Sucede Restaurante

Mad scientist

Red mullet, date, rabbit ear, sesame, broccoli

Valencia might be the 3rd biggest city in Spain, but it is still tiny compared to Barcelona and  Madrid. When it comes to fine dining restaurants, there are only 3 one Michelin starred restaurants, and Sucede is one of them. Located in the heart of the city, just a few minutes' walks from the cathedral. What made me picked Sucede is its historical concept in its cooking approach. Valencia was once governed by the Roman, before the Arabic, so the cuisine is heavily influenced by the two eras. To play on the historical aspect, the tasting menu at Sucede has a touch of Italian and the Middle East flair, but to respect the tradition, they do not use new world ingredients, such as potatoes and tomatoes.

Fig with fish roe

Pickled fig

Eel macaroon

Pork ear and sea cucumber

Sirloin and anchovies

Cured pork, beef and tuna

Peach, clams and mussels

Almond water

Oyster and apple

The meal kicked off with some Roman-themed canapes, a miniature canape of sirloin with anchovies was unusual with two types of really meaty and oily ingredients combined together. It was pleasant but nothing more. We were then taken to the Roman banquet era, the red prawn with black truffle was easily the best dish of the meal, the explosive sweet and umami taste of the prawn jus, combined with the truffle was just simply sensational. By contrast, the scorpionfish was a bad dish. It was like a lesser version of monkfish but with an extremely unpleasant bitter taste, and I could not finish it. We switched to the Arabic period toward, which contained heavier spiced dishes. The lamb with aubergine was a success, the smoky and spices aroma had a good balance, and the lamb jus was really impactful with loaded up with so much umami flavours.

Red prawn with black truffle

Meringue sardine and aubergine

Scorpionfish with chickpeas

Foie gras pressed with bay leaf...

...in honey

Roasted pigeon with cured egg

Lamb, chard, aubergine, fennel

Raddish and raspberry

Carrot texture with orange

In the end, some of the ideas of the dishes were taken too far for me, I found the chef was too blinded with the concept without thinking about taste and refinement. There were many dishes that looked so interesting and appealing, but fall flat in taste once I ate it. Having said that, some of the dishes were brilliant once all the boxes were ticked. Overall, My meal at Sucede was really a roller coaster ride, there were some really outstanding dishes, some average, and some really disappointing dishes. 



Food 2.5/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£120

Carrer de l'Almirall, 14, 46003 València, Valencia, Spain

sucede.com