Restaurante Babalu Mediterraneo & Caribeño — Restaurant in Valencia

I am a tourist from England. A week ago, we came to this restaurant with expectations due to its good reviews on Maps. However, the food served was appalling. We ordered the seafood paella and fried squid. The seafood paella was basically inedible. The mussels were rotten (literally) and we did not eat any of them. The shrimp was not fresh at all. The squid was way too oily. We tried to finish everything so the kids were not affected by this. At the end of the meal, we asked to speak to the chef, just to give our opinions on the food. However, the chef refused to see us. The waitress informed us that she was going to speak to the chef for us. This was an incredibly disappointing experience for us, and I would advise everyone to steer clear of this place until they actually make substantial improvements.

Edit: After reply of accusing me that I’m telling lies’, I am writing this edit. It is laughable that when sometimes people expose you, you can say anything to avoid responsibility. Let’s recognise that this restaurant always replies to bad reviews with accusations that we are not telling the truth. I urge the people of Valencia to not go to this restaurant, and report this restaurant to suitable health and safety authorities. I will be...

I had high hopes for our meal here after all the good reviews, but I was sadly disappointed. We went on a Sunday night, so maybe not the best time to go. The paella was more expensive than in images of their menu from just a few months ago and we were disappointed that you could not get a single serving as some of the other reviews suggested (we know that it is more common to have paella in 2+ servings). We got the seafood paella and the rice was a bit bland with no crispy bottom. The cuttlefish and squid were nice and tender, but the mussels were there solely for decoration since they had no meat inside any of them. The shrimp were juicy, but served whole and still had the vein inside making it gritty and unpleasant (perhaps it is not typical to clean shrimp here?). We finished with a flan which was very overcooked, the custard was dense and curdled and not pleasant. I really expected better...

Possibly the worst service I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Food was nice which grants it 2 stars. Manager (owner?) was incredibly rude the entire time and waited n30 minutes for one tapas plate, when I asked how much longer I was just told ‘it is coming’. We ordered two beers, he didn’t respond, ordered again and he joked ‘so 4 beers then’ 10 minutes later I had to ask again and he left the two beers on the bar for me to come pick up by myself. If I wanted to be a waiter and collect my own beers I would work there. Don’t go here, surprised the current reviews are so high because as far as I could see, the service was terrible with everyone

EDIT: changing review due to rude comment of owner. I write a bad review of service and i am called racist? It doesnt make sense and also shows the person can not accept criticism towards their restaurant or service even though everything that was originally...