Valencia Eats: Bar X in Mercado Colón
Open every day of the year from noon to midnight, and with a no reservations policy, Bar X was the perfect place to go for the first meal of the year - lunch on New Year’s Day.
A restaurant of Ricard Camarena - probably Valencia’s most well-known and decorated chef - , Bar X is located on the lower basement level, where Cocaloka used to be (on the left in the picture below).
It’s pretty much tapas here all day, every day.
We started with the Ensalada Rusa Ricard Camarena - basically potato salad, but instead of the usual tuna in ensalada rusa, this one had smoked salmon. It was good!
My favorite dish of the meal - and one I still think about - was the Bravas del Bar X. These were crispy cubes of potatoes, covered in a creamy sauce with crispy fried almonds on top for incredible added crunch on top of the crispiness of the potatoes. The sauce and the almonds combined for an addictively tart and smoky flavor.
Previous to this, my favorite bravas were actually from another Ricard Camarena restaurant: Central Bar within the Mercado Central. Those were completely different. Again, crispy potatoes but then doused in a clear oil, smoky from the pimentón. These from Bar X gave those Central Bar bravas a run fro their money. I guess each Ricard Camarena restaurant gets its own style of bravas, and at least these two versions are top notch.
On the chalkboard, there were also specials of the day. One were these clams, unadorned and very pure in flavor.
We also got these baby fava beans, covered in a thin, translucent sheet of pork fat and topped with a soft poached egg.
In the “para acabar” section, there were some sandwiches. Kind of like how Chinese dining often ends with rice or noodles to fill you up, I guess.
I got the “Pan al Vapor Frito con Titaina de Atún”, which were like mantou, fried, then filled with tuna in tomato sauce. Tasty!
My friends got the “Pepito de Secreto Ibérico con ‘Mullaor’, feta y Rúcula,” which was kind of like a croissant bun, filled with pork cooked with eggplant and tomatoes, feta, and arugula.
To finish, we had the “Torrija del Bar X (No se parece a ninguna).” Torrija is like french toast, a typical dessert or brunch dish, while the phrase in the parenthesis flags that this “doesn’t resemble any other.” Indeed, it comes in a little casserole.
Basically instead of having a baguette base, their version of torrija was made with soft pillowy donuts, covered with a caramel sauce and topped with crumble. it was good, but very sweet!
This was my favorite new restaurant that I tried on this trip to Valencia. It reminded me a lot of Central Bar in Mercado Central. Both tapas, both featuring seasonal ingredients, both taking classics up a notch. No surprise, since they’re both from Ricard Camarena. But while Central Bar is anxiety-inducing with its crowds and chaotic way of waiting for open seats at the bar, Bar X had plenty of seating and a casual, unhurried atmosphere. Can’t wait for the next time to have those bravas!
