Fideua is the Valencian-Catalan noodle paella: short fideos toasted dry in olive oil, then cooked in fish stock with squid and seafood until the noodles stand straight.
Where to eat it: 12 restaurants across 4 cities.
Fideua emerged in the 1930s on a Valencia fishing boat near Gandia. The crew's cook was making paella and ran out of rice, so substituted dried short fideo noodles. The dish travelled along the Catalan coast and by the 1950s every Mediterranean Catalan-coast town had its own version. The Barcelona reading layers shorter fideo noodles, dry-toasted in olive oil to nutty colour, then a fish-stock simmer with squid, prawns, and rouge fish. The serving comes with aioli on the side to dollop on top. Els Pescadors in Poblenou cooks the most lauded version in the city; the Barceloneta seafront rooms keep close.
Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Shellfish
Tip from the editors. Do not stir during the simmer; the fideos must stand upright in the dry crust at the end. The bottom should have a socarrat-style colour.
Els Pescadors in Barcelona's Poblenou is the historic plaça-de-Prim seafood room: arroz a banda, suquet, fresh catch from Vilanova fishermen direct.
Book2 weeks ahead
Can Sole in Barcelona's Barceloneta has run since 1903, now in the fourth generation: marinera cuisine, lobster paella with socarrat, suquet de peix.
OrderThe lobster paella for two and a starter of bacalla fritters.
TipClosed Sunday dinner and Monday. Book a week ahead for weekend lunches; the paella needs 30 minutes from the kitchen.
7 Portes in Barcelona's Born has run since 1836: arched rooms, brass plaques on regulars' tables, a paella for each day of the week. Priced at €€€.
OrderThe Thursday paella Parellada and the crema catalana to finish.
TipLunch is easier than dinner; the noon paella is held on the menu every day of the week.
Casa Toni has cooked fish and shellfish in Benidorm since 1992, from bay red prawns and almadraba salazones to arroz del senyoret and fideuà for two or more.
OrderBay red prawns from the plancha, then arroz del senyoret for the table.
TipIt sits in the Los Gemelos IV building on Avenida de Cuenca, a few streets back from Levante beach; Sunday is lunch only.
Rice is a rice house on the Sierra Cortina estate above Benidorm, in Finestrat, cooking seven rices plus fideuà and rossejat, with grilled red prawns first.
OrderArroz de gamba roja y corvina for two, after a grilled red prawn each.
TipRice dishes are for at least two and the kitchen cooks one rice per table; dinner runs only on Friday and Saturday, so plan a long lunch.
El Barranco is a seafront rice and fish house on Poniente beach in Benidorm, cooking arroz a banda, arroz del senyoret and rice with anchovies and spinach.
OrderArroz con boquerones y espinacas, Benidorm's own rice, for at least two.
TipRice dishes are made for at least two; a local quoted by Guía Repsol picks the salt-baked fish and the grilled baby squid.
Roce is the Salou outpost of a Cambrils rice house, opened in 2024 on Carrer de Colón below the cliffs, cooking paellas, arròs and fideuà daily.
OrderA paella or the fideuà, the two dishes at the centre of the kitchen.
TipA sister Roce runs on Carrer de Sant Pere in Cambrils; in Salou, book by phone at busy weekend lunches.
La Pasión is a rice and grill restaurant on Via Roma in Salou, cooking paellas, arroces and fideuà alongside meat, fish and a daily set lunch menu.
OrderA paella or fideuà for the table, the kitchen's main business.
TipThe daily menu is the value play at lunch; La Pasión took part in the Salou rice days in spring 2026 with a cod and prawn rice.
La Riua on Carrer del Mar in Valencia's old town has run a family-tavern rice kitchen since 1978, now in the third generation, with a dozen paellas.
OrderThe paella valenciana or the arroz a banda; the house Utiel-Requena tinto is honest.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. The dining room fills with locals by 14:00; reserve ahead.
Casa Carmela on the Malvarrosa beachfront in Valencia has cooked wood-fired paellas to order since 1922, with a 20-strong rice repertoire and a lunch-only.
OrderThe paella valenciana cooked over orange-wood embers, ordered when you book.
TipBook three weeks ahead for weekend lunch. Lunch only Tue to Sat 13:00-16:00; no dinner.
Casa Roberto on Carrer del Mestre Gozalbo in Valencia's Eixample has cooked Roberto Aparicio's traditional paellas since 1986, with a long chef's record.
OrderThe paella valenciana ordered ahead, with the croquetas and salmorejo to start.
TipClosed Monday all day and Sunday evenings. Reserve 48 hours ahead for paella; the dining room is small.
El Rall on Carrer dels Tundidors in Valencia's old town has cooked paellas to order in a tiled medieval-corner dining room since 1980, with one of the wider.
OrderThe paella valenciana for two cooked over wood, or the fideua a banda with seafood.
TipReserve 24 hours ahead for paella. The dining room is small but has an outdoor terrace in good weather.
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