Dinner with a view in Valencia's Panorama

In general, people come to visit the sunny, eastern Spanish coastal city of Valencia for the sun, beaches and fun atmosphere. This means that the city is quite relaxed, and a lot of restaurant experiences are on the more informal side of the scale. I’m a huge fan of eating outside, and so the small terraces that sit outside many restaurants (city-centre and otherwise) with seating outside make me very happy. Being able to enjoy the sunshine and fantastic views all around is one of the best things about eating out in Spain. On top of that, it’s important to remember that there is another advantage – the prices. Many local and lovely places around me in the Cabanal area of Valencia (next to the beach) are well priced, and two people can eat and drink very well for 20 Euros or less.

This article however is about one of the more fancy, upscale places in the city, but one that is well worth visiting - both for the high quality of the traditional Spanish recipes that you’ll find here, but principally for the stunning views over the beach and boardwalk you get from the Panorama Restaurant in Valencia.

Panorama is one of those higher-end places that uses the setting instead of gold and glitter to really show off. The setting is ideal, so why distract with unnecessary additions. And so the décor is relatively simple and understated, with huge floor to ceiling windows on all sides to allow the very best of the views to flood into the dining room. Although there are plenty of Spanish dishes on the menu, we tasted the paella, the most famous dish in this region, and were definitely impressed with the size of the huge dish that arrived, and the flavours and textures we found within.

The video below shows how a traditional paella is made, in another of the quite high-end restaurants in Valencia, the city-centre based Palau Alameda.

Panorama is located on the southern edge of Malvarrosa Beach, at the end of the boardwalk. The boardwalk is probably my favourite place in the whole city, as I run, walk, exercise and relax there (or on then beach right next to it). It’s pretty busy during the day and especially on the weekends, but most evenings the long boardwalk is fairly quiet, and the ideal place to run without thinking about traffic lights or cars. You can run from one end of the boardwalk more than three kilometres to the other end, giving you plenty of space to stretch out and stay in shape.

The restaurant has two different areas, one exclusively for dining and the other a mix of cocktail/wine terrace and dining room. There can often be a bit of wind in Valencia, especially close to the sea, so sometimes it will be better to be inside. It won’t make too much difference however, as the views are the same inside or out. Valencia should be world-famous for its sunsets and sky colours. If you are looking for a place to take a great photo at sunset, Valencia should be amongst your first choices.