Thacks Awards

The first three months of 2026 have been interesting indeed - and 2 panelists are relocating next month 🇳🇱🇵🇭… exciting times to bring you their Top 3 experiences of 2026. 🏆

Which experience/establishment will get awards from panelists Anita, John, Craig, Mandy, Brent and Georgia?

Mas Ferrat is a family-run restaurant located in San Antonio de Benag éber, near Valencia in Spain, where you can enjoy a very friendly atmosphere, attentive service, and the best Valencian cuisine.
The staff were friendly and happy and the owner checked in regularly that we were having a good time.
We had a fantastic 4-course lunch with an impressive Spanish wine list at just over €40 a head.

The Bravas Fest is a gastronomic and cultural event in Valencia, Spain, that is dedicated to one of Spain’s most beloved tapas: the patatas bravas.

This year the festival ran in Valencia’s marina from 17-19 October. It brings together top restaurants, live music, workshops and beer in a festive setting.
Panelist John got in on the awards and voting, and sampled most of the local restaurant offerings competing to serve the best bravas.

“We arrived to a long ‘free entry’ queue and my friends were hungry so we noticed an empty ‘Fast Pass’ section. For €9 you can quickly register and pay online, skip the queue and get vouchers for a €4 beer and €4 bravas portion with a €1 cup refund… so essentially skip the queue for free AND get ‘Fast Pass’ access to the bravas queues!
We sampled as many of the restaurants as we could but noticed the continuous longest queue at ‘La Ruta’.
With our ‘Fast Pass’ we skipped the longest queue but the wait time was still long as we split up to collect bravas samples from other restaurants and got them quicker.
But yes, the wait at ‘La Ruta’ was well worth it… almost like mini crispy roast potatoes, their offering stood out whilst we had interesting flavours with egg, green aioli, and ‘picante’ curry flavours from other competitors.

At La Amparito, we found gourmet bravas with encurtida egg yolk, crispy ham, and leeks over a signature sauce, paired with a traditional titaina tapa.
Jenkin’s served double-fried bravas topped with its Emmy sauce and crunchy bacon, alongside a bold mini Black Angus burger.
Amarre 29 offered bravas with ñoras sauce and green allioli, and a creative oxtail-filled fartón as its tapa.
Los Gómez went classic with traditional bravas and a crispy torrezno.
Casa Bravo presented triple-cooked bravas with aioli and spicy sauce, and a rich brioche filled with Duroc pork.
La Ruta featured crispy-soft bravas with their signature touch, plus a mollete topped with sobrasada and anchovy.
Píxel para llevar served bravas dressed with mayo, bacon, tomato purée, and almond for a bold twist, and a flavorful oxtail croquette as their tapa. Returning from the 2024 edition, La Manivela, Mil Grullas, and Taberna Amparín rounded out the top ten, each bringing their own take on this iconic tapa — with Amparín previously earning a special mention.

And the Thacks Awards winner is: 🏆
La Ruta
With a basic stand, no decor or flyers and the longest wait, their crispy offering packed with flavour and a tasty mayo topping was the winner.
La Ruta is a bar and local restaurant in a small town, Chulilla, an hour outside of Valencia city, rather than a high‑end city gastronomy spot. It has a more casual, relaxed vibe and is useful if you’re out hiking in Chulilla and want a local stop.”

Ireland Part II:

A 30 hour Irish Assignment: Guinness and Chipper Food at the cliffs of Ballycotton – PART II By John Thackray So, I touched down in SUNNY Cork at 19:00 local time, dashed to get my hire car and the upgrade to a brand new Jeep with 4,000km on the clock was a nice start though I didn’t have …

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🇨🇾😍😎💕