G
Gourmands
New member
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2010
- Messages
- 37
I’m sure anyone reading our previous report will realise we have a love for good food and wines in the beautiful PP area.
Day 8 – Can Josep, each year we like to visit a new restaurant for us based upon comments from the forum. We found Can Josep to have a warm welcome, lovely food, beautiful view and great customer experience.
Tonight Mrs G wanted to try a dish we’d heard about but hadn’t seen before on a dinner menu – huevos xorizo. This dish is cooked in a small frying pan and includes tomatoes, peppers, spicy chorizo sausage with two soft fried eggs; simple but delicious! The rest of us had 2 x sizzling garlic prawns and a calamari. Another new dish was Mr G’s dentex fish (similar to bream) ugly (fish not Mr G) meaty & tasty. Other mains were John Dory, seafood tagliatelli and chicken & pepper sauce. Mr G opted for almond cake & ice cream with the rest sharing strawberries & cream. Another new wine we tried was Buxtac(?) a local merlot which was delicious. We had such a lovely night here; the owner was informative and attentive. We will definitely be back on our next visit.
Day 9 – back to Cellar la Parra just as enjoyable as our previous visit. Started with melon & serrano ham, 2 x prawn cocktail and chicken croquettes. Followed by suckling pig, lamb shoulder, chicken and pepper sauce and pork fillets. Finishing with almond cake & ice cream, chocolate ice cream, fruit salad, coffee and a carajillo. We had the usual 2 x jarra de la casa tinto and ½ rose. Fabulous!
Day 10 – Stay, this has been a family favourite for a number of years however we will not be going back.
The restaurant was busy when we arrived, people were being seated inside which for this time of the year is unusual. We should have seen the warning sign at this point. As always the food was consistent and well presented. We ordered from the a la carte menu - starters included 2 x shrimp soup, prawn tagliatelli and langoustine tempura. This was followed by guinea fowl & champagne sauce, sea bass, John Dory and a prawn curry. Desserts were fruit salad, pear tart & ice cream with café con leche and an Irish coffee. Wine was a bottle of Susana as they did not have Mortitx and a glass of rose. Up to this point all was fine however it started to fall apart when we requested the bill from a senior front of house person. He was off hand and did not offer us the customary on the house liqueur - this was offered to tables round about. 20 minutes later the bill had still not arrived despite a further request. We noticed other tables experiencing the same delay. Eventually a harassed Jose Maria (manager) arrived with the bill, which had a significant mistake from what we had ordered. We challenged this and he blamed the ‘machine’ for the mistake at no point was an apology offered for the mistake or delay. There was a further delay and eventually a junior waitress slipped the bill on the table. I told her I was unhappy about the delay, bill error, lack of apology and no customary drink being offered. I paid the bill, at this point she apologised and dashed off to speak with another senior front of house member. As we were leaving we were approached by the senior waiter, once again there was no apology but he did offer us a drink. Both Mr G and I expressed our disappointment and said we would not return to this restaurant.
This could have been resolved quickly by Jose Maria taking ownership, apologising and dealing with this in a professional manner. It’s such a pity as our night ended on a low point.
It appears that the focus for this restaurant is now on footfall and not providing a great customer experience. This can be an expensive restaurant where you would expect the customer service to match the location and food. There is so much competition in PP e.g. O’Lume, Iru & Can Josep to name a few. Stay must review their priorities or potentially lose regular diners.
Day 11 – back to the professional expertise of O’Lume and what a contrast to the previous night.
Whilst we waited for our meal we were treated to an amuse bouche of tuna and salsa – delicious. Tonight we started with 3 x sizzling garlic prawns and a ricotta ravioli. Followed by 2 x confit of duck with raisins & pine nuts (a first for Miss G who declared it wonderful), a T-bone steak devoured with relish and a pork & mustard sauce. Desserts consisted of home-made sorbets & ice cream. Once again we had a Buxtad (?) merlot and ½ bottle of rose. As usual Jaime offered us a drink on the house. This was a lovely relaxing evening which more than made up for the disappointment of the previous evening.
