Fideua is the noodle-paella of the Cabanyal fishing quarter: short thin fideos noodles cooked in seafood stock with prawns, squid and monkfish, served with allioli on the side.
Fideua was reputedly invented in the 1930s by Gabriel Rodriguez Pastor, a young Gandia cook who ran out of rice on board a fishing boat and substituted fideos noodles. The legend says the captain found the noodles preferable to rice and the dish stuck. The Cabanyal port quarter and Gandia south of Valencia both claim the origin. The dish is now cooked across Valencia, with the noodles tipped vertical in the pan as they cook, served with allioli, at La Riua and Casa Carmela.
4 editor picks for Fideua in Valencia, ranked by editorial score. All Valencia signature dishes · Fideua across every city.
Casa Carmela ★ 4.6
la-malvarrosa · C/ Isabel de Villena 155, 46011 Valencia
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 beachfront kitchen.
Casa Roberto ★ 4.5
leixample · Carrer del Mestre Gozalbo, 19, 46005 Valencia
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 in Valencian rice.
La Riua ★ 4.4
ciutat-vella · C/ del Mar, 27, Valencia
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 on the carte.
El Rall ★ 4.2
ciutat-vella · Calle Tundidores, 2, 46003 Valencia
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 arroz cartes in the centre.