Valencia Trader

La Caseta in Rotgla - A gastronomic treat!

There's very few better ways to spend a Sunday lunch than to agree to spend a little more than usual and feast on some of the best home cooking that this part of Spain has to offer.

La Caseta is a restaurant offering great service, rustic and spacious surroundings, great wine list, a comprehensive menu and possibly the best chef in the Valencian Community (ok - he won 2nd prize last year in the Castille La Mancha competition - but I can live with that).

We took the kids with us and we were impressed with the way they were catered for (literally and not so literally). Our waiter recommended Arroz a Marinera for the kids - a rather soupy fishy rice (this is arroz "meloso" rather than "seco") which was wolfed down (and also picked at by appreciative parents). There's also a large garden for the kids to run around in if they get bored at the table (but call them in for pudding!).

Apart from the mouth watering treats brought to the table before we had ordered, the grown ups feasted on the fabulous wild mountain mushrooms (sauteed in the chef's choice of herbs, salt and garlic).

Our main courses included salmon ("the best salmon I think I've tasted") and Solomillo del Chef ("that has to be the best fillet steak") which was washed down with a 3/8l bottle of wine from the area of Fontanars which contained a blend including the newly revived Monastrell grape variety.

Suitably satisfied with ourselves we tentatively took a glance at the list of puds on offer - and a remarkably varied list of home cooked treats it turned out to be. In the end we (and the kids) plumped for "Flan Blanco" (white flan) smothered in a chocolate sauce, and another "Leche Frito" (literally fried milk) which was an amazingly and deliciously new experience!

The coffee was also very good and, with the wine long since digested, we took a stroll through the old part of Rotgla (strangely paved almost like a toy town) and back to the car for a slow drive through the surrounding villages before ending up back at base to put that Solomillo to work in the orchard lugging a few logs around the place.

Visit Date: Sunday 15th October 2006

Valencia Trader Says: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Restaurante La Caseta de Rotgla
Carretera de Madrid, 100
46816
Rotgla
Valencia

Reservation recommended: 96 292 80 78

Directions: From Canals pass through Llanera and carry straight through to Rotla. La Caseta is on the left hand side just as you enter the town and ample parking is signposted on the main road just past the restaurant.

Photos to come!