If you need a bottle of wine and would like an overwhelming selection that would take hours to browse, then by all means head down to Las Añadas de España, close to la Estación del Norte on Calle Xátiva (location).

Añadas means something like “seasons”, or “years”, and it’s not hard to imagine that every year of the last century is represented in their enormous collection. You’ll find bottles from all over Spain, with a special emphasis on wines of the Valencian Community.

There are wines for any budget, whether you’re splurging for a special occasion or just spending a quiet night at home. We just had a great bottle of unfiltered Cabernet, straight from the bargain barrel (literally!)

And besides wines, there’s a large selection of liquors and gourmet food, as well as a small deli and meats counter. The staff is ready to help with any questions — in fact on my last visit, every customer had an employee walking around with them.

This is the biggest wine store we’ve found in central Valencia… and if you don’t find what you’re looking for here, you’re being too picky.

Las Añadas de España: Website
Location on our Valencia Map

According to a study done by a research group for the Cervecerias of Spain, the most popular aperitif of Valencians is a glass of cold beer and patatas bravas. Excellent — that just happens to be Hola Valencia’s choice, too.

Beer (70%) was followed by cola (50%), vermouth (24%), wine (19%) and sangria (17%). I’m surprised to see wine so far down the list — Valencians drink it all the time. Just last week I was at a restaurant, where a burly crew of construction workers were sharing a bottle … at 8am!

Patatas bravas (49%) beat out olives (46%), nuts & dried fruits (34%), cheese (29%) and calamari (27%) as the perfect accompaniment for a drink.

Valencians commonly congregate after work for a drink or two around 7 or 8pm. The bars in the city center can get full, especially on the outside terraces. So, where should you go for your beer & bravas? Here are a couple recommendations:

El Gau del Rall - for ambiance (location)

Close to the city center, El Gau del Rall is tucked away in a small courtyard on Calle del Mar and serves up both great bravas and the perfect combination of tourists and locals. The terrace seating merges with that of another bar, Sol i Lluna, which doesn’t serve warm tapas — so make sure to sit at the right table!

El Café del Mar - for taste (location)

This small bar is a little on the grimy side, but it’s got the best bravas we’ve eaten thus far in the city. It’s located right on the back side of Santa Catalina. Make sure to bring an ambivalent tolerance for loud, drunk regulars.

Valencia Plaza - for convenience (location)

Despite its location at Tourist Ground Zero, Plaza de la Reina, this bar is worth a stop for its tasty, cheap bravas and beer. The staff is super friendly, and multi-lingual.

Cafe Almar - when at the beach (location)
After a long day of swimming and sunning, what tastes better than a huge, cold beer and spicy bravas? Nothing. At the end of the Malvarrosa beach, restaurante Almar serves cheap bocadillos and the spiciest bravas we’ve had. It’s good value, given the beach-side location.

Can you suggest other great places in the city to have beer and bravas? Please leave a comment or post in our forums!

[via 20minutos.es]

Agua de Valencia is an extremely popular drink here, taking advantage of one Valencia’s prime exports — oranges.

I ordered it at an outdoor bar recently and instantly fell in love. “I’m going to find out how to make this as soon as I get home!”

Agua de Valencia
1 cup (18cl) freshly squeezed orange juice
1 bottle (70cl) sparkling, semi-dry wine
1/2 cup vodka + gin (10cl)
Sugar to taste
Refrigerate for a couple hours (or ice)

If you’re like me, you’re looking at that recipe thinking … wine, vodka and gin?! That’s expensive… and, squeezing oranges is messy without some kind of fancy press. Screw it.

Allow us to suggest our favorite summer drink. We’ll call it…

Agua de Hola Valencia:
Mix vodka & cranberry juice, with ice.
Drink quickly, and make another.

Asian food makes me happy.

I just don’t understand why people would go to a fast food chain in Valencia. You can get a filling meal for the same price like you would pay for an Extra Value Menu. Rong Hua is one of the alternatives, in a prime location on La Paz.

For only €6.95 you get an appetizer, a side dish, a main course and dessert. I call this value.

I’d recommend the Chinese salad instead of the Wan-Tun Soup.

Both rice and noodles were yummy and even better were our main courses: Chicken Almond and some kind of Bamboo Beef with Mushrooms:

My standard dessert .. Flan:

Drinks and coffee do come extra but if you are on a budget and can hold back this is a great deal. Beers where reasonably priced as well.

I didn’t take a note of the street number but believe it is 52. Please correct me if I am wrong.

La Paz 52
46003 Valencia
Tel. 96. 394.3509

Location on our Valencia Map

Last weekend, we went to the Feria de Abril festivities being held in the Turia riverbed by the Puente de Calatrava.

Feria de Abril is a hugely popular festival in Andalusia — particularly Sevilla. Being party people, the large population of Andalusians in Valencia have set up a mini-fiesta for themselves. We went during lunchtime, when not much was going on, and it was like stepping into a David Lynch movie…

Seriously, that sounds like a movie I want to watch!

