Llisa Negra Valencia Spain

This post is part of a larger series on Valencia outlined in the Valencia Trip Report.

LLisa Negra is one of the more casual outposts of the Quique Dacosta group of restaurants, serving excellent paellas, seafood, and other Valencian classics (sometimes with a fusion twist!) in a fashionable space.

Their philosophy "focuses on the product" and they work with numerous local farms to source ingredients, many of which are cooked on the large wood-fired grill. The restaurant is also located in a trendy, bustling neighborhood.

Spanish style bread service

bread service (rub tomato, garlic on bread)

We started with a classic, Spanish-style bread service, a gorgeous loaf of bread served with a raw tomato, raw garlic. We weren't exactly sure what to do, but the two guys sitting next to us were kind enough to explain to us: cut the tomato and garlic in half, rub a bit onto a slice of bread, and eat. The server also poured a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil onto the bread, which was delicious.

Salted, Cured, and Raw

Chef Quique Dacosta has a passion for salt and curing things with salt.

We tried their aged cured tuna, which was flavorful and unique.

The server highly recommended the beef tartare, which was mixed with raw eggs tableside.

It was excellent!

Wood Fired

Wood-grilled artichoke was simple but delicious. The simple preparation allowed us to really enjoy the artichoke's natural sweetness and flavor.

Paella

Interestingly, even though Valencia's local paella is made with chicken and rabbit (no seafood), it seemed like every restaurant kept recommending that we try seafood paellas instead. So, we decided to heed their advice and try the langoustine paella, topped with kimchi uni butter. It was very well executed (love that super thin layer of rice! More crispy bits!), and the langoustines were indeed extremely flavorful.