Alqueria del Pou

Best authentic & affordable paella!

I’ve been living in Spain for almost 4 years now and I’m always on a quest for a good paella that doesn’t hurt my pocket. I’ve also done paella cooking classes so I can tell what’s a real good one vs a tourist trap.

I recommend booking a few days before. I called on a Tuesday for a Saturday lunch and told it was already full so we opted for the last spot on Friday at 15:30. They accommodated us even though we got in the restaurant 30 mins early.

Great customer service—friendly & humorous servers! Our Spanish isn’t great but they were very helpful about our concerns.

The menu didn’t have allergen info so we asked them which of the starters are gluten-free since I was with a Celiac. They only had one option which was calamari in chickpea flour. Good portion for the price and we can tell that it was made fresh and not the frozen ones from the supermarket.

Then come the paella! Patience is key to a good paella. Don’t expect it to be ready in 30 minutes because it shouldn’t be!

From first look, you’d think there’s so little seafood on top but don’t be discouraged! It was actually packed with lots of fresh seafood! Every spoonful of paella had so much seafood in it! I want to stress the freshness of the seafood! I’m a seafood girly and trust me you will know the difference of what they used in this paella.

We spent 44€ in total for a bottle of water, calamari, and paella for 2. It’s worth every penny. I’d definitely come back here when I go to Valencia again.