La Paella — Restaurant in Toronto

Great atmosphere and decor, I felt like I was in a restaurant in Spain. The staff were also very kind and the house white wine was tasty. The food, although tasty, was not mind blowing or worth the price. I would go back if it wasn't so expensive or if they improved their vegetarian options (total before tip was approx $210 for 3 people). If you eat meat, then maybe you'll have a different experience.

Also, it was my birthday, which the staff were told when my partner made the booking. The dessert we ordered came served normally, whereas a few minutes later our neighbouring table had theirs with a candle, a birthday message written on the plate, and they all sang happy birthday. This was pretty disappointing.

For food: Olives: delicious! Mushrooms: delicious, but basically just cooked in butter and definitely not worth $18. could have been so much better if it had more flavour and creativity. Patatas Bravas: tasty and different than the normal Spanish style I had everywhere in Spain. A little spicy so we got more of the mayo to tone them down. Vegetarian Paella: this was delicious, but very disappointing and absolutely not worth $32/person (approx $100 for three people!!!). It was not big enough for the cost or different than just a basic tomato rice with vegetables that I could make at home. Almond tart: Very good! Not super sweet, which I liked! Unfortunately the croquettes and empanadillas yesterday had meat in them, which was pretty unfortunate for our group since that left us with less appetizer options than what we hoped for.

TLDR; Overall, I left happy with the food although not blown away, a bit disappointed about them not noting down my birthday, and definitely wish we didn't pay so much money for...

TLDR: Do yourself a favor and stay clear of this poor excuse for a restaurant.

Valentine's Day is naturally a busy day for restaurants, but also for traffic. Due to the restaurant being located in the middle of nowhere on a one-lane street, coupled with the fact that driving conditions are poor during winter, traffic that night en route to La Paella was truly unbearable. When we arrived, we were greeted by the owner, a jittery, unfriendly and obnoxious man. He told us that we were 20 minutes late, which I had explicitly mentioned to him over the phone 20 minutes before our arrival, and told us that he could not serve us a full dinner. He pointed to our empty table (which I had reserved weeks in advance) and said that he could only serve us 2 tapas during the two hour time period we were allotted for our dinner. After asking him why he couldn't serve us a full meal and explaining to him the traffic situation all over again, the owner proceeded to frantically pace back and forth with a menu in hand, while sweating profusely and muttering under his breath that he would either only serve us 2 tapas or that we should leave immediately. The reality was that not only did the owner of La Paella diminish the reputation of his restaurant by being an obnoxious host in a public setting witnessed by other guests, but it became clear that the logistics around food preparation were also incredibly poorly planned. Do yourselves a favour - skip the grief of experiencing the poorest quality restaurant service you will likely ever encounter in your life, and visit your local McDonalds for a much more enjoyable...

Beware! This restaurant does not deserve to be in business. To be clear, we did not even end up eating there, we left before being served. My wife and I were excited to try this paella restaurant in the east end as it is one of our favorite dish. Upon getting there, and looking at the different paellas proposed (65$ to 100$/2 people), we noticed at the bottom of the menu a note indicating that the broth they used was from Ferrer (imported from Spain). First off, why would a restaurant charge 65-100$ for paella and not even prepare its own broth?!? My wife being allergic/intolerant to MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate), which is very often found in store bought stocks, we inquire about the ingredients in the stock. The server gives us the following answer: "I cannot tell you if there is MSG in the broth as I buy it. If I made it myself, I could tell you if there was" .... My wife and I were almost in shock. I then ask to be shown the actual container for the stock so I can verify by myself ... and my request was declined. I just could not believe it. Looking at the rudeness and incompetence of our server, I ask another server and was told: "I am sorry, I cannot do that - the gentleman you spoke with before is the owner of the restaurant. " We just stood up and left. I have never seen that in my life. NOTE TO THE OWNER: YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO BE IN BUSINESS. YOU ARE NOT EVEN USING FRESH INGREDIENTS TO MAKE YOUR PAELLA, AND YOU CANNOT EVEN TELL YOUR CLIENTELE WHAT GOES INTO THE...