One week ago my palates had the pleasure of enjoying a magnificent lunch in the village of El Palmar. It is located in Albufera Natural Park and I got there as a member of the choir I performed with. About the music part, we could already see and hear some details in this post, but now we will talk about food!
I know I am not a professional food reviewer or food photographer. I am not even an amateur one. But these delicious bites could not miss out on my menu. I mean on my blog. With clumsy attempts but honest admiration for those who prepared our food, I will try to bring a few snippets from the lunch we had in Albufera restaurant.
It was not the first time I enjoyed delicious traditional dishes from this area. Lucky me. If I don't forget some of the visits, it is already my third time having lunch in El Palmar, though all happened in different restaurants. None of them left me disappointed.
Once we went there with our friends and the person who was teaching Spanish to foreigners in our town. It was a one-day excursion to Valencia, to meet the history and most important places of the city. Later, for lunch, we went to El Palmar and ordered a few aperitives and rice with seafood. One of our friends has her own restaurant so it was funny as she was observing everything from the eyes of a professional. But she was very happy and satisfied with the food and service, the same as we were.
Last Saturday I shared the table with these people:
Hahaha, I am drinking water at this moment, though there was wine, beer, other soft drinks and even liquors. I really wanted to buy one of these bottles and take home but then we had to go quickly to the boat excursion. Some people stayed in the restaurant so I hoped we would be back here and purchase a bottle of prohibited rice cream. It didn't happen, unfortunately.
To go back to the beginning. Each of us had several appetizers. The first was garlic sauce and crushed tomato with bread. I forgot to take a photo. {I started this food review in a perfect way, right? 😂 already missing one photo of the food we had}
The next aperitive that arrived was a place with sliced tomato, olive oil and little pieces of fish. I loved this one.
The next dish was a pleasure for the eyes too. Roasted red pepper with salted cod fish on top of it, and thin slices of mojama (fillets of salt-cured tuna) and anchovies around it. It was tasty, of course, but a bit too salty for me.
With the Duck Foie, topped with candied fruits and sweet sauce I found myself in heaven!
After this, I didn't want anything else. However, it was not the end of our suffering food pleasures. The waiters didn't stop pampering us. So, let's see what was next.
An almost inevitable dish in this area is mussels. Actually, they explained that there is a difference between mussels and clóchinas, which is the type that is grown in the waters of Valencia. The size of the clóchina is smaller (compared to that of the mussel) and has more orange colour. I made some space in my stomach for them.
And no, it was not the end. Do you know what is a must in El Palmar?
Paella Valenciana, of course!!!
The chef prepared it in a huge paella pan and the waiters brought it when it was finished. They showed it and went away with it. They said we had enough food for that day.
End of the story.
...
😂
It was just a joke, they served us paella on plates and yes, I made space in my stomach for paella too.
Dessert?
Should I mention that we also got Crema Catalana which is custard with caramelized sugar?
🤤
I ate so much so I can't now say anything else... Oh yes, the liquors were there again, and the views from the hall where we had this delicious lunch.
I opened the window to see it better.
The rice fields look like this in the Valencian region. They are famous for rice production, so no surprise the best authentic paellas are prepared here. Now I indeed should finish this post as I could be tempted to book in a restaurant in El Palmar.
