Begin Pascual i Genís — Restaurant in Valencia

We've been to another begin restaurant which we loved so wanted to try one in Valencia.... We were told to wait outside along with a queue of people, even with a reservation. No staff to be seen and the restaurant was empty! We finally got taken to our table which felt like in the hallway rather than the actual restaurant. Maybe it was a coincident but all the other guests in the hallway area were non Spanish too 🤔 we waited 40 minutes to even get a drink. Then our starters came we had 3 of them to share between 2 of us. Humus, tuna bao bun and sweet potatoes. All nice but the sweet pot was mushy and just warm. The bao bun wasn't soft and light as it should be it felt stale. Our main course came soon after the plates were cleared. My husband had fish and I had the ribs. My ribs were ok little taste and the sauce had gone thick and solid as wasn't very warm. The veg was burnt. My husbands fish was cold served on a cold plate when he took his first mouth full he had at least 2 big bones, which is unacceptable! He had over 6 bones in the tiny piece of fish! He complained to a waitress that it was cold who said nothing and just took the plate away. Minutes later it was back the same piece but had just been microwaved! The bones we're clearly visible on the plate too. The fish eggs served with the dish now microwaved had exploded! The waiter vanished before this could be pointed out. For the cost of both plates I'd expect more than this. Each interaction with the staff serving us was a different waiter or waitress. I went to the toilets, during the short walk there I was 'bumped' into by the same member of staff 3 times who seemed to be rushing around like a headless chicken. That was enough for me so we didn't bother ordering another drink or dessert and left! The drinks choice was poor....wine, beer or juice. I ended up with tap water which they charged 1.70e for....the waitress even confirmed it was just tap water. There's a law that in Spain you are not required to pay for tap water! The decor is beautiful but the walls had food splash marks on and the low back bench were very uncomfortable to sit on as when you tried to lean back to support your back you fell into fake plants. We were truly...

Cheap fare in a pretentious setting

I expected much from the pictures and a good number of enthusiastic ratings and was deeply disappointed. The design and interior are the only enjoyable thing about this place. The waiting staff was inattentive, and after having escorted me to my table let me sit and wait for quite a while before producing the booklet with the QR code for the menu. The menu is only available in Spanish, not English; quite unfortunate in a touristic location. I had to have Google translate the page and it came out ludicrous.

The so called rosé I ordered was bright pink and probably some of the worst wine I've ever had. The starter, something with tuna, was mediocre enough and doused with a strange orange sauce. The main course arrived barely after I'd finished the starter, and I almost lost it then: The waiter picked up my used knife and fork from the starter plate, removed the empty plate set the plate with the main course in front of me and deposited my dirty cutlery on the bare table, leaving the knife to stain the table with sauce. I was entirely stupefied that he did not think of bringing fresh cutlery!

After a few bites of the main course, some cannelloni with pork, I pushed away the plate demonstratively. It was overcooked and mushy and drowned in some weird sauce and with ketchup or something on it; far from anything anybody would consider tasty. I was left to sit like that for a while; waiting staff walked by my table repeatedly and empty-handed and nobody bothered to ask whether something was wrong with the food or clear it away. When the waitress finally removed the plate, I told her that it wasn't good. She simply smiled at me. I repeated the same message in other words, and she turned around and walked away.

They are absolutely clueless and have no idea of proper service, much less how to deal with...

A rather disappointing experience, following all the hype we've seen on Social Media and elsewhere.

The welcome was efficient and was seated within 2 minutes. Language was a barrier, so the host was kind enough to ask a colleague to take my order. Order taking, no issues.

My starter was out quickly. The Beef Carpaccio was great. The Avocado and Chicken option, nice, but nothing extraordinary. In my humble opinion, I would have done more with avocado as it is an avocado starter (as mentioned in the menu), and less with the chicken filling, which from my understanding was to accompany the Avocado... Anyway, personal opinion only. Taste lacked character.

My Main course was brought to me before i had even finished my starter. So felt rather rushed. To crown it all, the main was luke warm. I am a big fan of Spanish beef, and love meat generally. This was a real disappointment. I chose the beef rib, which was braised. It melted in the mouth, but that's as far as positives can go. No seasoning, and the sauce/jus/gravy (whatever one wants to call it), was tasteless... had what appeared to be herbs... but it all felt rather watered down. Vegetables/garnishing... no effort was made here, leaving it off the dish altogether would have had the same effect.

My main was cleared, and then waited 27 minutes before anyone cam to ask if i wanted a dessert or coffee... I can understand waiting if a restaurant is full and crazy busy... however, this was not the case. I finally got a cortado, also disappointing and barely warm, with no effort to the froth.

Anyway, a definite disappointment. This definitely does not make the cut to be a recommended restaurant to...