La Hacienda — Restaurant in Košice

Nice place, good atmosphere. Decent wait staff, once you get seated they take good care of you. They could be more organized at the hosting station.

The menu is interesting and has potential, however, execution is hit or miss. I have lived in California for 30 years and thus know Mexican cuisine very well, having eaten food cooked and being taught to cook by Mexicans.

We had:

Posole Rojo (5 out of 5 stars)- very good stew, authentic flavors, real hominy in the stew. Toppings were a little lackluster - red cabbage was definitely not freshly sliced, and radishes were marinated?? More cilantro and lime would be nice.

Deep fried jalapenos (4.5 out of 5 stars) were good, filled with cheddar. A little over fried, batter was to A little crispier, but not too far from perfect

Chicken enchiladas with roasted tomato sauce (3.5 out of 5 stars) okay, but not a revelation. A bit on a boring side flavor-wise. Poor presentation, plating could be much better.

Enchiladas cochinita pibil (4 out of 5 stars) great flavor, a little mushier than I would like. Again, plating is not great, could use more cilantro, lime, etc.to enhance look and flavors.

Tacos de carne (2 out of 5 stars) shredded beef was extremely boring flavor-wise, same lackluster toppings and tiny dish of salsa did not really help these. Very disappointing.

Tacos calabacin (1 out of 5 stars) the most disappointing dish from our choices. Cheese they used in these is apparently house made, but it tastes super processed and doesn't come anywhere close to queso fresco or any Mexican cheese. There is no fresh flavor that would carry these. Mango-pineapple salsa sounds like an excellent combo with queso fresco (that was probably the idea) but it's just too jammy and tired. Again, topped the same wilted radishes and zucchini... Sigh.

Tortillas were store bought. They serve tacos with a single tortilla (as opposed to double you get in Mexico and Cali) that falls apart, too, because they are so stale...

For dessert we had their flan (3.5 stars out of 5) not much to say about it. It was okay. But it...

A pretentious pretender. If you have visited Mexico or the US Southwest and eaten actual Mexican cuisine, you will be disappointed. The dishes lack flavor and seem to be thrown together. The service is abysmal as the staff seem to be convinced they are working at a Michelin 3-star restaurantl, as a rude and off-putting attitude is the norm. While I was there, multiple parties were turned away because they didn’t have reservations yet the restaurant remained less than 30% full for the 2.5 hrs we were there. When I requested a simple addition to my meal I was told it could not be done. When I asked why not, I was told again it wasn’t possible. Since it was such a simple request I pressed further and asked again why such a simple request couldn’t be honored. I was told, “We have a lot of reservations tonight.” So, I asked, “What does the number of reservations have to do with the kitchen’s ability to make a minor addition to a plate?” The waiter faltered, stammered and then simply said, “We won’t do it.” The entire exchange set a bad done for the entire dining experience.

Now, if a restaurant staff wants to be elitist, they’d better deliver the goods. They didn’t. The service was slow, inconsistent and uncaring. The food was tasteless and several dishes were nearly unpalatable.

Only in Slovakia would an establishment this pot receive such...

I liked it a lot and would come again. I had a chicken fajita, which was €11 for everything you see in the picture. It was a generous portion - not the cheapest, but pretty decent value for money.

The tortillas looked and tasted homemade, the chicken was nice and hot and everything was tasty. The rice and beans were maybe not quite warm enough for me (though that is not unusual in Mexico), the chicken was a touch too salty, and I personally would've enjoyed a bit more chilli and coriander, perhaps in the salsa. But overall, it was a very enjoyable meal.

The service was excellent and the restaurant itself was pleasant and airy. There was neither shandy/radler nor kofola on the menu, and the coke I had was a bit pricey, but that's hardly a deal breaker (or particularly unusual). My friend had 3 beers and a burrito, which he enjoyed, and I also had coffee, and the whole lot came to €30.

If you're looking for some tasty Mexican food and you're ok with the prices mentioned above, I would definitely recommend...