An evening out with Angel - in Valencia

In the evening we met up with our new friend in Valencia, Angel, for dinner. We asked him to recommend a typical Spanish restaurant and he led us to a place tucked down a small street close to the Palacio del Marques de dos Aguas which houses the Ceramics museum.

We deliberated a while as to whether the children would find something they liked on the menu, but on ordering we realised that we shouldn't have worried. The Spanish like fresh food, simply cooked and so there was no problem finding plain grilled chicken or steak served with either chips, salad or vegetables (I'm sure you can't guess which of the three accompaniments the children chose).


We also ordered some jamon (air dried ham) and local cheese as well as a couple of seafood starters to share. I had a selection of fried fish and my husband had a slow cooked lamb shank. The fish tasted most beautifully fresh and nothing was left on the childrens' plates.


The restaurant was more a neighbourhood place for the locals than a tourist trap although there was another group of visitors trying out the paella. I loved the traditional blue tiles on the wall and the open kitchen where you could see the food being cooked. The lady who served us indulged us with a smile as we tried to practice our beginner's Spanish. This is a good place to go to eat fresh and plainly cooked food in a Spanish atmosphere although they also had some more adventurous things on the menu.


After our meal I chatted to Angel in the square and asked him what he enjoyed about living in Valencia. Well, he said, there was the great weather and food, and he loved meeting his friends for cycle rides in the Turia Gardens or for a paella in one of the beachside restaurants or just hanging out in the old town.

And what about the negatives? He thought very hard for a long time, clearly racking his brains. Eventually he ventured that Valencia is a city that's growing fast and that the traffic was sometimes bad in the centre. Certainly not enough to tempt him to move away from his home town.

Restaurante La Utielana, Plaza Picadero de Dos Aguas, San Andres 4, Valencia, Tel 963529414 (The road is just behind Palacio Marques de Dos Aguas)

You can see my collection of Valencia photos on my Flickr site here.