ricard camarena at valencia, spain: how does the 7th best vegetarian restaurant in the world also hold 2 michelin stars?

ricard camarena is not just the one of a kind restaurant located in the city of valencia, spain – ricard camarena is the chef behind the creative and michelin-star worthy vegetarian dishes that are mostly grown in his own farm and well enjoyed by diners from all over the globe.

arriving the restaurant was such a stark contrast from the outside world – coming from the busy streets, ricard camerena made us feel like we were at the country side of spain.

this was not be my first time dining at a michelin-rated restaurant, but i must say, i think it stands as the most worthy of its stars.

HIGHLIGHTS:
the meal started off strong being personally served by ricard camarena himself – it was a delight to find out how his menu is heavily inspired by japanese ingredients.

1) chef ricard camarena sliced 3 kinds of tuna – toro, chutoro, and otoro – however it was not raw/fresh, rather it was CURED! It was my first time trying atun curado and best believe there's no better atun curado out there. Ricard does it best.

2) every course married seafood and vegetables in the most unexpected way. fish and veggies is just like any other normal food combination – but ricard camarena's interpretation does not just perfectly marry the two food groups, but rather he transcends its nature into a totally different form/flavor/feel.

3) the best dishes that tasted so different from its nature
– fermented cucumber filled with fermented tomatoes that had a texture and flavor of smoked tuna
– hamachi oyster in a shitake mousse and pea shoot oil, bruh how did these mushrooms turn into bechamel
– white asparagus in its own sauce/emulsion, mussels, clams, shimeji, the asparagus has a bite similar to squid – it tasted like a hearty clam chowder in the bay area but light like a salad
– chocolate socarrat – socarrat is the burnt bottom of the rice in paella. filpinos call it "tutong". since paella is basically a bed of grains + stock + proteins cooked altogether on a paella above a stove, the bottom/base of the rice gets crispy. ricard camarena served sweet paella, specifically chocolate and only the socarrat. delicious, unique, and UNFORGETTABLE.

oftentimes, at least for me, michelin-star rated restaurants are only worth to try once – and that totally defeats the purpose of the star which is a mark of how worthy it is to visit – but ricard camarena is a restaurant i'd be willing to try upon every menu change. and what makes this even more amazing, as a very carnivorous asian, is it was 80% vegetables 20% seafood.

Salud, ricard camarena! thank you for sharing your gift of creating dishes and an experience worth coming back to!