CHILA — Restaurant in Barcelona

Good food, but the worst restaurant experience I have ever had. It was so bad, you could not make this up.

Let me explain…

We’d booked a table for 9 at their Barcelona restaurant, and initially all seemed well. We picked it because it seemed to have good vegan options and really high reviews.

When we got to our table, there were conveniently placed QR codes to access the free WiFi, and their online ordering system.

We go ahead placing an order on the app, only to find out it hasn’t gone through. Oh, there were barely any vegan options… I ended up drinking a lovely Jasmine tea while the rest of my friends ate.

When one of our friends asked a waiter for help, the waiter suggested we weren’t quite doing it right, though his response was toned as if he was speaking to a child, and not a group of 9 adults.

We then proceed to try again, right in front of him, and once again he says we’re doing it wrong. I then ask him if he could take our orders, he then begrudgingly answered ‘yes’ but very clearly signaled that he’d rather we tried a THIRD TIME.

It’s now been 57 minutes since we’d entered the restaurant, and still, we hadn’t been able to place our orders.

By some miracle, my friends decided to stay, though a few of us had become increasingly fed up and ready to leave.

The waiter then has a try using one of our devices himself, realised that indeed there is some sort of a problem, and then goes ahead to place the order on his ordering device.

One of our friends has a peanut allergy which we did bring to the attention of the waiter, which he seems to take some notice of, but didn’t seem too cornered by it either (ie, he didn’t ask to check the severity of this allergy).

Anyway, he finally gets the order placed, reads everything out, and goes on with the rest of his work elsewhere.

It seemed the waiter could tell we were upset about the ordering experience, so offered us the private dining room instead, a kind gesture, though when one of our friends wanted a washroom break, he realised the door handle simply wasn’t attached to anything and came off in his hand.

Could you imagine if they’d closed the doors on us, we’d literally be locked in.

To be fair to the restaurant, the food started to arrive in good time after it was placed, and all my friends enjoyed their meals.

However, with each dish that was served, we had a new waiter serve, and when we asked them which dishes were which, none of them seemed to have a clue. Remember, we have a friend with a peanut allergy…

One of our drinks orders was a bubble tea, the waiter who delivered that was wearing a motorbike helmet, and the bubble tea had a delivery order sticker on it, which made us wonder if this was ordered and delivered from a totally different restaurant?? It was tasty, but again, really odd.

Anyway, we eventually managed to get the menu and work out the dishes in the end.

When one of my friends then goes in to order a simple ‘Orange Fanta’, the waiter confirms the order, but comes back with a ‘Lemon Fanta’.

This was just hilariously bad, we could not stop laughing at just how severely incompetent the servers were, none of us have ever experienced anything like it.

Clearly the issue isn’t with the one guy, but the whole team are in desperate need of some basic front of house training, and quite frankly, basic manners and etiquette.

I was thinking “how on earth has this place been so highly reviewed, it just makes no sense”.

It all clicked.. I found out exactly why they have such glowing reviews.

There was a little post right in the bar counter that said “Leave us a 5* Google Review and get a free dessert”

Right… clearly, none of us opted for that fraudulent free dessert, and instead I opted to share my personal experience with you all.

To summarise, good food,...

Late-night find in Barcelona, I think I’ve found the best braised pork belly EVER! 😍 The fat literally melts in your mouth—like, how is that even possible?! And don’t even get me started on the sauce—it’s so addictive, I was basically licking the plate clean. No shame. 😋

The other dish? Y’know, it was good, nothing mind-blowing, but defs still worth ordering. 🙌 Service was on point—super fast, and they’ve got a whole squad making sure everything runs smoothly. 💨

As for the vibes—perfect balance of lively but not overcrowded. You can totally enjoy your meal without feeling like you’re sitting in someone else’s convo. 😅 After walking all day, this place was the exact comfort food I needed. Seriously, 10/10 would come back just for that...

The food was average but the Asian man who work at the bar with glasses was really rude and gave me attitude when I was trying to get a cup of water and some ice from him. He even said a bad word in front of me when I was trying to get some ice for friend who was feeling sick due to the heat at Barcelona. Like I’m the customer, and I’m asking some basic needs - ice and water! why I do deserve to take your attitude when I’m paying to eat here? He was also really rude to his coworker and gave them attitude when they ask him to make the drinks for the customers. I will not come back here again! But the waitress was really nice tho! Just the Asian man who work at the bar and making drinks was super...