Is there a Michelin star restaurant in Valencia?

Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city, stands proudly within the gastronomic landscape of the country, and the answer to whether it hosts Michelin-starred restaurants is an emphatic yes. Far from being a city where one must travel far afield for world-class dining, Valencia and its surrounding province hold a significant cluster of commendations from the MICHELIN Guide. As of the 2026 guide, the Community of Valencia boasted 29 starred establishments across its territory. This impressive figure confirms Valencia's status as a culinary destination worthy of serious attention from food enthusiasts.

# City Stars

Within the city limits of Valencia itself, the concentration of starred excellence is striking, featuring multiple restaurants holding both one and two Michelin stars. The awarding of a single star signifies "high-quality cooking, worth a stop," while two stars indicate "excellent cooking, worth a detour".

Two establishments within Valencia city have achieved the rank of Two Michelin Stars. First is Ricard Camarena Restaurant, situated in the Art Deco Bombas Gens Art Centre. Chef Ricard Camarena’s cooking is described as elegant and seasonal Mediterranean, deeply focused on the quality of local ingredients, even offering a dedicated vegetarian tasting menu. One enthusiastic diner, having experienced hundreds of star-rated restaurants globally, suggested the experience here rivals that of many three-star venues, praising the "insane flavour" and true delivery of the "farm to table" ethos.

The second two-star venue in the city is Restaurante El Poblet, helmed by Chef Luis Valls under the guidance of the famous Quique Dacosta. This restaurant offers a modern, bold approach to traditional Valencian cuisine, strongly emphasizing sustainability and proximity to regional products, including the sea and local orchards. Diners frequently note the impeccable service and the creative, visually stunning presentation of every course.

Beyond the two-star tier, the city offers a strong contingent of One Michelin Star recipients, each bringing a distinct personality to the dining scene.

• Fierro is a highly intimate venue, seating a maximum of ten people, where Mediterranean flavors meet an Argentinian inflection, guided by chefs German Carrizo and Carito Lourenco. A signature element of the Fierro experience is the convivial, relaxed atmosphere where the dishes are often tasted and evaluated before the server reveals the ingredients, providing an element of surprise and play.
• La Salita de Begoña Rodrigo, located in an 18th-century mansion in the Ruzafa neighborhood, has earned one star and two Repsol Suns. Chef Begoña Rodrigo creates a culinary narrative blending local tastes with Asian and Latin American influences.
• Restaurante RiFF, led by Chef Bernd Knoller, maintains a chic, stylish setting, utilizing large round tables partially separated by fine gauze curtains, creating a semi-private booth arrangement around the central kitchen. The cooking is modern Mediterranean, and one review highlighted the exceptionally creative dessert designed to look like spaghetti, which was actually a surprising combination of tomato and parmesan.
• Restaurante Lienzo is housed in a former art gallery, reflecting its name, and its menu carries forward an artistic spirit, including themes inspired by the chef’s beekeeping. They focus heavily on seasonal, local, and bio/organic produce, with one diner suggesting its culinary execution was deserving of a second star.
• Other recognized one-star restaurants in the city include Fraula, Kaido Sushi Bar—noted as the sole starred Japanese establishment in the whole community—and Riff, among others.

# Provincial Heights

While the city center shines brightly, the ultimate pinnacle of Michelin recognition in the wider Valencian region is located outside the capital. Quique Dacosta Restaurante in Dénia holds the region’s Three Michelin Stars, the guide's highest honor, signifying "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey". This places the entire coastal region on the same high plane as Spain’s top culinary destinations.

Further extending the reach of starred dining, the province includes other two-star restaurants such as BomAmb in Xàbia and L’Escalata in Cocentaina. This distribution shows a deliberate cultivation of high gastronomy across the region, not just centralized in the city proper. When planning a special trip, a visitor should recognize that the commitment to the region's produce—from the Mediterranean Sea to the inland farms—is the unifying thread tying these highly-rated chefs together, whether they are reinterpreting classics at El Poblet or focusing on sustainability at Lienzo.

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# Beyond the Star

The Michelin Guide extends recognition to restaurants that demonstrate excellent quality and value, such as the Bib Gourmand, or those simply "Selected" for good cooking. A savvy traveler looking to experience the quality associated with the Michelin ecosystem without the typical tasting-menu commitment of a starred venue can find fantastic culinary proxies.

For instance, Bar El Mercat is a gastro bar concept from the three-star chef Quique Dacosta, aiming to make exceptional food casual and accessible, offering dishes like Parmesan cream airbag for a very moderate price point. Similarly, La Barra de Kaymus, led by Chef Nacho Romero (who trained under Michelin-recognized chefs), has achieved Bib Gourmand recognition. Romero’s philosophy centers on high-quality ingredients, especially seafood, executed with precision rooted in Valencian tradition. These Bib Gourmand spots can often provide a more spontaneous, less restrictive entry point into the quality standards upheld by the inspectors.

If you are organizing your dining schedule in Valencia, consider the inherent structure of these elite experiences. Venues like Fierro, with a maximum capacity of ten, demand booking far in advance, sometimes weeks or months ahead, especially given their unique concept where service timing is part of the artistic progression. In contrast, a venue like Ricard Camarena, while incredibly high-level, adapted to pandemic conditions by offering outdoor seating, which might offer a slightly different, albeit still exceptional, experience regarding atmosphere. A traveler must decide if they prioritize the intimate culinary theatre of a tiny venue or the grander setting of a well-established two-star house. The menu structure itself must also be considered; some offer a fixed, lengthy tasting menu that takes up an entire evening, while others, like the Bib Gourmand venues, allow for a more traditional tapas-style approach, letting you curate your own high-quality meal. Ultimately, Valencia presents an embarrassment of riches, confirming its position as a capital of Spanish gastronomy with its roster of esteemed stars and associated accolades.