Casa Montaña

Old school tapas in Valencia

Smoked eel

According to my research, Valencia is one of the less tapas friendly cities in Spain. The locals prefer the classic 3-course meal when dining out vs the tapas crawls like you would see in many other Spanish cities. This means finding a good quality tapas bar is no easy task. But after checking a few websites, it seems everywhere are pointing to a tapas bar called Casa Montaña in El Cabanyal, by the coastline of the city. The bar was launched since 1836 and is now one of the most visited restaurants in Valencia. I was glad I booked a table as the place was full of hungry customers waiting for a table to be ready when I got there. 

Warm Leek in Truffle Vinaigrette

Anchovy fillets and pickled mussels

Rainfed potatoes with garlic and spicy sauces

Anchovy is a must-try whenever you take a trip to a Spanish seaside city, and I order two versions, one dressed in olive oil and the one in vinegar. I enjoyed the olive oil version more as I felt the richness and meatiness of the fish stood out stronger. The grilled calamari was cooked to the perfect texture, not rubbery at all with a nice salty and smoky taste. However, I felt it was rather one dimension and the dish would work better in a smaller size format. The sirloin steak was a touch overcooked, but the meat quality was exceptional. The green garlic uplifted the richness of the steak like steroid, this could have been a showstopper dish if the steak was cooked to the medium rare level.

Cuttlefish with onion

Grilled calamari

Sirloin from specially reared cattle. Green garlic shoots

The food offering at Casa Montaña is mostly classic tapas, all looked really straightforward, what you see is what you get. However, lots of hard work went into it, especially the fish dishes that require long hours of preparation by hands. On my visit, the beach was almost empty, along with many restaurants nearby, and the street was so quiet, but Casa Montaña was so busy which shows how popular it really is. The menu of Casa Montaña is big (almost 100 items), but many dishes are based on the season so it was a shame when many dishes were not available on my visit. This gave me a reason to return for sure.




Food 3/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£30

Carrer de Josep Benlliure, 69, 46011 València, Valencia, Spain

http://emilianobodega.com