Valencia is not only the third largest Spanish metropolis, it is also located almost exactly at the same latitude as Mallorca. Actually, it’s almost unforgivable that I’ve been around so many times in recent years, but only gained a rough insight into the beautiful, sophisticated hometown of arroz and paella during this short vacation.
In culinary terms, Stephen Anderson and his Seuxerea were the inspiration for Valencia’s contemporary cuisine. A tip, by the way, from Bernd Knöller, boss of the Restaurant Riff, which I would also have liked to visit, but which unfortunately was closed exactly during the time I was there…
The very modern and clearly designed Seuxerea is located in the heart of the old town of Valencia, not very easy to find in a very narrow side street, right next to the cathedral. We took a seat at one of the four tables in front of the restaurant on this balmy summer evening and opted for the seven-course tasting menu.
A gazpacho with melon made a light, summery start.
Also very light and summery: carpaccio of squid and mango. Already here the exotic, Burmese, influence in the otherwise strongly regional cuisine of Stephen Anderson was apparent.
A small terrine of foie gras in a pistachio coating followed.
My personal favorite was already served as the third official course: Ravioli stuffed with lobster, accompanied by a light but intense saffron foam and fried spinach. Really great.
As another fish course, Steve then served a fish of the day, in our case a typical bacalao (cod) with lentils.
A Burmese suckling pig with caramelized shallots and summer peas could not really convince us, neither in terms of the actual product, the suckling pig, nor the sauce, which seemed to me clearly too massive and much too thickly bound.
The evening concluded with a tangerine & cava sorbet and a
Chocolate Pavée. In the heat of the moment, however, I forgot to take photos…
The Seuxerea was undoubtedly a culinary highlight of the trip, but on the other hand we were a bit taken aback by some of the twists and turns of the evening, mostly concerning the service, which seemed a bit awkward at times – but maybe this was also due to us and our little special requests. Thanks to some highlights and especially the great scenery, however, you can safely overlook this and should not give the Seuxerea and especially Valencia a wide berth.
Seuxerea
Calle Conde de Almodóvar, 4.
Valencia
Phone +34 963 924 000
