Coven Restaurant, Sagunto

When shall we three meet again; in thunder, lightning or in rain? Well, that’s an option, but a sunny, Valencian alternative would be a lunch or supper, perhaps after a little shopping, in Coven, a new Valencian restaurant located in the new Centro Comercial L’Epicentre, Sagunto, apparently the largest in Europe.

It’s certainly big, or will be when it’s finished, and the old Roman castle looming above certainly gives it some atmosphere.

The restaurant however is very modern, situated on the first floor at Avenida De L’Advocat Fausto Caruana 37, an original pace among all the typical franchise restaurants, with delicious, original dishes that surprise and satisfy the most demanding palate.

Apart from the a la carte options, there are two set menus, priced at 26 and 35 euros, which give an opportunity to test the chef’s skills, with three or four shared starters respectively, but respecting the number of diners, which isn’t always the case.

I wanted to try the more expensive option, which is the grilled meat one, especially as my eldest son was footing the bill for the first time in recorded history, but in a moment of paternal weakness, we went for the 26 option.

Before the first starters we were give a freebie, a kind of biscuit with tasty, tiny shrimps on them, and then the starters started coming, starting with battered cod balls with serrano ham on top.

The pause between each starter was gratifying, as it showed that the food was being prepared and not pre-heated.

Next was a delicious tangy salad with broccoli, salmon and fennel, with tastes that lingered.

Lingered as long as it took the last starter, small squid in onion sauce with asparagus tips, to arrive.

The main course was a surf or turf choice between cod or pigs cheek, which may sound unappealing but which I’m told, convinced even, is the tastiest part of that noble animal, who Winston Churchill pointed out, will look you in the eye like an equal, unlike the dog or cat who will look up to you or down on you respectively, and thankfully were not on the menu.

Once again the dishes were subtlely constructed, served on delightful crockery and serenaded by very pleasant music, moving effortlessly from blues to jazz and back again.

There were various desserts, the chocolate cake with matching ice cream winning out as so often is the case.

The wine list was also interesting and varied, including a rosé Bobal that I hadn’t come across before.

So, if you really must go shopping, and as Christmas approaches that seems to be inevitable, why not eat well instead of eating fast, and giving the warlock chef at the Coven a chance to cast a spell on you?