The tent was full, and we were the only foreigners — so I think we got a good taste of real Andalusian culture. And it tasted weird!

Location on our Valencia Map

It takes a special kind of confidence to come to Spain as a foreigner and open a restaurant called “Tapa2″. But that’s exactly what a couple of young guys from Britain and Germany have done.

Last week, we decided to try out Tapa2, which recently opened near the Mercado Central (location). The concept is “haute cuisine at an affordable price”.

The restaurant is small — it can fit about 25 people — and sparsely, tastefully decorated. There is a limited menu, which one of the chef/owners will take the time to fully explain. The guys are clearly enthusiastic about their work, and extremely friendly.

Basically, you can choose between vegetarian (€6), fish (€7) and meat (€7) dishes, all of which are interesting. For Jürgen and I, 4 plates and dessert were enough to satisfy (keep in mind, we’re big eaters — 3 plates might be enough for “normal” people).

And the food was fantastic. Now, it must be kept in mind that I’m from Ohio, where the fanciest meal available is at Outback Steakhouse. I’m not conditioned for small portions of meticulously arranged liver pâté, quail egg and foamed peas. And even though there was no Bloomin’ Onion, we were extremely happy with the food. Even the liver.

Dessert was excellent, too.

So, if you want to impress a date with your exquisite taste, or are in the mood for an excellently prepared & presented meal, we definitely recommend Tapa2. It’s also nice to support a couple young chefs giving it a shot. Best of luck guys!

Tapa2
C/ Cardá 6, El Carmen
963 921 470
Link: Tapa2 - Official Website
Location on our Valencia Map

This statement is of course very subjective, since I’ve only been to 3 different horchaterias since living in the city.

The origin of the horchata can be found in Alboraya, a town bordering Valencia. And Alboraya’s Horchateria Daniel is the place to be. Huge and extremely popular, it’s also the birthplace of fartons - baked goodies to dunk in your Horchata.

I preferred sitting outside.

They also have a take-out counter - what you see in the cups is not beer, but Horchata!

Yummy fartons filled and covered with chocolate.

I drank a big class of horchata and munched down 5 fartons — 1 chocolate & 4 regulars:

And, yes, we skipped dinner.

Horchataria Daniel is easy get to since it’s right across the street from the metro station "Palmaret"

Avda de la Horchata 41
46120 Alboraya
Tel. 96 185 88 66

Link: Horchateria Daniel

Location on our Valencia Map

Valencians go crazy for a lot of things, and I think right after fireworks, chocolate is their favorite passion.

On a Sunday you might see a huge line of people waiting to get a table at "Valor" chocolateria to have churros and hot chocolate. Be careful: the hot chocolate they serve might send you to the emergency room with an overdose. It’s so rich & thick, it’s almost pudding.

There’s nothing better than to dip Churros or Buñuelos into it.

Now sit back, enjoy and let the sugar kick in.

Location on Our Valencia Map

Last night, Jürgen and I visited the wine festival which we blogged about last week. And now would like to offer you one simple piece of advice: GO.

And go in the evening. There are hundreds of people milling about, providing an atmosphere which starts good and gets better as everyone gets more and more drunk. By the end of last night, we were being entertained by fancy ladies cackling at nothing in particular, groups of kids screaming and singing, and swaying old people trying & failing to project a dignified air of sobriety.

For €10 at the entrance, you get a wine glass, a tapas dish, and enough tickets to fill each five times. It’s an invitation to intoxicate yourself. Then, you walk around the hundred-or-so stands and pick out promising looking wines. Although we drink a lot of wine, we are not connoisseurs, and so just picked the stands that looked popular.

And the sausages! And cheese! Pastries! None of the vendors were stingy with their wares, so by the time we had handed over our final coupons, we were both full and drunk. It was a wonderful dream. The wines all come from the Valencian Community, and the vendors are often eager to discuss them. At first, I was too shy with my tortured Spanish, but soon enough I was all, “Yes! Haha, I come from Ohio! No wines like this over there! Haha! You are my BUDDY!”

Before we left, we bought 5 bottles of the best wines we’d tried — a decision doubtlessly facilitated by our level of intoxication (which, now that I think about it, is perhaps why they’re so generous with the amounts they give out).

If you like wine, food and having a good time, I strongly recommend you go (and if you don’t like those things, stop reading this blog immediately — we are not friends). €10 for 5 plates of tapas and 5 glasses of wine is a deal that is hard to beat. Sunday, April 6th, is the last day, so don’t delay!

Location on our Valencia Map

From April 2nd to the 6th, the Turia riverbed will be the home to the 20th show of traditional wines, cheese, liquors and sausages of the Valencian Community.

The festival is organized by Proava, which is an organization dedicated to the quality of agricultural products in the Community, and will be found between the bridge of Calatrava, and the bridge of Flores (location).

My mouth is already watering! More than 100 Valencian businesses will be operating, offering both their wares and an array of activities including workshops & wine tasting courses. And I’m banking on the hope that there will be free samples galore!