Leaving, Trev wanted to walk back by the paella place and take a different route home.   Winding through a few streets in a noticeably older neighborhood, we stumbled into a plaza with huge Sycamore trees and anchored by a church with a bell tower at one end.  It just had a classic, old Spanish feel.  

Later research revealed we were in the Campanar neighborhood. One that is typically way off the touristy map and one of the more historic ones in Valencia. The church is the parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia de Campanar on the Plaça de l’Església, built in 1507.  The neighborhood name comes from the Spanish word “campo’ for field as the area was mostly farms until the expansion of the city started swallowing those up.

In the core we walked through, most buildings are only two stories, you can find tile on building fronts, and it is quiet.  Very different from the bustling Ciutat Vella and we were so glad to have discovered it by chance.  Walking on through the Turia Park on our way back home, I remember us openly saying today was an unexpectedly good day and a real turning point for us. Missing out on paella on our first attempt turned out to be a good thing.

And Finally, Paella

We faithfully and happily returned to the Campanar neighborhood about a week later for our meal. It was worth waiting for. The space only held 10 tables. We arrived at 1:00 as did several others and were asked to wait outside as they were running late on some kind of preparation. It was like waiting to be let in for a concert. There were three tables worth of us going in first, but several other large groups followed later. They turned people away so reservations are a must.

The interior has a wonderful atmosphere. A grand old building, the restaurant space is cozy with tile floors, tiled walls, and woodwork and trim that us home renovators can truly appreciate. It wasn’t fancy, but homey. Just the kind of setting we like. The menu (pictured) comes in a folder with simple white papers clipped in. As Trev would say, “Love it”.

I should mention when we made our reservations the week before, he had asked us what kind of paella we wanted. I assumed this was so they could make sure to have the correct ingredients but also because paella takes a long, long time to cook. And these guys are doing it over open fire. For that reason, when we did sit down we were prepared. Not only had we had very little to eat for breakfast because it is a lot of food, we had also read you need to order some nibbles because you are going to wait for the main dish to arrive.

From the menu, we decided to split an Ensalada Valenciana (of course) and get the Buñuelo de calabaza y boletus (pumpkin and mushroom fritters). They also brought some fabulous bread. The fritters were delicious with their drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I also loved that there was no dressing on the salad and they brought the bottles for olive oil and vinegar, as well as salt and pepper. The salad was simple with (as you can see in the image) large wedges of gorgeous Spanish tomatoes and young romaine. Additional greens were underneath. On top were a couple of hard-boiled eggs, which I really like on salads, and the strips are tuna that was so much better than what comes in a can.

As we were talking and eating, I had a view through the door to the kitchen and further back where a door would swing to where they were cooking. Open fire is right. On a hot day I was very thankful their cook was laboring away over open flame for our lunch. What an art to manage the cooking over fire.

The arrival of the paella is pretty dramatic. It smells amazing. We went all the way traditional and that includes snails. I wasn’t quite up to that during lunch but, spoiler alert, we had leftovers and I did eat a couple at home. Honestly, not my thing and not because I was grossed out. I just found the texture a bit odd and didn’t think they had a distinct flavor. I’ll stick with other proteins. Everything was fantastic though. We did our best and walked away happy to know we could have more later. We were so full we couldn’t manage dessert but did have coffees.

One last, curious thing to mention. While eating, we kept seeing people come in and then leave, with the owner/manager behind them holding what was a paella wrapped up. These are large, much larger than a pizza box and certainly hot. I could see them back in the kitchen placing the freshly cooked paella in pan on thick, open cardboard box and then wrapped up with white butcher paper. So we had to ask. Indeed, you can get paella to go! Go figure. And you leave a deposit on the pan that you get back when you return their pan. How civilized.

You can see the prices on the menu for the app and salad. The paella was 16,25€ each. Along with beverages, bread and the VAT (value added tax), the total was 62,10€. I may be repeating myself, but due to the VAT, tipping isn’t really necessary here unless you just really feel it was above and beyond.

I may have said this in another post, but Valencia seemed to reveal itself slowly and it took a bit of effort to find what felt to us like the authentic presence of the city.