Dear Editor,
Just a few words about Restaurant Cesar Palace on Paseo Reina Sofia in Almuñécar.
Having heard rave reviews and seen photos of some lovely food, we decided to give Restaurant Cesar a try.
It was a very big mistake.
Now don’t get me wrong here, this is only a bad review of our visit and I understand that this venue is very highly thought of.
Mistake Number One was finding us a space when they were clearly too busy. We didn’t have a reservation and they should have politely turned us away. As it was, we were squeezed into a corner next to the kitchen door.
Mistake Number Two was the service. Our waitress was friendly and helpful… but under too much pressure. My wife ordered Gambas Pil-Pil and got gambas in a strange sauce. As it turned out, this was the only part of the meal that was just about edible, although the tails left on the prawns in a thick sauce was difficult to overcome without getting covered in goo.
My son ordered a hamburger with nothing on it. The waitress repeated back… “no cheese, salad… just bread and meat?” They then put a long bread-roll affair in front of him, with burgers inside and covered in cheese. The mistake was rectified, but the plate returned with cold chips.
Oh yes, the chips. All the photos we had seen of the beautiful food had, what looked like, homemade chips on them. We clearly had frozen, supermarket chips.
Mistake Number Three. From sitting down by the swinging, kitchen door to the presentation of the cheese covered burger… two hours.
Mistake Number Four. Our mains. The table before us had steak. Which looked good, so we went for that, only to be told there was no steak left. Not a problem, we both went for chicken breast in mushroom sauce. This was the biggest mistake we made. The chicken was like rubber, with a smooth, almost liver-like texture, accompanied by a sauce that was like water. The watery sauce was running into the small salad on the side of the plate. Why would you put salad on a plate with a sauce in the first place?
Our son ate some of his food and we left ours after two bites. We decided not to even chance a desert and the waitress did give us an apologetic look as she charged us full price for a meal that was sent back barely touched.
So, that’s just how it was. On the upside, friends of ours mentioned that they had been there three times and had three superb meals. And as previously mentioned, we had heard only good things.
The question is, would I recommend Restaurant Cesar Palace. Well, strangely, yes I would. You should give the place a try, but just be aware of my comments above. I will never go there again when it’s busy.
Also, the menu del dia is just 10 euros, and trying to maintain standards with any kind of consistency must be very hard. So, yes give it a try… but be wary.
Name and address withheld by request