Botafumeiro

We went to Botafumeiro following a very high recommendation. I am very disappointed to inform you that I have never experienced such appalling service.

We arrived on time (21.00) and were seated immediately. We were then given menus and left for 25 minutes. We asked the waiter 3 times if we could order some drinks but he just ignored us. I then managed to speak to a more senior waiter (also VERY rude) who said that the delay was because there were so many ‘foreigners’ in the restaurant that evening. As a foreigner in the tourist mecca of Barcelona I would have thought that the foreigners were still quite important? No-one asked if we speak Spanish - my two children both speak Spanish so there would not have been a problem.

The elderly ‘Spanish’ waiter got ruder and ruder. He was speaking so me in Spanish (even though I told him twice that I do not speak Spanish) being very patronising – like I said, my children do speak Spanish and were unhappy with the way he was speaking to me. The order for the drinks got mixed up and there was no apology. Everything was virtually thrown on to the table and he took great pleasure in leaning over my husband and daughter to place things on the table instead of stepping round the table.

In the end, it was a relief that the meal ended and we could leave. I absolutely refused to leave any tip which is extremely unlike me as I understand that the tips go to the people who work behind the scenes.
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wendy
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Monday, October 27, 2008

We, 8 of us in Barcelona for a family celebration, decided to eat here after reading various other reviews. What a place...

On arrival, we thought that we would be sitting on bar stools watching the kitchen at work (which is possible - probably regular locals?) but we were led past more and more tables (the place is a tardis!) until we arrived at our huge table(could have seated 10) on the mezzanine. The maitre'd was very friendly and helpful, giving us full descriptions in excellent english. One of the starters is for two (or at least 3 or 4) and is the largest selection of seafood i have ever seen - it was a pricey choice at nearly £50, but it was magnificent. The service was faultless and although an upmarket restaurant was in no way stuffy or pretensious. Highly recommended!
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H Alston
Saturday, November 10, 2007