I am now starting my round up of restaurants where I have eaten BEFORE I started my blog and the best place to start must be with Restaurant Telero. Telero has just recently been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Tripadvisor and ranks the number one restaurant in Gandia.
My partner and I first went there with our friends from Villa Florencia and have been back another four times since - which is quite a lot in one year when there are so many other places to eat. My favourite dish at Telero is the Vieira Telero - Scallop Telero, scallop served in its shell with ginger and a garlic gratin. It is just sublime, full of flavour but the scallop is not overshadowed by the flavours.
I have had fish, the excellent Iberican Pork and a Fillet Steak and each main course has been extremely well executed, cooked to everyone's liking. We have been as a couple and with friends and the friendly atmosphere and low key ambience is suitable for either. I have not been over this summer but I understand they have some outside seating as well. Telero is well situated for that as it is up a very quiet street with a open area where there are another couple of bars, so there is always a low buzz.
Telero is not hard to find but if you don't know its there you could easily miss this hidden gem as it is tucked away around a quiet corner off Gandia's paseo. The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife team and the owners are friendly and welcoming, solicitous but not intrusive.
Telero is expensive by Spanish standards - but not any more so than other restaurants in Gandia and by British standards is extremely good value. A meal for two with wine and water is around €85.
If you are ever in Gandia, leaving without going to eat in Telero, is an opportunity wasted!
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Barbacoa Bacarra - Gandia Playa
I have been to Barbacoa Bacarra a couple of times now. It was recommended to me by my then Spanish teacher, Neus, who is now wandering through Geneva perfecting her French. I hope that wasn't because my partner and I were proving to difficult to teach...she will probably be angry with me for not doing a simultaneous translation into Spanish.
Anyway, Barbacoa Bacarra is at Gandia Playa about a block back from the beach. It is an upstairs, outdoor barbecue restaurant, with a cool look, trendy but grown up and welcoming. Although the bar itself doesn't do cocktails, they can run to a mojito, and a very good mojito at that. We first went to dinner on a Tuesday night. The weather hadn't been great although it was the last week in August and so the restaurant was fairly quiet - but not empty, by any means. Monday to Thursday Bacarra do a fixed price dinner of 20€ and it is just fantastic value. For 40€ for two of us, we had a salad, two starters they pick - which in this case was the Chicken Coca - bbq tender chicken on bread base and figatell con foie - a faggot with liver. Both were delicious but the faggot was particularly good. It was preceded by a little amuse bouche , which to my shame I can't now remember (I wasn't taking notes, sorry!) but I know I liked it!!!!
For the main the choice was their Parillada de carne or Rape - Monkfish - from the main menu. We both plumped for the parillada and it was terrific and plentiful. Dessert was an Ice Cream Sundae, which I should not have eaten.....but did.
Coffee and a bottle of wine was included, as was toasted bread.
Clearly we liked it as we went back for dinner with two guests on Friday 13th. Nothing portentous about the date as this turned out to be the last weekend of the season and the restaurant was doing a fixed price meal - this time as it was the weekend a fin de semana menu for 25€. The amuse bouche was prawns wrapped in pastry with a sweet jam dip - very nice and the salad contained cured salmon. One of our guests was not a big salmon lover but the salmon was tender and sweet, and he liked it.
There was a choice of main courses - three meat and two fish. Two of us plumped for solomillo - fillet steak (for this money - insanely good value!!) and two for the magret del pato - duck breast. Both the steak and the duck was nicely cooked but this being a Spanish barbecue restaurant it is fair to say there was a lack of vegetables, although it did come with some mushrooms. The fixed dessert was a warm chocolate brownie with cream and ice-cream - which was sinful but excellent. I know this is one of Neus' favourite desserts, so I felt I had to try it on her behalf. Beautiful, chocolate and crunchy but soft. Fab.
Again, coffee, wine, water and toasted bread with garlic were all included and four of us had a great night out for 100€.
