Restaurante Gran Muralla — Restaurant in Ávila

This place wouldn’t get a 5 star review for quality and flavor if I compared this restaurant with other Chinese restaurants around the world but since I’m studying abroad for a month in Ávila and have learned that I’m sick of the bocadillos, tortilla de España, and the same damn items in menus at most the of restaurants here in Avila, Restaurante Gran Muralla is getting 5 damn stars because the food in Spain is generally not good because they lack flavor and spices. Let’s just say that I’m in my final and 4th week here in Ávila and me and my classmates have eaten here 3 times in the last 3 days. It’s not that I miss eating Chinese food but seriously, this Chinese place is the only practical good place around town.

There’s usually just one guy working here working the front of the restaurant so don’t expect fast service. Also, customer service is minimal in Spain so this one guy manning the front gives more than that even when hes busy. For 7€, you can get a side dish, a main dish, a drink and dessert. There’s like a million things on their menu and something as simple as garlic shrimp for 6€ is so damn good only because the quality and flavor elsewhere is sub-par. I wish I could enjoy the local food but it’s just not good at all. On any given day, there’s about 4-15 of us from Southern California that are here to work or attend school at UCAV, that all happen to show up for lunch or dinner here, and on many occasions, unplanned but run into each other because this is the only decent place to eat. We’re tired of the ham, cheese, bread, and potatoes of Spain. The usual items then the group here has enjoyed has been the lemon chicken, ribs, and garlic shrimp. Even I can’t believe that I prefer to eat Chinese food in Spain than...

Cheap, & there’s a reason why. Spring rolls should re named ‘Cabbage Rolls’ because that’s all that was in them. Fried rice was ok but who can go wrong with fried rice? I had some rice with sauce dish that I can’t remember the name of & apart from the shrimps in it was bland & had lots of cornflour in to thicken the sauce, which was gooey. Service was mediocre even though there were only 7 people in total in the place. The atmosphere was like being in a staff canteen where no one speaks to each other, some quiet oriental background...

Ordered 3 dishes, and only 1 came. Asked twice about the remaining 2, and waited for another 10mins before the second one came. Doesn’t seem like the last dish is coming, so we just paid for the 2 dishes and left.

Food is overly oily and salty, even by Chinese food standard.

Service is pretty bad as well, unsmiling staffs and a boss who kept yelling in the kitchen which just spoil the whole atmosphere.

Honestly, there are better choices around that area, no point wasting time...