El Iberico — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

I would like to preface this review just so our intentions are clear. This is an honest review Not intended to hurt the business or it's stakeholders. It is merely to share our personal experience. We were visiting Malaysia so we are not too familiar with "Western" food standards there. We dined at several mid-to-high end establishments (such as Marinis on 57 and Wolfgang's Steakhouse) during our trip and came to a general consensus of being underwhelmed, which is honestly, uncommon for us. Before anyone comes after me, I'd like to say that the local fare was always a delight. Incomparably better than Singapore, where I'm from, in my opinion.

El ibérico

We have enjoyed Spanish cuisine countless times across the globe so when we read reviews that claimed Spanish locals were giving this place a thumbs up, our interest was definitely piqued. However, our meal wasn't as great as the reviews made it out to be. We were ravenous that day so we still finished most of the food. Spoke to the owner about the shortcomings of our meal, from the meagre amount of meat on our flavourless ibérico ribs (pics show the ribs before we attempted to eat them) to a tasteless, barely-dressed salad (yes, salads can offer flavour too), empanadas that were too fishy, and a paella that only tasted of paprika, no soccarat whatsoever - an essential component of an authentic paella IMHO. Just felt like someone mixed some pre-cooked rice with paprika and chorizo and warmed it up on a pan, threw on some blanched peas and beans for colour and served it to us. It was disappointing to say the least. However, the owner seemed receptive to constructive feedback. She was apologetic and offered a gesture of service redemption which was appreciated though not our intention when we decided to relay our feedback. Definitely room for improvement in my humble opinion. Every business has its off days so maybe it was just down to ill luck on our part.

Ambience was a little cool compared to pics of the joint at their previous location. We were the only table there during lunch on a Tuesday and there was one waitress so service was quick. Food was served much quicker than the 35 mins the dishes we picked would require, according to the waitress...

Pleasant, relaxed Spanish restaurant just off the busy Changkat Bukit Bintang. Credit cards or cash accepted.

Good mix of food and cocktail options. Staff is very pleasant and make the experience much more enjoyable. Food is good.

I had their seafood paella, served in an individual sized skillet topped with shrimp and clams. Mixed into the rice were additional bits of squid and octopus, and peas and pieces of fresh green bean were sprinkled over it all. It was slightly overdone (probably because of the very thin depth of the pan) and slightly dry, yet still resonated strongly with saffron and was delicious.

Their mushroom crocquettes were also tasty. Suitable for sharing, fried to a light golden brown on the outside without feeling heavy and greasy. The creamy mushroom filling was not overpowering and whet the appetite suitably for the main course.

Cocktails are all right but check to see if they have their usual bartender on duty or not. If you like a good cocktail you should look over their liquor selection and upgrade...

The whole place feels like a scam.

I've had one of the worst Paella I've ever eaten in my life. Soaking wet, tasteless and overpriced.

The octopus is a scam. One piece lay on top of a tasteless potato each.

The potatoes is a joke, nobody would mayo like that. It's very localized Malaysian.

The ribs were overly sweet. Also for the localized palate.

Asked the waiter about the amount of food we have ordered is enough for us or not, the waiter said yes. He kept pushing all the top tier price menu like the octopus, the cold meat platter and red wine while most of us couldn't drink, and we don't take the cold meat. It's very obvious that there's a KPI to achieve here.

Most importantly, apart from the Sangria (which tasted alright and slightly too watery) the waiter have forgotten our drinks at the end!

Finally, I wouldn't call this a Spanish establishment. It's very localized and the food isn't only tasted bad but extremely overpriced...