I would urge you to go, particularly while the weather is till warm in the evenings as it is a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere, with good service. Sadly, owever, Barbacoa Bacarra only opens from the Fiesta de San Juan in late June until the second weekend in September when the season finally ends. I can see it being somewhere we regularly go next summer!
Anyway, Barbacoa Bacarra is at Gandia Playa about a block back from the beach. It is an upstairs, outdoor barbecue restaurant, with a cool look, trendy but grown up and welcoming. Although the bar itself doesn't do cocktails, they can run to a mojito, and a very good mojito at that. We first went to dinner on a Tuesday night. The weather hadn't been great although it was the last week in August and so the restaurant was fairly quiet - but not empty, by any means. Monday to Thursday Bacarra do a fixed price dinner of 20€ and it is just fantastic value. For 40€ for two of us, we had a salad, two starters they pick - which in this case was the Chicken Coca - bbq tender chicken on bread base and figatell con foie - a faggot with liver. Both were delicious but the faggot was particularly good. It was preceded by a little amuse bouche , which to my shame I can't now remember (I wasn't taking notes, sorry!) but I know I liked it!!!!
For the main the choice was their Parillada de carne or Rape - Monkfish - from the main menu. We both plumped for the parillada and it was terrific and plentiful. Dessert was an Ice Cream Sundae, which I should not have eaten.....but did.
Coffee and a bottle of wine was included, as was toasted bread.
Clearly we liked it as we went back for dinner with two guests on Friday 13th. Nothing portentous about the date as this turned out to be the last weekend of the season and the restaurant was doing a fixed price meal - this time as it was the weekend a fin de semana menu for 25€. The amuse bouche was prawns wrapped in pastry with a sweet jam dip - very nice and the salad contained cured salmon. One of our guests was not a big salmon lover but the salmon was tender and sweet, and he liked it.
There was a choice of main courses - three meat and two fish. Two of us plumped for solomillo - fillet steak (for this money - insanely good value!!) and two for the magret del pato - duck breast. Both the steak and the duck was nicely cooked but this being a Spanish barbecue restaurant it is fair to say there was a lack of vegetables, although it did come with some mushrooms. The fixed dessert was a warm chocolate brownie with cream and ice-cream - which was sinful but excellent. I know this is one of Neus' favourite desserts, so I felt I had to try it on her behalf. Beautiful, chocolate and crunchy but soft. Fab.
Again, coffee, wine, water and toasted bread with garlic were all included and four of us had a great night out for 100€.
I would urge you to go, particularly while the weather is till warm in the evenings as it is a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere, with good service. Sadly, owever, Barbacoa Bacarra only opens from the Fiesta de San Juan in late June until the second weekend in September when the season finally ends. I can see it being somewhere we regularly go next summer!
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
Els Senyorets - Lunch 16th September
Having covered my immediate area, I will now have to backtrack to all the restaurants I have visited so far - as it is a restaurant review blog the specific dates don't matter hugely - although places can change - but as I wasn't planning a blog at the time there won't be much detail!
However, this week I visited Els Senyorets in Gandia for a menu del dia. Els Senyorets is on the main Paseo in Gandia at the end furthest from the market. It has a few tables outside but inside is a nice bar and restaurant area. We ate in the restaurant which had a few people in it but was not busy. The welcome was friendly and the service good.
The menu del dia is €8.50 and consists of 3 courses, coffee, bread and a drink. I had a sauteed spinach dish for starters which was very good - loads of flavour and very tasty, and my lunch buddy had ensalada del dia, which was a light chicken salad with a sauce and which went down very well. We both had arroz del negro - rice blackened with squid ink and containing baby squid. It was served with a dollop of ali-oli and frankly it was delicious. I had a decent glass of house white wine and my buddy had a beer.
For dessert there were at least 5 choices and we both plumped for calatrava, a spanish bread pudding with a 'flan' type topping - I had never had it before and it was lovely and moist and had a rich caramel flavour offset by the base. Clearly home made and delicious.
