From huge modern nightclubs to intimate, traditional tapas bars, Valencia's nightlife scene caters to every mood and occasion
Chilled Bars
Palau de Pineda
(International University Menedez Pelayo), Plaza del Carmen 4, tel: 96 386 9800. Open from 12 (exhibitions), café from 2-4pm. Closed in Aug..
After wandering the narrow streets of the old quarter of Barrio del Carmen, pause a moment under the mandarin trees and soaring palm in the patio of the old palace which now houses an international university. Every Thursday it hosts an exhibition of alternative art or photography. Mon-Fri a menu del día is served for just 6 euros. Or just stop by for tapas and a cold drink.
Fox Congo
c/Caballeros 35 (Barrio del Carmen), tel: 96 392 55 27
Open: daily from 7pm Atmosphere: Trendy 20- and 30-somethings
The work of Nacho Moscardo, Fox Congo offers a majestic onyx bar, interesting original lavatories and a suggestive ambiance. Unexpected in both music and clientele. The house speciality is its daquiris, which are well worth sampling.
From Sun to Wed the music is light background with special sessions of cocktail, lounge and soul music kicking off on Thurs. International DJs play the best of house on Fri and Sat.
Regional Bars
Bierwinkel
Branches at:
Guardia Civil 4
Valle de la Ballestera 11
Centro Comercial Gran Turia (Xirivella)
Centro C El Saler (Autovía de Saler)
Isla Cerdeña 29 (Puerto de Sagunto)
If you're a beer connoiseur, the Bierwinkel chain of bars in Valencia will have you thinking you've died and gone to heaven! Five establishments scattered throughout the city offer more than 130 types of beer. Definitely an ale-swiggers paradise.
Entering a Bierwinkel pub is like being in Germany, with the decor exactly recreating that of a typical German bierkeller. They are quiet but very friendly and play host to a wide variety of clientele. Food is served - German classics naturally - such as sausages, Eisbein, a knuckle of pork served with sauerkraut, Jägerschnitzel, a schnitzel served with sauce and mushrooms, and smoked herring.
A favourite lunch-time haunt of families and businessmen, the Bierwinkels take on a different lease of life at night when they fill with crowds of young people sampling a vast range of beers including ales, lagers, wheat malt brews, porters and stouts.
Restaurant Bar Che
Avda Antiguo Reino de Valencia 9, tel: 963 746 525. Closed Sat eve and Sun. Open 9am-11pm. Closed all Jul.
This Basque tavern, founded in 1933, is so popular with business people at lunch and students at dinner time that if you want a table you'll need to get there before the mealtime rush hours. Stuffed peppers, meatballs, stuffed tongue, spicy chorizo and basque cod are just some of the tapas on offer, and there's a different hot dish served daily. It also has Basque cider on tap. The set meal is about 9 euros.
Garriko
c/Correos 10, tel: 96 351 2744/96 351 4340. Open from 8am-10:30pm, Mon-Sat. Meals served 2-4pm and 9-10:30pm. Closed Sun.
A Basque taberna serving cider alongside regional tapas such as chorizo a la sidra, bacalao (cod) with pepper salad, Guernica beans, and snails. Upstairs is a cosy restaurant with brick walls, wooden beams and red and green chequered cloths - the colours of the Basque flag. Atmosphere and staff are cheerful and the set menu, served Mon-Fri with a choice of four starters, four main courses, plus dessert and beverage, is an even more cheerful 8 euros. The menu de degustacion is 15 euros. All credit cards accepted.
Traditional bars
San Augustin Cerveceria,
c/Guillem de Castero 3, tel:96 351 7569
Should you ever find yourself in the barrio del Pilar, which has little to commend it other than a 14th-century church, stop by the San Augustin for tapas and a glass of Rioja. It specialises in different types of sausage and entrecote steaks. The set lunch menu is 7.50 euros for three courses or there's a special menu for 13.50 euros including entrecote and several choices of first and second courses, plus dessert and wine. Popular with local people.
El Almacen
c/Salamanca 34 (bajo izq), zona Canovas, tel: 96 333 7451. Open from 10am-1am all year round except Sat and Sun mornings.
The owner of El Almacen - which means warehouse in Spanish - is a well-known TV presenter and looks like he brought some of his former props with him to use as décor. The huge plastic stag is quite surreal, cupids of every form fill ceiling frescoes and the wall clock is stopped at 9:14. There's an upright piano, upon which anyone who can tinkle the ivories is welcome to do so, and occasional live music performances. A 7.20 euros set lunch offers good value for money.
