GOYA GALLERY RESTAURANT

If you’re visiting Valencia and want to try a truly great paella, Goya is my top recommendation. I’ve taken many visiting friends here, and this is the one place I trust completely when it comes to paella. There are, of course, other restaurants more popular with locals—but in my experience, the quality in those places can vary. At Goya, it’s consistently excellent. Their seafood paella is outstanding—always fresh, rich in flavor, and perfectly cooked. As someone who doesn’t eat meat, I appreciate how many seafood options they have. They even offer more approachable, “novice-friendly” versions for people who aren’t used to cleaning shells or heads off seafood. That makes it ideal for first-time visitors who want the authentic experience without being overwhelmed. For me, when someone tries paella for the first time, it’s a big deal. It might be their only chance to experience this iconic dish, and I don’t leave that up to chance. That’s why I keep coming back to Goya. The restaurant has a warm, inviting atmosphere that captures the spirit of Spain—authentic but not touristy. The service is always friendly and professional, which makes the whole experience even better. And one more thing: the prices are very reasonable for the quality you get. In short, if you’re in Valencia and want to try paella done right—this is the place.

We came here once last summer when we spent a month in Valencia and was amazed by it. And came back a few times this summer with our friends and families. It had been consistently impressive! We tried to order different a couple of dishes every time we came and had tried about 70% on what’s on the menu now by this point. Everything is so to the point both by the flavor, the texture, the aesthetics and the aroma. Simply amazing. Some of my personal favorites and must try are the steak tartar, you get to try it as they are mixing up the flavors and you can tell the chief to add more spicy or more salt. We also all loved the Valencia Salad. I am such a carnivore I never order salad, but thanks to my father-in-law, I got to try this amazing local salad. You also have to get some simple dishes like Bravas (very simple but very delicious). And the cuttlefish croquettes, scallops etc For the main, the fish is incredible. And the steak sirloin is above average. we’ve tried the fideua a couple of times, I liked it ok. But never tried the paellas yet. The highlight of the meal, will always be the desert, the desert is just too good to be true. The chocolate 70% and Torijja are both out of the world good.

This was terrible. They ask you to pre order the rice you want, which we did. But when you show up, and they have no recollection of it. Then you have to order again and they tell you it’s 30 mins for the rice… so what was the point in preordering? Meanwhile we had bread… I mean, the dry, tasteless thing they dare to call bread… finally the rice arrived, it’s not the one we ordered, there’s calamari in it when I didn’t want any. We still ate it. It’s over salted, like you need to drink water (they don’t offer tap water) with every mouthful just to dilute the salt. It doesn’t smell fresh, it doesn’t taste fresh either… just appalling. Really shocked this place has any popularity, but then everybody inside was above 60, so maybe there’s a generation taste gap…

We had an absolute treat at Goya Gallery Restaurant in Valencia, tucked away in the lively Ruzafa neighborhood. This place is a gem—gorgeous vibes, super friendly staff, and food that’s seriously top-notch. No wonder it’s listed as a Michelin Guide Restaurant! We went for the shrimp paella, and oh man, it was delicious—hands down the best paella we’ve ever had. Paired it with a crisp, dry Verdejo white wine that hit all the right spots. For starters, we had smashed tomatoes with bread—simple but so good—and wrapped things up with a zesty lime sorbet for dessert. Pure class from start to finish. I totally recommend this spot to anyone looking for a memorable meal in Valencia!

The paella here is terrible. The worst we ve had in Spain, and other countries. The service is extremely arrogant. I do not recommend. - a little update from the next day. We have also got food poisoning from the food… I really recommend you to avoid

We recently dined at Goya Restaurant in Valencia, which we chose based on positive reviews and a recommendation from our Airbnb host. While we had high expectations, our experience was unfortunately disappointing. The starters were well-prepared and enjoyable, but the paella we ordered was excessively salty—to the point that we could not finish it. We politely mentioned this to the waiter, who acknowledged that the dish should not taste that way. After that, no staff member returned to check on us for quite some time, which left us feeling ignored and uncomfortable. In addition, we were charged for a bottle of sparkling water that we did not order. Due to the language barrier, it was difficult to address the issue directly at the time. We were also charged the full price of the paella per person, despite only ordering and receiving one shared dish. There was no mention of the price being per person, and this is not clearly stated on the English version of the menu. We have kept the receipt as evidence of both the overcharge and the incorrect billing. After our visit, we checked more reviews and noticed that excessively salty dishes seem to be a recurring complaint. This clearly suggests a pattern, not just an isolated incident. For a Michelin-listed restaurant, this kind of recurring issue—combined with poor communication and lack of accountability—is simply unacceptable. Given the poor experience, the quality of the main dish, the unresolved billing errors, and what now appears to be a consistent problem with food preparation, we are requesting a refund or at least partial compensation.

I think it is overrated. Got a tip from BBC article about a traditional paella in Valencia. Goya Gallery seemed like a perfect choice for in city dining and a holder of Michelin star. Unfortunately, our expectations were not matched. We tried several different dishes, and paella was the worst. I am not an expert on paella, but regardless of my limited knowledge of the dish, I know it shouldn't be that salty. And it is not just me. My wife sad the same from the first bite. Rice on the sides, and the bottom was burned. If this is a traditional way of cooking paella, it seems very strange. Due to being so salty, I couldn't really taste anything. I understand that restaurant is a business and has to make money but 36 Euro for paella with just one chicken drumstick, two chicken winglet, and three small pieces of rabbit which was also dry seemed like too overpriced. (That was traditional Valencian paella, probably should've ordered seafood one). Service was decent, and Scarlet shrimp’s dish was good and interesting. However, we wanted to try real paella and were disappointed with what we tasted.

The meal was ordinary, the small starters were good but the Fideuà was way overcooked and the seafood was rubbery. A chef in a restaurant like this shouldn't serve it like that.