Day 12 – Los Faroles, this restaurant narrowly missed out on our top 5 this year. One of the unique qualities of this restaurant is being presented by the owner with a wheelbarrow of fresh fish, each one described in detail and how you can have it cooked – wonderful idea.
We started with camembert & blackcurrant jelly, prawn cocktail, Soller prawns (very special, a must try) and chicken croquettes. Mains consisted of turbot, John Dory, sea bass and lamb chops for the carnivore in our party! Desserts were a delight with walnut nougat, mixed berry sundae and cardinale (?) cake, coffee and carajillo. Tonight’s wine was an excellent Ses Nines.
Day 13 – El Posito a lovely welcome again from Toni and his team.
Only 3 starters tonight – 2 garlic prawns (much larger than those served elsewhere) and cod & prawn croquettes. This was followed by suckling pig, rosemary lamb and 2 x John Dory with garlic (Miss G declared this her dish of the holiday). We all had desserts tonight 3 x caramelised apples on a flaky pastry base with ice cream (mmmm!) and a strawberry ice cream. We washed this down with another favourite wine 2 x Macia Batle and liquors on the house.
This is a consistently good restaurant where locals eat alongside holiday makers – always a good sign. We got the chance to say our farewells to Lyn and Colin; we look forward to seeing them again next year.
Day 14 – our final night – Iru this is a must for anyone wanting a beautiful sea view, fantastic food & wine all delivered with a professional, friendly service.
Our amuse bouche tonight was a mussel on a bed of salsa – fantastic! Starters consisted of green salad & goats cheese, parmesan risotto with truffles, mussels & broth and Miss Gs favourite – Caesar salad. Mains - mozzarella & tomato ravioli, tagliatelli amatriciana, meat ravioli and sea bass with green pepper sauce. Followed by mango & tangerine sorbet, almond cake & ice cream and a cappuccino, all washed down with the excellent Mortitx and a large glass of rose.
PP is such a special place, the people are friendly, food is excellent and wines superb roll on our next visit!
Day 8 – Can Josep, each year we like to visit a new restaurant for us based upon comments from the forum. We found Can Josep to have a warm welcome, lovely food, beautiful view and great customer experience.
Tonight Mrs G wanted to try a dish we’d heard about but hadn’t seen before on a dinner menu – huevos xorizo. This dish is cooked in a small frying pan and includes tomatoes, peppers, spicy chorizo sausage with two soft fried eggs; simple but delicious! The rest of us had 2 x sizzling garlic prawns and a calamari. Another new dish was Mr G’s dentex fish (similar to bream) ugly (fish not Mr G) meaty & tasty. Other mains were John Dory, seafood tagliatelli and chicken & pepper sauce. Mr G opted for almond cake & ice cream with the rest sharing strawberries & cream. Another new wine we tried was Buxtac(?) a local merlot which was delicious. We had such a lovely night here; the owner was informative and attentive. We will definitely be back on our next visit.
Day 9 – back to Cellar la Parra just as enjoyable as our previous visit. Started with melon & serrano ham, 2 x prawn cocktail and chicken croquettes. Followed by suckling pig, lamb shoulder, chicken and pepper sauce and pork fillets. Finishing with almond cake & ice cream, chocolate ice cream, fruit salad, coffee and a carajillo. We had the usual 2 x jarra de la casa tinto and ½ rose. Fabulous!
Day 10 – Stay, this has been a family favourite for a number of years however we will not be going back.