Coffee to round off the meal and we were out of the restaurant a couple of hours after we went in, feeling we had just enjoyed an extremely good lunch at a bargain of €17.50 between us.
Interestingly, and a first as far as I have seen so far, Els Senyorets has a lighter, lower calorie lunch, which on Monday was one of the starters and one of the mains from the main menu - espinanca - spinach and pechuga a la plancha - chicken breast. This means that once my diet starts again (ugh!) I can eat there and feel positively virtuous about it!!!
I would definitely return for lunch or try it for dinner and even better on a Friday night they are currently doing everything for a euro - got to be one of the best value nights out in town!!
However, this week I visited Els Senyorets in Gandia for a menu del dia. Els Senyorets is on the main Paseo in Gandia at the end furthest from the market. It has a few tables outside but inside is a nice bar and restaurant area. We ate in the restaurant which had a few people in it but was not busy. The welcome was friendly and the service good.
The menu del dia is €8.50 and consists of 3 courses, coffee, bread and a drink. I had a sauteed spinach dish for starters which was very good - loads of flavour and very tasty, and my lunch buddy had ensalada del dia, which was a light chicken salad with a sauce and which went down very well. We both had arroz del negro - rice blackened with squid ink and containing baby squid. It was served with a dollop of ali-oli and frankly it was delicious. I had a decent glass of house white wine and my buddy had a beer.
For dessert there were at least 5 choices and we both plumped for calatrava, a spanish bread pudding with a 'flan' type topping - I had never had it before and it was lovely and moist and had a rich caramel flavour offset by the base. Clearly home made and delicious.
Coffee to round off the meal and we were out of the restaurant a couple of hours after we went in, feeling we had just enjoyed an extremely good lunch at a bargain of €17.50 between us.
Interestingly, and a first as far as I have seen so far, Els Senyorets has a lighter, lower calorie lunch, which on Monday was one of the starters and one of the mains from the main menu - espinanca - spinach and pechuga a la plancha - chicken breast. This means that once my diet starts again (ugh!) I can eat there and feel positively virtuous about it!!!
I would definitely return for lunch or try it for dinner and even better on a Friday night they are currently doing everything for a euro - got to be one of the best value nights out in town!!
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
La Drova and Puigmola
La Drova and Puigmola can boast that they have two excellent paella restaurants - Bar Parpallo in La Drova is reputed to be one of the best in Valencia and Restaurant Puigmola cooks their paellas in the traditional way - over an open wood fire.
The first of the two I visited with my partner was Puigmola. We had not booked so we could not have paella, but they have other dishes on their menu and we enjoyed a very good conejo al ajillo - rabbit in garlic. Expensive compared to our usual haunt, Bar La Font in Barx - see 16th September - it was very good, but my favourite remains Bar la Font. However, the paella is excellent. With an unmistakeable smokiness that comes from it being cooked over wood, the Valencian Paella is well worth the visit. The albondigas - meatballs in the paella are outstanding, in my opinion. The restaurant is set slightly up a hill and has views out over Puigmola to Barx and beyond. In summer the restaurant also has a swimming pool where you can swim before having your lunch. You are welcomed into the kitchen to see your paella being cooked and they also cook their meat dishes over the wood fire. Puigmola is my partner's favourite of the two restaurants - and I do really like it too. Starter - usually a salad but there is a choice -, paella, dessert, coffee, water and wine will be around €120 for four.
Bar Parpallo, although it does not cook the paella over an open wood fire, is however reputed to serve the better Valencian paella. From the outside the restaurant is very modest and unprepossessing but inside is a traditional bright and airy restaurant. Not yet fluent in Spanish - although we are learning - and unable to speak the local language of Valenciano, we have not yet discovered if there is an actual menu! The restaurant also specialises in empanadillas - little pastry cases filled with tomato, or meat or peas (not unlike a small Cornish Pasty, but nicer!) One books a paella and on arriving, you are served with a traditional Valencian Salad, a selection of empanadillas and your paella. The meat in the paella is plentiful and the flavour is deep and moreish. I cannot tell you why, but I personally prefer the paella in Bar Parpallo, but like the view of Puigmola. Bar Parpallo also has the advantage that I can walk to it!!!! A meal for 5 last Sunday, including wine, one dessert, water and coffees was €95.
