Onedia - Restaurant espagnol & Bar à tapas — Restaurant in Nantes

A beautiful but ironic Spanish restaurant just by the river. I never had Spanish food before, but I’m feeling a bit adventurous today after watching the large mechanic elephant march behind the gallery, spraying water on giggling kids and mesmerizing their parents. I also learned about the industrial history of Nantes and took a couple pictures after my French classes this morning: very productive day. So I go into the nearby Cañas y Tapas and ask to be seated in my limited French. I’m proud that I got through without the waiter detecting my foreignness and switching to English. But food is not served during these hours; I had forgotten that our European peers are more measured when it comes to food. He mentions the appetizers available for now, and drinks are of course always offered. I understand. I just want to know the specific food items available to order and my French won’t allow. “Do you speak English?” I give up my cover. I am American. Black American to be specific. He is happy to explain in his even more limited English (a shy has overcome his cover of confidence too) before offering me a seat in the corner. He will come back in a moment to take my order, he promises. I stare at the menu nearly without a blink and decide what I’ll have, then I scan my environment as I await the waiter to return. A French family of 7 seats 10 feet from me, munching on chicken wings with hunger, sipping on coke, a mojito, and other things I can’t quite spot from here. I don’t want to be intrusive so I look away. A large French flag meets my eyes by the door, many more little flags are across the enormous room resembling a library reading hall. I don’t mind the flags; simple and elegant casts of red, white, and blue, unlike our American flag crowded with 50 stars and 13 stripes. Last time I witnessed this level of patriotism I was in Texas. I’m nonetheless confounded by the Spanish branding of the restaurant… I expected to see at least a couple Spanish flags, you know, to balance things out. But the only Spanish thing I noticed (and tried to ignore) since I got here is the mustache of the señor who showed me in 20 minutes ago. He is yet to fulfill his promise of returning to take my order. He’s not busy serving other customers, maybe cleaning tables of those who left before I arrived, and he’s checked a couple times on the French family next to me and brought them more food… each time avoiding my eyes. I’m surely not being paranoid, or a stereotypical American with high customer service expectations. His two colleagues, equally as young, are standing idly by the counter, one talking unhurried, the other enjoying a drink. Message received: I’m not welcome here. They just don’t have the guts to say it. I know the shape of hatred when I see it. My friend won’t be in the city center for another two hours and I’ll have to kill time somewhere else. I pick up my bag and head for the exit. I meet my Monsieur mustachio on the way out; he didn’t see me coming from the other side, only from his falling head and avoidant eyes. Even bigotry cannot escape shame. Who knew a lovely flag could stand...

Expérience vraiment plus que bof. On arrive, on était deux. On ne nous apporte pas de carte mais on voit un QRcode sur la table pour commander. On va donc voir le site. Il y a bien des plats etc mais rien qui explique ce que c’est. On finit par demander un menu papier et on nous fait comprendre que la commande ne se fait que sur téléphone. On était pas spécialement emballé, si on voulait commander nous même, on va chez macdo… bref tant pis, on finit par commander, et c’est très cher (oui pcq on est obligé de payer avant d’avoir consommer) ! Quelques secondes plus tard , un serveur vient et nous dit que le plat de mon copain n’est finalement pas disponible. Déjà qu’il n’y avait pas de Paela sur le site. Finalement si! On y comprends rien. Puis une serveuse vient pour me dire qu’il n’y a plus le cocktail que j’avais commandé. A quoi ça sert de nous obliger à faire avec le site alors qu’ensuite les serveurs sont de toute façon obligés de venir nous voir pour nous dire qu’il y a pas ça et pas ça

We were wandering around the isle where the 'Machines de l'île' are located (shed with elephant, expo, etc...) and were looking for a place where we could take lunch. The restaurant was just at 3min walk, so seemed the perfect option. We walked in, got seat and easily found our choices within the vast variety of tapas, salads, paella and others. We opted for tapas, eggs and toasts. All the dishes we choose were taste and well served. Slight comment tough, the 'gambas al ajilo' are pink shrimp in reality; gambas are slightly bigger; so watch out for the incorrect wording. 😉 For the rest; nice place, well decorated and tasty dishes; so all good for...