Its tapas and cheese and Serrano or Iberian ham platters are worth checking out in the evening. Famous faces to stop by in the past include Miguel Bosé and Luis Cobos.
Bar Pilar
c/Moro Zeit, tel: 96 391 0497. Open 9am-11:30pm. Closed Wed except fiestas.
In existence since 1918, as its yellow ceiling, old fashioned soda syphon, ceiling fans and dusty ambience attest, the Pilar is famed for its mussels. In the past customers ate them at the bar and threw the shells on the floor to be noisily trampled on. Now there are plastic buckets in which to dispose the shells. Try the tapas of beans seasoned with mint and cayenne pepper, or the dish of finely sliced artichokes with onions.
Tapas bars
Zacarias
c/Ciscar 16, tel : 963 950 297. Open 11am til clients leave and 5pm til 1am or so.
Little money or effort has been expended on the decor at Zacarias, but it has no need to resort to such trivialities when the place is packed, even at weekends when most bars lose their week-day business custom. The bar has a reputation for being one of the best tapas places in Valencia and it's usually difficult to get near the long bar, never mind securing a table inside or on the terrace. Specialities are calamares, sepia and chipirones plus snails and prawns. Platters of thinly sliced grilled vegetables, broad beans and salads are also available, but there is no menu. A different rice dish is served every day. Such culinary indulgence doesn't come cheap, so keep an eye on your mounting bill.
El Abrero
c/Ciscar 12 bajo, tel: 963 337 428. Opens around midday, then again from 7pm to 1am or so.
Just a few doors down from Zacarias is another tapas bar with a very different ambiance. At El Abrero, waiters moved by the flamenco music add their own clapping and even seem to take your order with a nasal whine. Candles burn in front of a shrine to Andalucia's Virgen del Rocio and bullfight posters adorn the wall along with a copy of the certificate of Manolete's death. Customers stand shoulder to shoulder and the terrace is usually packed. Especially worth trying are the spicy hot tuna encebollado, the bull's tail or rabo de toro, tortilla, langostines and the huevos a la flamenca. Upmarket and not cheap.
Cubelo
c/Conde Altea 48, tel: 96 333 1145. Open 7-2am, closed Sun.
Located in the Canovas area of town this recently opened bar is already a popular tapas spot for the upmarket crowd.It gets busy on Friday and Saturday nights so it's wise to book. Don't ask for a menu, the owner will give you the rundown on its various tapas which are good and come in filling portions. The set lunchtime 7 euros menu is popular and offers a choice of three starters, main courses and dessert all cooked on the premises and including a different rice dish every day. Good service.
Maipi
c/Maestro Jose Serrano 1, tel: 963 735 709. Open Mon-Fri 1-4pm and 8-1am. Closed Sat and Sun and all of Aug.
This must be one of the smallest and most popular bars to offer such an excellent array of tapas and light dishes such as scrambled eggs with asparagus. Daily specials include a choice of oxtail, lamb chops or fresh fish. The manager has an encyclopeadic knowledge of football and is an avide Valencia fan as the signed photo on the wall of him with members of the team attests. Squeeze into one of the bar's five tables or prop up the bar and marvel at how the chef manages to deliver orders fired at him rifle pace cooking over an open fire.
Casa Mundo
c/Don Juan de Austria near El Corte Ingles.
The bar resounds with shouts of tapas orders such as platters of fried baby squid, patatas bravas or Russian salad, but traditional filled rolls or bocadillos are its mainstay, as they were when the original owner, Mundo, a Valencia football player in the Fifties was here. The potato and red pepper sandwich is worth checking out.
Clubs in Valencia
The Face
Carretera del Saler (Playa de Pinedo, four km out of Valencia) Music: House, funk, techno, Latin music...
Admission: 9 euros including one drink; 8 euros (discount before 3am)
A huge nightclub, the 4,000-square-metre Face has given the area's nightlife a major shot in the arm. Mirroring the spirit of top Ibiza dance venues, it acts as a model for many similar clubs on the scene.
Divided into three areas, it offers something for every taste. The central dance floor plays pure dance music, the second, known as El cielo or heaven, delivers what it promises. It has a somewhat more selective atmosphere and is popular with Spanish celebrities. The third area, called 99 Calamares, is all palm trees, swimming pool and Latin sounds.
Rockola
Ctra Nacional 3, km 346, Mislata, tel: 96 383 7400
Go-go dancers, shows and party-time against a techno beat.
