Open every day, the ‘24/7 Valencia’ team have lunched & dined out at ‘Clectic’ on numerous occasions over the years.

It’s a really relaxing place to enjoy your food and drink and the restaurant really does live up to its name, providing a truly eclectic choice of tasty dishes from around the world. This is truly a culinary trip around the globe, from the Middle East to Thailand to France or Spain and then onto The Americas!

The interior is warm and spacious, with plenty of wooden tables and comfy chairs as well an entire muro offering cushions or a sofa to support diner’s backs. Indeed, you can enjoy art & photography on the walls by local artists with exhibitions throughout the year. The music soundtrack is nice and varied, with Indie, Americana, World music, Ambient, Funk, Jazz and more…

You have a great view on this quiet corner of Canovas, as one side is entirely constructed with a huge glass window, a new feature being that it is now detachable all year round. So, you can enjoy a natural breeze to accompany your lunch or dinner if you choose to dine in this part of the restaurant…

Given that this was a hot summer night and we were thirsty, we went for a very pleasant ‘rosado’ rosé wine from Valencia, a ‘Frailes Monastrell’ (13€) that lasted us the whole evening. We had planned on Gin and Tonics afterwards but the wine left us nicely mellow and gently merry!

So, to the food. Our charming maître d’ was Lauren, a very well-travelled and informative host who knows his food, drink and music! It was he that suggested our choice of 3 tapas plus a salad on this mellow midweek night for the menú degustación.

Firstly, we decided to investigate the ‘Sung Choi Bao’, which was a refreshing combination of Thai-style carne guisado in wraps of lettuce, making for a memorable combination of very fresh salad with cooked & spicy beef & pork …a very practical dish that is deservedly popular in Thailand, Vietnam and China.

Talking of faraway lands, Lauren has visited Iran and was justly able to recommend the ‘Berenjena al estilo persa con carne, menta, nueces y queso de oveja’ (Persian style eggplant with meat, mint, nuts and sheep cheese). Accompanied with filling Lebanese bread, this was a very distinctive yet agreeable dish with finely-cut sprouts of onion providing a wonderful contrast to the eggplant, mixture of pork & beef and minty ingredients, the crunchy nuts and soft cheese. A dish with depth…

Our final dish was ‘Tacos con Chili con Carne’ from Mexico and a really solid yet succulent dish to savour as a couple or in a group. Really satisfying and not in any overpowering, this is food made with confidence and it shows in the final result. As Clectic tells us, their philosophy is “healthy & cosmopolitan food with fresh ingredients and prepared with love”.

Included in the degustación deal, is a huge ‘supersalad’ and we plumped for the recommended ‘La Ensalada Thai’ with lettuce, very fresh cherry tomatoes, lime, crystal noodles, carrot, cucumber, spicy herbs(a superb mint), peanuts and wide & long nutritious ‘brotes de soja’ sprouts. A highly colourful, ample and satisfyingly varied salad to accompany our meal!

Lauren told us that they have customers who come back specifically for their cheesecake so we just had to try one between us and we were very impressed. It was light, fluffy, a generous portion and filling and exquisitely cooked at just the right level as the host tells “it’s all about ‘el timing’ so that it doesn’t burn and lose texture”. We have yet to find a better cheesecake in Valencia in 20 years of dining out on the Mediterranean coast.

The service was wonderful, so we left a healthy tip and we strolled home very much sated and happy with this memorable trip around the world during one evening in Valencia…

24/7 Valencia team

CLECTIC OPEN KITCHEN
Gran Vía Marqués del Turia 63, (esq. C/ Conde Salvatierra)
Tel: 96 322 77 48
Website: clectic.rest
Zona Canovas
Open Monday to Friday from 09.00h to 23.45h
Saturdays, Sunday and holidays from 10am to 23.45h
Lunch: Monday to Friday 9.90€
Lunch: Saturday & Sunday 11.90€
Dinner: Monday to Friday 12.90€
Menú Degustación 12.90€
Brunch: 4.90€
Pastas: 10€
Curries: 9€
‘Tostas’ with artisan bread: 1.5€ -4€
‘Supersalads’: 9€-10€
Natural Fruit Juices & Macrobiotic Choices.3€-5€
Red & White Wines from all around Spain: 12€-21€
Gin & Tonics: 6.50€ -9€