In short, I am happy with both restaurants. Both have friendly service, both are open at lunchtimes only and both are full on a Sunday. You need to book ahead for paella in each case.
Bar Parpallo does not have a web site but details of both restaurants are also found here
Also in the area is La Visteta which has a tapas menu as well as a restaurant menu. I have visited La Visteta twice, the first time to have paella on a Sunday lunchtime. The weather was dreadful and the paella, I am sorry to say, was not particularly good. Nice but not in any way remarkable. More recently, I had some tapas in the evening and again the tapas were fine, but not outstanding. In its favour, I do believe that there are tapas dishes that are freshly made and served from the tapas chiller cabinet on top of the bar as is traditional. The tapa we had from there - a pork stew - was very good indeed, and it maybe that is the best way to eat in La Visteta.
The restaurant has a good view, a friendly welcome and a swimming pool and outside bar that is lovely in the summer. I would go back to sit by the pool and have a few tapas and a drink, but would not rush to have a meal. Tapas and the a la carte are both very reasonably priced.
La Drova and Puigmola can boast that they have two excellent paella restaurants - Bar Parpallo in La Drova is reputed to be one of the best in Valencia and Restaurant Puigmola cooks their paellas in the traditional way - over an open wood fire.
The first of the two I visited with my partner was Puigmola. We had not booked so we could not have paella, but they have other dishes on their menu and we enjoyed a very good conejo al ajillo - rabbit in garlic. Expensive compared to our usual haunt, Bar La Font in Barx - see 16th September - it was very good, but my favourite remains Bar la Font. However, the paella is excellent. With an unmistakeable smokiness that comes from it being cooked over wood, the Valencian Paella is well worth the visit. The albondigas - meatballs in the paella are outstanding, in my opinion. The restaurant is set slightly up a hill and has views out over Puigmola to Barx and beyond. In summer the restaurant also has a swimming pool where you can swim before having your lunch. You are welcomed into the kitchen to see your paella being cooked and they also cook their meat dishes over the wood fire. Puigmola is my partner's favourite of the two restaurants - and I do really like it too. Starter - usually a salad but there is a choice -, paella, dessert, coffee, water and wine will be around €120 for four.
Bar Parpallo, although it does not cook the paella over an open wood fire, is however reputed to serve the better Valencian paella. From the outside the restaurant is very modest and unprepossessing but inside is a traditional bright and airy restaurant. Not yet fluent in Spanish - although we are learning - and unable to speak the local language of Valenciano, we have not yet discovered if there is an actual menu! The restaurant also specialises in empanadillas - little pastry cases filled with tomato, or meat or peas (not unlike a small Cornish Pasty, but nicer!) One books a paella and on arriving, you are served with a traditional Valencian Salad, a selection of empanadillas and your paella. The meat in the paella is plentiful and the flavour is deep and moreish. I cannot tell you why, but I personally prefer the paella in Bar Parpallo, but like the view of Puigmola. Bar Parpallo also has the advantage that I can walk to it!!!! A meal for 5 last Sunday, including wine, one dessert, water and coffees was €95.
In short, I am happy with both restaurants. Both have friendly service, both are open at lunchtimes only and both are full on a Sunday. You need to book ahead for paella in each case.
Bar Parpallo does not have a web site but details of both restaurants are also found here
Also in the area is La Visteta which has a tapas menu as well as a restaurant menu. I have visited La Visteta twice, the first time to have paella on a Sunday lunchtime. The weather was dreadful and the paella, I am sorry to say, was not particularly good. Nice but not in any way remarkable. More recently, I had some tapas in the evening and again the tapas were fine, but not outstanding. In its favour, I do believe that there are tapas dishes that are freshly made and served from the tapas chiller cabinet on top of the bar as is traditional. The tapa we had from there - a pork stew - was very good indeed, and it maybe that is the best way to eat in La Visteta.
