Restaurante Vuelve Carolina

The food and the interior of this beautiful restaurant are really great and nice. That being said, our evening was unfortunately disturbed by 1 waitress, who had a very difficult time understanding what attentiveness and friendliness means. From the first until the last moment, she wasn’t able to serve us in a proper manner. Please do yourself + guests a favour and find another profession. (Lady, short hair and piercings) Luckily, there was an additional waitress who is made for the hospitality sector and was able to still push the atmosphere up. The 1 star is for you, redhead 😉

Vuelve Carolina is a bar-restaurant by a 2-Michelin starred chef (the Michelin restaurant’s entrance is next door). The design and the overall atmosphere are lovely. The cocktails list looks very extensive and the bar seems professionally run. The dishes are creative. They combine some local motives with oriental flavors and techniques. One thing that completely stood out and, quite frankly, ruined the experience was the service at the table. It was completely inappropriate. Our waitress couldn’t explain anything about the dishes (not an issue of a language barrier). The glasses and the plates were not taken off the table when they should. The menus were brought and taken back at completely unclear points in time. The dishes were brought out of order. The overall sensation was that of a complete chaos. Frankly, I don’t believe that the waiter/waitress should be blamed in such cases. It is a matter of responsibility for whoever manages the service. Respectfully, you cannot have such a service at a restaurant (bar) of this level.

Really enjoyed the evening. We arrived at 20.30 and were placed at a table alllll the way in the back. Eventhough there was space in the front. We didn’t really understand why. Would be nicer to sit in the main area. Our waiter was Iñaki. He was a true star! Super friendly and helped us explaining the menu and gave recommendations for a pregnant woman. The food was a whole experience. We really enjoyed our evening here (despite the poor placement all the way in the back)

This is a nice looking bar-restaurant both outside and inside. We went in later at night, about 10pm, to finish off the night with a cocktail and dessert. The service was helpful and attentive. However, there was a constant, overwhelming odor in the restaurant - bar area. The odor was similar to sewage / bathroomy urine smell. We ate as quickly as we could and exited. We were disappointed.

We got the menu accompanied by the cocktails. the food and cocktails were good, tasty and of quality. the service was not the best (one would expect a bit more in such an establishment), the waitress had troubles explaining the dishes (in spanish) and also some of the plates were left on the table even though the next course already arrived. overall it was a nice experience though.

Incredible!!! And so affordable too! The set menus are amazing value for money and every dish is an explosion of flavours. Service was personable and pleasant. The only minor thing is there was a bit of a draft because the door was kept open during lunch. Highly recommend!

Went for lunch on a Tuesday. Sat at the bar alone but the bartender took fantastic care of me. Loved everything except that weird Caesar salad. Highly recommend

Our table all ordered the 4 course meal. The food was decent, but had higher expectations given the Michelin chef. My desert was served with a fruit fly but I quickly asked to have it replaced and they brought out a new one (I think the waitress grinned while taking it back). Reservations recommended even for a weekday

This was our last full day in Valencia and my friend who lives there had planned a lunch for us here. We had some friends that were available last minute and the restaurant was nice enough to allow them to make a reservation as well and seat us all next to each other. My first note walking in was that the restaurant was beautiful. From all the foliage, to the decor, and even the bathrooms were really cool... props to the designer. We all did the coursed lunch which made it easy to sit back and enjoy everyones company without having to coordinate ordering enough for everyone. Lunch was definitely a great way to experience this restaurant and the creativity of the dishes was really unique. For what you get, this is very affordable for such a top notch experience.

