Royal Plaza Restaurant

Royal Plaza is a small, family-run seafood restaurant in the Public Market, opened recently by one reviewer's account. It is not on Tripadvisor; on Google it scores 4.7 from 33 reviews, and the Index is 4.60. We re-read the reviews on 6 September 2026, fifteen with text, the newest from June 2026.

The seafood paella is the dish people remember. One December 2025 reviewer rated it 13 out of 10 and the best meal they had in Gibraltar; a detailed April 2026 account praises its sweet, well-seasoned paprika and sofrito flavour and perfectly cooked rice, missing only a crisp socarrat, and notes it is normally pre-ordered. The same reviewer worked through fried anchovies, cuttlefish with garlic, clams, prawn pil pil and swordfish, and found nearly all of it lovely and great value. Fish and chips, calamari and the chips themselves get repeat praise.

The welcome carries the place. Alan, serving and apparently managing, is described as extremely kind and hospitable, and review after review mentions friendly, polite, professional staff who make you welcome even when you are the only table, which several people were.

The dissent is about pace and expectations. A Spanish party in December 2025 sat down at lunchtime and waited over an hour for starters and two for the rice. A February 2026 reviewer arrived at opening time to a dark room, waited 20 minutes for the staff to set up, and then disputed a 'peppered steak' that came sliced and mixed with chips; a follow-up exchange with the owner did not resolve it. Another found the fish over-battered and the fries ordinary.

Come for seafood paella, fresh fish and chips and a genuinely warm family welcome in the Public Market, pre-ordering the paella and allowing time for it. Go knowing that empty rooms and slow rice are part of the record. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here; this write-up is drawn from the reviews.