Restaurant El Reloj — Restaurant in Barcelona

I know it must be hard sometimes being a local in a big international city that’s really popular with tourists — and annoying having people coming in expecting you to speak English — but I’ll never believe that’s an excuse for appallingly rude conduct and service.

I arrived in Barcelona last night on a very late flight — a solo female, and I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I needed to eat before settling into my accommodation. A man at a local bar near my accommodation told me Restaurant El Reloj would still be open late.

It was open, but I couldn’t eat there as the woman behind the bar wouldn’t serve me because I was speaking English to her. She just stared at me stone-faced and said “I don’t understand you.”

(It’s a restaurant/bar — hm, what could I possibly have been there for…?!). I ended up just having to leave.

The thing is, I’m from Australia and I lived in Japan for 10 years. So, I speak English and Japanese. I’ve never been exposed to Spanish before. I don’t speak the language. And it was my first night in Barcelona. That’s why I was asking in English for the menu and a table.

As a solo female travelling alone — in Barcelona not to be a tourist, but to visit a friend — this was a very disappointing and unhelpful start to my stay.

I’m proud to say that, in Australia, we would never treat any visitor like that, no matter where they’ve come from and what language they speak. I sincerely hope the staff at this restaurant choose to do better...

Not good. Place was fine at first, but as we sat there, they turned on sports on the TV, and the sound was so loud it was overwhelming and we couldn't hear each other well at all. But that's a minor grievance when considering the issues with the food.

I had ordered chicken fingers, which were decent, and also chicken lollipops. They came out 5 minutes apart, and both still arrived 5-10 minutes before anyone else at my table got any food. Not the worst issue, but the chicken lollipops were pink inside, and the burger ordered by another person with me was literally raw - not just a little pink, but actually edge to edge red and bloody, as though it had been quickly seared for a minute each side and then thrown on a bun. Vile. The third member of our party had ordered a meat and cheese board, but for some reason, was given a board with no meat. Instead, the ham was replaced with goat cheese (which was never even part of the ordered board in the first place).

I don't often leave bad reviews, and I try my best to be fair and excuse certain things, but this was downright appalling. There were a couple of other minor grievances I had, but I'll just leave it there. Staff seemed friendly enough. Didn't really have time to complain or point out issues with the food, as we were in a rush to get to a nearby show, so can't comment on how receptive they would have been to the...

Sadly this is the worst restaurant I have ever visited. We were recommended to visit this place for tapas by a local bar in Barcelona. Upon arrival we were handed a menu, we then asked for our drinks order to be taken. 20 minutes later, our drinks order hadn't been taken so we asked the waiter and he said "2 minutes"... Another 20 minutes passed and we then went and asked another member of staff. The original waiter then hastily came and took our order. We asked to order food at the same time and were then told that tapas had stopped and we could only order burgers... Why hadn't we been told this originally?! Another 20 minutes then passed and we ordered burgers.. After yet another request to the waiter to take our orders. Meanwhile, the televisions in the restaurant were showing a reindeer being skinned!!! Not what you want to see before a meal. The food then arrived.. The burgers on the rare side, just like the skinned reindeer! :( only good point was that the sangria was nice. We will definitely not be visiting this...