The restaurant has a good view, a friendly welcome and a swimming pool and outside bar that is lovely in the summer. I would go back to sit by the pool and have a few tapas and a drink, but would not rush to have a meal. Tapas and the a la carte are both very reasonably priced.
Monday, 16 September 2013
La Drova, Barx, Puigmola
Probably the most logical place to start is in my immediate home area, of La Drova, in the ajuntament of Barx. Puigmola is another hamlet that is also part of the ajuntament of Barx.
Barx
The first place we ever ate was in Bar La Font, in Barx. It is a typical village bar, run by the very friendly and amenable host Alfredo and Maria Carmen, who is the main cook. The menu is simple but to a good standard and is very, very reasonable. After a few months we discovered that you could order a number of dishes in advance, not all of which are on the menu. Our favourites so far are Conejo al ajillo - rabbit in garlic and Pollo al David - chicken roasted on potatoes boulangerie. And are these 'to order' dishes more expensive? Not a bit of it, last month, a starter, pollo al david for two, a bottle of wine, a bottle of water and two coffees came to less than 25€
The menu del dia is excellent value - at €8.50 you get a salad, a starter (my favourite is arroz al horno), a main course (pechuga a la plancha) and either a dessert or coffee. Bread and a drink is also included. When you have a menu del dia at Bar La Font, you don't need to eat for the rest of the day!!
Last December, a new Bar/Restaurant opened in Barx, the very welcome Bon Mosset. Run by Andres, assisted by Oscar and with Pepa in the kitchen it has been a great addition to the village. The menu in Bon Mosset is more extensive, with excellent tapas - my favourites are Revuelto de esparragos con gambas y ajos tiernas - a scrambled egg dish with asparagus garlic stems and shrimp and the Parrillada de Verduras - simple grilled vegetables of the season.
There is a decent list of main courses and again a number of dishes to order in advance - including cordero al horno - slow roasted lamb that just falls off the bone. Bon Mosset also have an excellent value menu del dia for €8 and a menu fin de semana for €12.
Bon Mosset welcome you with Bread, ali-oli and tomato to go with the bread and normally an appetiser - which is a lovely touch. On special occasions, green tablecloths are brought out and the staff wear matching outfits.
A meal for two with wine, coffee, bread, ali-oli and water - no more than €30 unless, like me, you order too much!
Both Bar La Font and Bon Mosset have tables outside for good weather and dining rooms inside for when it turns chilly.
Probably the most logical place to start is in my immediate home area, of La Drova, in the ajuntament of Barx. Puigmola is another hamlet that is also part of the ajuntament of Barx.
Barx
The first place we ever ate was in Bar La Font, in Barx. It is a typical village bar, run by the very friendly and amenable host Alfredo and Maria Carmen, who is the main cook. The menu is simple but to a good standard and is very, very reasonable. After a few months we discovered that you could order a number of dishes in advance, not all of which are on the menu. Our favourites so far are Conejo al ajillo - rabbit in garlic and Pollo al David - chicken roasted on potatoes boulangerie. And are these 'to order' dishes more expensive? Not a bit of it, last month, a starter, pollo al david for two, a bottle of wine, a bottle of water and two coffees came to less than 25€
The menu del dia is excellent value - at €8.50 you get a salad, a starter (my favourite is arroz al horno), a main course (pechuga a la plancha) and either a dessert or coffee. Bread and a drink is also included. When you have a menu del dia at Bar La Font, you don't need to eat for the rest of the day!!