The restaurant was busy when we arrived, people were being seated inside which for this time of the year is unusual. We should have seen the warning sign at this point. As always the food was consistent and well presented. We ordered from the a la carte menu - starters included 2 x shrimp soup, prawn tagliatelli and langoustine tempura. This was followed by guinea fowl & champagne sauce, sea bass, John Dory and a prawn curry. Desserts were fruit salad, pear tart & ice cream with café con leche and an Irish coffee. Wine was a bottle of Susana as they did not have Mortitx and a glass of rose. Up to this point all was fine however it started to fall apart when we requested the bill from a senior front of house person. He was off hand and did not offer us the customary on the house liqueur - this was offered to tables round about. 20 minutes later the bill had still not arrived despite a further request. We noticed other tables experiencing the same delay. Eventually a harassed Jose Maria (manager) arrived with the bill, which had a significant mistake from what we had ordered. We challenged this and he blamed the ‘machine’ for the mistake at no point was an apology offered for the mistake or delay. There was a further delay and eventually a junior waitress slipped the bill on the table. I told her I was unhappy about the delay, bill error, lack of apology and no customary drink being offered. I paid the bill, at this point she apologised and dashed off to speak with another senior front of house member. As we were leaving we were approached by the senior waiter, once again there was no apology but he did offer us a drink. Both Mr G and I expressed our disappointment and said we would not return to this restaurant.
This could have been resolved quickly by Jose Maria taking ownership, apologising and dealing with this in a professional manner. It’s such a pity as our night ended on a low point.
It appears that the focus for this restaurant is now on footfall and not providing a great customer experience. This can be an expensive restaurant where you would expect the customer service to match the location and food. There is so much competition in PP e.g. O’Lume, Iru & Can Josep to name a few. Stay must review their priorities or potentially lose regular diners.
Day 11 – back to the professional expertise of O’Lume and what a contrast to the previous night.
Whilst we waited for our meal we were treated to an amuse bouche of tuna and salsa – delicious. Tonight we started with 3 x sizzling garlic prawns and a ricotta ravioli. Followed by 2 x confit of duck with raisins & pine nuts (a first for Miss G who declared it wonderful), a T-bone steak devoured with relish and a pork & mustard sauce. Desserts consisted of home-made sorbets & ice cream. Once again we had a Buxtad (?) merlot and ½ bottle of rose. As usual Jaime offered us a drink on the house. This was a lovely relaxing evening which more than made up for the disappointment of the previous evening.
Day 12 – Los Faroles, this restaurant narrowly missed out on our top 5 this year. One of the unique qualities of this restaurant is being presented by the owner with a wheelbarrow of fresh fish, each one described in detail and how you can have it cooked – wonderful idea.
We started with camembert & blackcurrant jelly, prawn cocktail, Soller prawns (very special, a must try) and chicken croquettes. Mains consisted of turbot, John Dory, sea bass and lamb chops for the carnivore in our party! Desserts were a delight with walnut nougat, mixed berry sundae and cardinale (?) cake, coffee and carajillo. Tonight’s wine was an excellent Ses Nines.
Day 13 – El Posito a lovely welcome again from Toni and his team.
Only 3 starters tonight – 2 garlic prawns (much larger than those served elsewhere) and cod & prawn croquettes. This was followed by suckling pig, rosemary lamb and 2 x John Dory with garlic (Miss G declared this her dish of the holiday). We all had desserts tonight 3 x caramelised apples on a flaky pastry base with ice cream (mmmm!) and a strawberry ice cream. We washed this down with another favourite wine 2 x Macia Batle and liquors on the house.
This is a consistently good restaurant where locals eat alongside holiday makers – always a good sign. We got the chance to say our farewells to Lyn and Colin; we look forward to seeing them again next year.
Day 14 – our final night – Iru this is a must for anyone wanting a beautiful sea view, fantastic food & wine all delivered with a professional, friendly service.
Our amuse bouche tonight was a mussel on a bed of salsa – fantastic! Starters consisted of green salad & goats cheese, parmesan risotto with truffles, mussels & broth and Miss Gs favourite – Caesar salad. Mains - mozzarella & tomato ravioli, tagliatelli amatriciana, meat ravioli and sea bass with green pepper sauce. Followed by mango & tangerine sorbet, almond cake & ice cream and a cappuccino, all washed down with the excellent Mortitx and a large glass of rose.
PP is such a special place, the people are friendly, food is excellent and wines superb roll on our next visit!
And agree on Cellar La Parra - excellent food and value and service - and we also were disappointed on our Stay experience - though not for the same reasons.
.
