I highly recommend La Llantia Dorada (Golden Tear) for a relaxed and enjoyable evening of good interesting food.

Tucked on a little street just off the Plaza de la Virgen (blink and you'll miss it), the menu is an eclectic fusion of flavours, Mediterranean, Asian and Caribbean.

We went for the Menú Degustación, excellent value at 25€ a head (including an aperitif and a bottle of house wine per couple Monday to Thursday) six interesting and tasty courses started with a delicious little soup and then a salad whose main ingredient was a wonderfully smoky Tandoori style chicken. The main courses include such delights as a Caribbean style fish lasagna with vegetables and avocado, and a chicken dish with star anise and basmati rice. But each week brings new surprises.

The wine list is small but the house wine is very drinkable, and in addition to the free bottle offer, there is also the offer Monday-Thursday of you paying 2.50€ for your first glass and they keep topping you up throughout the meal at no extra charge. Minimum order is one main course per person. Thursdays there is live music to accompany your meal.

The lunchtime deal is an absolute bargain at 10€ a head (15€ on Saturdays) and in the evening there is not only the 25€ menú but a lighter meal (one less dish) for 16€.

From time to time there are themed dinners on offer - Jazz, Medieval, Renaissance, with live music and a menu inspired by the period and, as you would expect, ethnic evenings including Indian, Caribbean and Latin American.

C/ Hierba 4 (next to Plaza de la Virgen)
Reservations 96 391 2716
Lunch: Thursday-Saturdayday 14:00h-16:00h
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 21:00h-23.30h
Have a drink in Laboratorio before your meal - owned by the owner of La LLantia and of the wonderful Café de las Horas -
<a href="thisisvalencia.com/laboratorio.html

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Tapa2 is a new and funky tapas restaurant just north of the Central Market, in the old town of Valencia. It's not on a major thoroughfare, so there's less fear of it being mobbed by tourists, which adds to the charm.

On the basis of a tip left on this very website earlier this year, 11 of us descended on Tapa2 (a quick phone call secured a table which - given the size of the place - was a feat in itself) and the owner Eddie and his staff looked after us. On my table of seven we ordered food and wine with guidance from the staff. The recommended white wine we had was divine, as of course were the tapas. There were five different tapas to share (two servings of each), and we couldn't have had a bite more.

The kitchen is on display for all to see, and Eddie as head chef for the night demonstrated a true passion for his food. The tapas were absolutely delightful.

The whole meal came to just over €30 a head (+tip) which for us folk who currently live in Dublin was amazing value. The staff were even able to recommend night club spots (Radio City is around the corner) to continue our Saturday night in style.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Carda6, Barrio del Carmen, Valencia
+34 663 875 903

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This restaurant was recommended by a Valencian friend and it is a great place to go for traditional Spanish home cooking and great value.

Inside it's decorated with painted Spanish tiles and you can see the food being prepared in the open kitchen. There's a range of typical tapas, seafood and meat dishes - it was good for children as they had some plain dishes like steak, grilled chicken or fish and also some more adventurous things including Paella.

It's tucked down a small street behind the ceramics museum in the Palacio Marques de Dos Aguas but is worth hunting out.

You can see my review and photos on my blog; heatheronhertravels.blogspot.com/2008/04/evening-out-with-angel-in-valencia.html

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

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La Beneficencia is a free museum, and if you walk through the shady inner courtyard, you'll find the restaurant for a great value set lunch at €9.

Service starts at 2pm although I'd arrive a little earlier and have a drink as it is very popular with the locals.

For €9 you get three courses of excellent modern cooking and there are three choices per course. To give you an example of what we ate: salad of salt cod, chicken in a curried sauce with wild rice (or Valencian paella), coconut cream with pineapple and lemon sorbet. It was all delicious.

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).
www.museuprehistoriavalencia.es/

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We stayed over at La Casa Azul which is right in front of the central market and we found this lovely new Gastronomik tapas bar/restaurant called Tapa2.

We were amazed at what we got - five courses of pure delight, all served with different drinks to wet the palette.

The owner Eduardo Phillips Blanco (you would be surprised to find out he is English, with that name) and head chef Michael Baering not only provided and served some of the best food we have ever eaten but also entertained us.

Our meal cost us 35 euros each and that was with all drink included, they do a deal with three tapas dishes and a bottle of vino for 15 euros most nights though.

Find them off the beaten track, near La Lonja, not the best setting but the restaurant is cool and funky and it hasn't copped on with the Spanish yet.

Carda6, Barrio del Carmen, Valencia
+34 663 875 903
www.tapa2gastronomik.es (not up and running yet)

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Close to Plaza de la Virgen down a very quiet alley is this unassuming rather dark restaurant. Excellent food, with a choice of either the €12 lunch of the day or a special Dégustacion menu (which everyone has to choose) for €18. Very good quality modern Valencian cooking.

C / Conquista 3
Tel: 963 910 364

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They have some great bikes with big comfortable seats. I was really impressed. When I returned the bikes they sent me and my wife to a great restaurant and they were right, the cheesecake was definitely made by the hands of God!

C/Murillo 22 bjo dcha just up from the central market
0034 963916324

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Paella takeaway just off the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Heretical though it may be to eat paella on the hoof, the above place came in very handy when we were about to leave for the airport and still hadn't sampled Paella Valenciana.

Calle Padilla, 1
Tel 00 34 96 394 44 16

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This is Valencia's main food market and it's a fabulous place to spend the morning wandering around.

It's a colourful and vibrant market with all kinds of wonderful fresh foods on display. Like many places, seeing this market in operation gives a special insight into the ordinary lives of the people of Valencia.

It's a fine building too and the ceiling is very ornate.

www.mercadocentralvalencia.es/

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Everyone raves about Barcelona’s famous La Boqueria market but Valencia’s is both bigger and better. The modernista building of stained glass and wrought iron is stunning, but it’s the array of produce, especially the wealth of fresh glistening seafood, that steals the show. If you’re staying in a hotel you’ll regret it if you visit Central - you'll want to take the lot home for dinner.

Open until 2.30pm, Plaza del Mercado.

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The market is fab to wander around anyway, but you can eat a lovely breakfast at one of the stalls at the back of the market and watch the shopping activity from the comfort of your stool.

Mercado Central
Plaza del Mercado, 6, Valencia, Spain

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A brilliant mussels tapas bar tiled beautifully. Stand at the bar and drop the shells down into the waiting buckets.

Barman tetchy if you just order beer though, he started muttering to us about the stag group that came in just for a drink. The bar is also on the square which joins the main tapas/hanging around strip.

13 Moro Zeit 13
Valencia
46001
Phone: +34 96 391 0497

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Essentially this is a bread stick sandwich with the typical Spanish potato omelette. The aspect that makes it different in Valencia is that the bread is liberally spread/loaded with alioli - a garlic mayonnaise which is just perfect for the aforementioned sandwich.

Anywhere in the city of Valencia. My favourite was a bar down one of the side streets near the train station. It was called Bar Turia. Well worthwhile - a good beer with the sandwich dripping garlic at a decent price.

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