Ive been a fan of Quique Dacosta's for a long while now. However the journey down to Denia where his flagship has always eluded me. I come back to the area a couple years later and he's now got three restaurants! So what do I do? Go to all of them of course! Having carted me around for a good day and also cooking for me in their home, I felt I needed to treat my friends to a night out. Since we had done many traditional eateries the few days prior, it was time to get a modern take on the local Spanish cuisine. Unlike the remote flagship in Denia, Vuelva Carolina is smack dab in the middle of the Valencia city center. After the stone like facade with the large open glass windows and doors, the makeup is majorly blonde wood throughout, accented in every way. It's very modern, nothing like the tapas bars in the rest of the old town. A set of banquettes line the left side, recessed into the wall.Plentiful bar seating is opposite. As you look forward,the wine cellar towers above the entrance to a back dining room, with the kitchen and restrooms sweeping to the right. It is notable that chef Dacosta has built El Poblet, the former restaurant owned by his parents where his flagship lies now is right next door. We are seated in the middle of the main room my friends peruse the menu and realize these are takes on many of the foods they grew up with. So I let them order, after all this is their night. We are started with a bowl of olives, a selections of rolls and bread crisps. My friends being the Spaniards they are, immediately get a bottle of Pazo Senorans Albarino from Galicia. My friends confer with our server and we end up with: -Mackerel wrapped in bitter greens -Jamon sliced thin in savory sauce -Shaved una belly in savory sauce -Foie gras cuba libre -Scallops in their shell -Grilled octopus with pimenton -Date cake with almond ice cream -Chocolate torte with mandarin oranges znd their gelee -Violet Yogurt Everything was delicious. My friends quickly realized the flavors were all mostly from their childhood but the presentations were all reinterpreted. Sometimes no initial recognition but when it hit their palates, you could see the look in their eyes of familiarity. All I know was it all tasted great. The service was solid and they took great care of us. I think some of it may have been because of an encounter Ill describe below. I got to use the restroom and as I walked through the back dining room I saw a familiar face. A man I had seen at lunch at Ricard Camarena's restaurant earlier in the day. We look at each other and we start to chat. Turns out he's Rafael Palacios of the famous Palacios Rioja family. He however has decided to go on his own and make wines with the Bobal grape in Galicia. He's sitting with a local winemaker of Bodega Mustiguillo. What are the chances in all of the restaurants in Valencia and all of the time slots, that I would run into this man twice in the same day? The world is a crazy small place. When I get back from chatting with him and the restroom, the sommelier shows up with a bottle of 2012 Mestizaje. I look at my friends, they look at me. "Did you order this?" I say. "No. I have no idea where it came from" they respond. The somm then tells my friends that Rafael and his friend had sent it over. Talk about hospitality! They dont even work at the restaurant. I think the mutual love of food however, could not have gone un noticed and as I always say, "the best way to be accepted by a culture is to eat their food". Not only did I get to celebrate with my friends, we got the opportunity to make new ones. I will definitely be visiting their vineyards in my next trip to Spain. Top that off with the great food we had, it made for one great night. We had just missed chef Dacoasta by an hour or so, but I would be headed to see him in Denia the next night. An awesome alternative to your familiar traditional Spanish fare, done with flare and creativity, with plenty of Spanish hospitality to boot.

Not super impressed.. But good and they try. Better on paper. The cava was good and the bao bun and pork taco delish... But overall felt like it was missing something. The Tikka masala taco was good too but tasted like Tikka masala in a taco, not jumping off the plate. Solid three star

Experiencia gastronomica con altibajos y sufrimiento por si te vas a quedar con hambre hasta el final. El menu individual, 27 euros mas las 4 copas de vino, mas el pan, suma casi 80 euros. Los 2 primeros platos, desiguales, unas cebolletas rellenas minimas, una presa iberica que hay comer con pinzas, por lo desgadissima. El plato de mouse de foie con cuba libre muy bueno. Del arroz con bacalao, solo destacaba el fondo por su sabor pero el resto de ingredientes no estaban integrados, nada memorable. Dos postres, el de yogurt con violetas muy bueno, la ganduja de citricos, olvidable. El cafe sin ningun detallito. El local, con un abuso en el aprovechamiento del espacio. Temiamos por nuestras espaldas cada vez que el servicio nos pasaba las bandejas rozando. Servicio desbordado. La experiencia real no estuvo a la altura de las expectativas.

Very good tapas, some with tastes i've never tasted before. Friendly staff & atmosphere. I can higly recommend this place (which i'm doing right now ;))

Poor service spoiled our meal. You can tell a lot about a place by the way it treats travelers. We booked Vuelve Carolina based on the New York Times recommendation. Upon arrival, we were led past multiple vacant front tables into a back room and given a table close to a family with young children. We asked to be moved and were. Our waiter didn't bother to even greet us, was snippy about helping us with the WiFi password, and proceeded to get one of our four orders wrong. He then apparently handed us off to his co-workers and we never interacted with him again. Subsequent waiters were cold, and this is not a stuffy place. The food was good but the meal was definitely tainted by the attitude of the servers, which is a shame as this was our first meal in the wonderful city of Valencia.

The tapas menu wasn't as good as i thought . I believe their normal menu food is more delicious. Service was excellent.