Lunch at La Beneficencia - in Valencia

For our last day we had thought to try out the traditional Valencian paella in one of the beach side restaurants, but there was rain in the night and the day dawned a little damp and cloudy. Instead, we headed into the old town once more, for lunch at La Beneficencia which had been highly recommended by our Valencian friend, Angel.

When he first e-mailed me the suggestion I couldn't work out where it was, but then I realised it was actually the restaurant within the Museo de Prehistoria y de la Culturas de Valencia, otherwise known as La Beneficencia. To save our weary feet we took the No 5 bus from Calle Colon which circles the old town, following the route of the old city walls.

At 1.30 we were a little early but sat outside with a drink in the shady courtyard of the museum, with a small grove of trees and fountains playing. By 2.00 the staff had finished their lunch and were ready to invite us in as their first customers. The set menu is excellent value at €9 for a 3-course meal including tax. For each course there were three options and naturally we tried all three between us. Here's what we ate - I've translated roughly for you, although it sounds a lot more exotic in the original Spanish;

First Course
A salad with salt cod
Spinach puree with a creamy sauce and raisins in it
Poached egg in a white sauce topped with a slice of jamon


Second course
Chicken with a curried sauce and wild rice
Valencian Paella
Fillet of fish on top of some small broad beans


Postres
Coconut cream with fresh pineapple and lemon sorbet
Caramelised bananas with chocolate mousse
Strawberries with creamy yoghurt


We were very appreciative of the interesting flavours although the children were less so and didn't finish everything. Still we have to try and educate them in the finer things in life. During lunch they spent their time debating the difference between McDonalds (love the McFlurry) and a typical Spanish restaurant (can't believe my paella has snails in it).

After lunch we had a brief look round a special exhibition on the Spanish Civil war (the museum is free) which had many colourful war posters. Shame the museum shop was shut for lunch, as I wanted to see if they had any postcards - I love those stylised war posters.

I'd definitely recommend this as an untouristy place to go for a great value and delicious lunch, but maybe not with children unless they have adventurous taste buds.

Museo de Prehistoria y de la Culturas de Valencia (La Beneficencia)
Calle Corona 36. You'll find it in all the guidebooks - it's next to the Institito Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM).

P.S. You'll be thinking that we've done nothing but eat since we've been in Valencia. The truth is we've done plenty of sightseeing, and I'll tell you about it soon - so keep watching this space.

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