Casa Molina, run by Paella Guys' Javier Blanc, still Vancouver's paella destination

Casa Molina is the kind of place you'd miss if you didn't know to look — an unassuming storefront easy to walk past. But follow the wafting aroma of paella and the sound of happy diners, and you'll find the restaurant.

Chef Javier Blanc, known for Paella Guys, opened Casa Molina with one clear mission: to do Spanish rice at the highest level. Blanc won second place at the 62nd Concurs Internacional de Paella Valenciana de Sueca, the international paella championship, a credential that carries real weight. The space itself is designed to feel like you're entering a friend's home for dinner — warm, intimate, no pretense.

Before the paella, there's reason to linger. The Croquetas (minimum order: three pieces) come in three variations — jamón, gambas, and espinacas — each with a delicate crisp exterior and gooey cheesy centre. The Ensalada de Ajo Blanco con Tomates Asados y Atún Semicurado is one of the city's best tomato salads: heirloom tomatoes, confit cherry tomatoes, house semi-cured tuna, orange, pine nuts, and a bed of ajo blanco (white gazpacho) that brings unexpected freshness against the richness of the starters.

The Jamón Ibérico — thin slices of Spanish ham cured for 48 months from pigs fed only acorns — pairs perfectly with the Quesos Españoles, a chef's selection of four Spanish cheeses served with quince jelly and rotating house-made preserves.

Then comes the paella. Order three small ones if you're a party of six and want to sample the range. Each arrives in its baking pan with a wooden scraper to coax out the crispy rice stuck to the bottom. The Valenciana is the classic: Albufera rice in chicken stock with green beans, green peppers, heart of artichoke, rosemary, topped with chicken and rabbit — as traditional as paella gets. The Mariscos (seafood) features shrimps, squid, scallops, clams, and prawns in impressive abundance. But the standout is the Arroz Negro: the same seafood base — prawns, shrimps, squid, scallops — coated in black squid ink for a visual and flavour intensity that lingers long after the last grain.