Last December, a new Bar/Restaurant opened in Barx, the very welcome Bon Mosset. Run by Andres, assisted by Oscar and with Pepa in the kitchen it has been a great addition to the village. The menu in Bon Mosset is more extensive, with excellent tapas - my favourites are Revuelto de esparragos con gambas y ajos tiernas - a scrambled egg dish with asparagus garlic stems and shrimp and the Parrillada de Verduras - simple grilled vegetables of the season.
There is a decent list of main courses and again a number of dishes to order in advance - including cordero al horno - slow roasted lamb that just falls off the bone. Bon Mosset also have an excellent value menu del dia for €8 and a menu fin de semana for €12.
Bon Mosset welcome you with Bread, ali-oli and tomato to go with the bread and normally an appetiser - which is a lovely touch. On special occasions, green tablecloths are brought out and the staff wear matching outfits.
A meal for two with wine, coffee, bread, ali-oli and water - no more than €30 unless, like me, you order too much!
Both Bar La Font and Bon Mosset have tables outside for good weather and dining rooms inside for when it turns chilly.
Let's start at the very beginning...
...a very good place to start.
I now live in La Drova, a hamlet just outside of Barx, which is a mountain village about 20 minutes from Gandia, which is a small city about an hour south of Valencia. Gandia also has a beach resort, Gandia Playa, which is one of the biggest Spanish beach resorts in Spain. The region is generally known as La Safor
I have lived here for a year and while I have always enjoyed Spanish food, I had no idea how good and what good value, Spanish restaurants and bars can be.
Having been here a year, I have eaten in a fair few in Gandia, in Barx and around and in Valencia. I now have a lunch buddy, Nigel and he has persuaded me to start a food blog so at least once a month we will try out a different restaurant in Gandia and report back to you. I will of course also do a retrospective, which will take some time! and mention other places where I happen to eat out.
I'm not a food connoisseur, but do like my food and enjoy good food, whether that is a menu del dia in the village or Restaurante Riff, a Michelin starred restaurant in Valencia, of which more later.
Spain is a land where food is very important to the people. The Valencian paella is much revered and argued over, and Gandia is home to Fidua, a seafood version of paella made with noodles instead of rice and served all over Valencia region. Every holiday or fiesta is marked with food. The Spaniards enjoy their beer and wine, but food is the main event and never would drink so much that it ruins their enjoyment of their meal. Tapas vary by area and sometimes by town and although basically Spanish food is the same all over Spain, the number of regional variations, or produce and dishes special to specific towns means it is also quite varied!
So enough of the introduction and I will start to cover some of the places I have eaten so far.
I now live in La Drova, a hamlet just outside of Barx, which is a mountain village about 20 minutes from Gandia, which is a small city about an hour south of Valencia. Gandia also has a beach resort, Gandia Playa, which is one of the biggest Spanish beach resorts in Spain. The region is generally known as La Safor
I have lived here for a year and while I have always enjoyed Spanish food, I had no idea how good and what good value, Spanish restaurants and bars can be.
Having been here a year, I have eaten in a fair few in Gandia, in Barx and around and in Valencia. I now have a lunch buddy, Nigel and he has persuaded me to start a food blog so at least once a month we will try out a different restaurant in Gandia and report back to you. I will of course also do a retrospective, which will take some time! and mention other places where I happen to eat out.
I'm not a food connoisseur, but do like my food and enjoy good food, whether that is a menu del dia in the village or Restaurante Riff, a Michelin starred restaurant in Valencia, of which more later.
Spain is a land where food is very important to the people. The Valencian paella is much revered and argued over, and Gandia is home to Fidua, a seafood version of paella made with noodles instead of rice and served all over Valencia region. Every holiday or fiesta is marked with food. The Spaniards enjoy their beer and wine, but food is the main event and never would drink so much that it ruins their enjoyment of their meal. Tapas vary by area and sometimes by town and although basically Spanish food is the same all over Spain, the number of regional variations, or produce and dishes special to specific towns means it is also quite varied!
So enough of the introduction and I will start to cover some of the places I have eaten so far.
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