El Faro Bistro Mendoza — Restaurant in Mendoza

Bring sunscreen! Or a hat if you wish to sit outside. No umbrellas. Very few tables are in the shade if you are there for lunch. But still…What a delightful view! And there are plenty of tables inside that still boast the amazing view! Even if I had a little bit of sunscreen, I would’ve enjoyed the glorious view and sat outside. As it was, we had a glorious view inside.

This was excellent in many respects! The aforementioned view was wonderful. And my risotto was very good, though the shrimp were a tiny bit overcooked. My husband’s Caesar salad was very good, and he said the dressing was a bit different than most, which is excellent. Some places are too tango, some too creamy, and he said this one struck a good balance. It also looked to be a nice portion. See the photos. We ordered some drinks, and enjoyed our time… Our only challenge in this meal came with the server. First, she was very very sweet. But, as sometimes happens, we were seated, and at the same time, she was working with a big party of at least 20 people. They were delightful. They were a nice family with multi-generations, but, of course, everybody needed a little bit of something, from an extra fork that somebody dropped to another drink, which meant that we were a little bit neglected. It happens. It really does. My husband‘s beautiful specialty Kahlúa coffee drink came out before our waters, and then we waited quite some time for the water and for my glass of champagne, which should’ve been the easiest thing to produce instead of the coffee drink, which seemed to complex and was beautiful! Did I mention it was beautiful? It really was. Look at that photo. My husband was so happy! The other issue is that when the server took my order, my husband wanted something that was not on the menu, totally his fault, because it was a breakfast item. So now, we have this big group ahead of us ordering a lot of things, and we haven’t even put our food order in yet. At least not all of it. Another server came to the table, and my husband put his food order in. Which was great, because I would hate for mine to come out at a separate time than his. And then we caught our server’s eye and told her that we were still waiting for the glass of champagne and the water; she was super apologetic, and brought them right away. I understand the struggle! She had a lot going on. And the larger party should have been her priority, With all respect, I’ve also been the larger party! So I get it. The restaurant did do a wonderful job of sending out a couple of other people to serve us once they saw that she was overwhelmed, but it would’ve been nice if (seeing the large party she had) we had been assigned to a different server from the onset. Still, would I go again? Absolutely. Beautiful view, very good food. What’s not to love? Also, I am not one of those Americanas who does not understand the value of slowing down and taking our time and enjoying the meal, it was less that and more that waiting that long for beverages felt like a bit of a chore. I guess we were especially thirsty for water, and perhaps champagne, but if the food took longer, I would have much less of a complaint than if the drinks and water took longer to come. It’s just so easy to...

We came in for lunch today expecting a nice meal from all the high reviews. We ordered the lasagna, fruit parfait, a frutilla licuado, and a cafe con leche. We also tried to order a side of papas fritas but was told they did not have it because they cook the fries in another location not near the kitchen. Even though they had multiple dishes available for lunch that came with fries on the side. This was the first bad sign and made me suspect that the food was not cooked fresh.

After we ordered, no one came over to us for over 30 minutes. We gave them the benefit of doubt, maybe they’re busy. At 45 minutes, we are still sitting with nothing on our table and no one tending to us when we finally asked the waitress if she could at least bring us our drinks and some bread. Every other table got complimentary bread except us. Immediately the food came but my lasagna was cold in the middle but the plate was hot and the cheese was watery and unevenly melted and cold in some parts. The lasagna also had a slice of cheap deli ham (jamon) inside, which was weird and not traditional in a lasagna and the ham was cold! Our coffee order was wrong (not con leche) and the licuado tasted like chalky water (no frutilla/strawberry taste or sweetness).

I asked the waitress in English and Spanish if the lasagna was cooked in the microwave but she was too scared to reply. The food was honestly inedible so we decided to leave. As we were paying for what we ate, the restaurant manager came over to ask us how our dining experience was in English. I told him everything that happened and he just looked at me, no apologies or anything, and just processed the bill to us. The cashier also tried to nonchalantly add a 10% tip charge to our bill but we noticed and called her out on it.

This may be the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. And we never...

Nice view, but...

We came for dinner to El Faro after it had been recommended to us by various people. Since the restaruant is located in the 14th floor of an international Hotel, you get an amazing view over Mendoza. We enjoyed seeing Vendimia's fireworks and listening to Boca's hinchas celebrating their championship up on the balcony. It is worth having been there!

But: The restaurant, its service, and the food it served wasn‘t really worth going there. I wanna start withe the Pros:

Ensalada de la temporada, Picada, and Salmon Teriyaki tasted awesome! Overall, the meats, vegetables and fruits used in the kitchen seem to be of high quality.

Now the Cons:

-The entire place smelled like highly artificial lemon cleaning detergent, nothing you wanna smell for 2 hours or more. -Some pieces of cutlery and some jars were stained and dirty, we had to ask three times (!) for replacements. Many of the plates were damaged and should have been replaced long ago. We had to ask the waiter to take our order for plato principal after almost having finished the entradas. In general, the waiters' attention left room for improvement. Ojo de bife comes without any noteable seasoning or flavour, the dish Sorrentinos de Salmon consisted of only six small pieces, the Supreme's side salad is a mustard-overload. In Argentine prices, it is a rather expensive place. As an Argentine, I would not be happy to spend so much money for so little service. Since the currency exchange rate of the Euro was in our favor, the prices were really affordable though.

All in all, I would not...