Paul | Albrook — Restaurant in Ancón

This was one of the most miserable and demoralising dining experiences we have ever had.

The service was incredibly slow, it wasn’t really that busy either. The food was ok but it arrived way too quickly to have been totally cooked from scratch. We ordered vegetables on the side as they’re not already incorporated into the exorbitant price of the main course. Some of my veggies were hot and others lukewarm suggesting that they’d been microwaved. The garlic sauce on the chicken was so overpowering it would have made Nosferatu explode.

Trying to pay the bill was a nightmare as their old fashioned machine would not recognise our cards. We have been travelling for 18 months and been in some very remote places where we were able to pay by contactless card. Not here though. You would think that an international company situated in the capital city of one of the most sophisticated and cosmopolitan cities in the Americas would accept a foreign bank card. Nope. However the corner shop at the end of our street in Panama City processes our card payments without any difficulties whatsoever.

We asked to speak to the manager. She turned out to be supremely unhelpful. Eventually I paid using an alternative machine but honestly I had visions of being dragged off by the police as we didn’t have any cash. We didn’t think we needed it when we could pay by card in an international chain of restaurants.

Seriously please avoid this place especially if you’re a foreigner with a foreign bank card. If I hadn’t have been able to communicate in Spanish I’d have been sunk. The food’s average and the service is embarrassing. Go somewhere else I’m pretty certain you will have nicer food and a much more pleasant experience. As for us we will never go to another Paul restaurant anywhere in the world.

Having read the company’s reply to my review here’s my answer: 1 I only have a foreign phone number and am not able to discuss anything on the phone. Sorry. 2 if you want to improve then implement the following: a. Update your payment system b. Improve your staff training/table service c. Don’t microwave stuff d. Have an alternative payment system in place for...

We really enjoyed our first visit to Paul Depuis in August, 2018. We have returned 4 or 5 more times since then but it seems to be worse each time. Customer service is terrible and there are flies everywhere. The food is delicious...IF they have what you want. Today my first and second choices were not available so I settled for a third choice. Then my $4 bottle of Stella arrived warm. My daughter's order arrived first. It was the wrong dish and was returned. My wife's order came almost 5 minutes later, wrong dish; returned. My daughter's correct dish arrived a full 10 minutes later (15 minutes to make waffles?), then my order. We both finished our meals before my wife received her correct order. Very disappointing for...

Update 2025 Still great dining place and quality food!

2024 Review This is a great place to eat lunch/dinner, have coffee, and dessert. My husband and I decided to dine here after walking around the mall. The staff was friendly and accomodating. We tried their sandwich, pizza, and coffee. All were to our liking. We really appreciate the cleanliness of this place, and how foreign friendly the staff are. We highly recommend this place and we will definitely be back when...