Viva Espana

Recently while perusing the foodie literature I have noticed that Spanish food seems to be all the rage. Since there is nothing quite as Spanish as paella I thought I would share this little gem with you just in case you ever find yourself on the L'Albufera de Valencia. This inland lagoon was one of the first places in Europe where rice was farmed and explains the passion that Valencians hold for this now famous dish.


One of the many fishing villages that surrounds the L'Albufera, El Parmar, is home to a number of restaurants. Our trusty travel guide recommended Restaurant Mateu. Being a little dubious about this recommendation, we didn't expect much. However to our satisfaction it was truly a delicious meal.




Due to the high temperature, we both decided on quenching our thirst with beer as well as a starter portion of pescadillos. After some reservation to eating a whole baby fish, I soon realised how delicious they were and tucked in!




For mains we had no option but to go for paella. As we weren't to keen on the idea of rabbit, we avoided the traditional Valencian Paella, and went for paella de marisco (Seafood). This came with a variety of seafood, including eel (which we also weren't to sure about). The meal was absolutely amazing and we can highly recommend the experience!


As a warning, make sure that you place you order early because everything is freshly prepared. Also, each portion is made for two people so you will need to agree on what to have between you.