The Brunch Box — Restaurant in Benidorm

What a shame, we were heading for two stars and then a rude member of staff ruined it for everybody. We came here for lunch after seeing good reviews and what appeared to be an extensive, appetising menu. Unfortunately, they either have a summer menu no longer in use or have drastically reduced the items on the menu because there's actually very little to choose from. Service was slow, painfully slow despite not being even nearly full. The wait for someone to take our order was lengthy, the wait for the food even more so. When the food arrived we were asked if we wanted sauces.... Yes please...... The sauces didn't arrive and I had to go inside to get them myself. After finishing our food, we waited, and waited some more before ordering dessert, coffee and the bill at once in order to avoid more waiting. The coffee arrived but the dessert didn't. Neither did the bill. Who wants coffee before dessert? Not us. We waited, our coffee was going cold so we drank it. We went inside to pay because it appeared nobody was going to bring us the bill, or the dessert. Then things turned really sour. We were charged for the dessert and when I said we hadn't received it, the girl giving us our bill started to look for it. There it was, about to be brought out to us. I said we'd waited too long, we'd drank our coffee and the dessert was no longer required. She took offence at this, and when I said the service had been slow she then got angry and started to argue with me, nice and loud so everyone in the vicinity could hear. It had taken two of us about an hour and a half to have a 'quick' lunch. You can't defend this appalling level of service by saying that you've been busy, especially when there are empty tables inside and out and if you are going to argue with a customer in this unprofessional manner rather than accept that you've struggled to keep up during a lunch shift, then you're in the wrong business. I don't think I've ever been spoken to like that in a bar or restaurant in my life. Absolutely...

I'd been wanting to go here for ages as I've seen it recommended a lot. It was busy but a friendly waitress got us a table & warned us food would be a bit of a wait. Servers are native speakers of English or Spanish, a big plus. We ordered a brunch each, (it's only till 1 pm so don't get caught out) & our drinks came pretty quickly so it didn't feel like much of a wait for the food. I ordered the cheesecake French toast, the flavours went really well. The blueberries were really tart though so don't expect it to be really sweet. My man ordered the Eggs Benedict with Salmon, he says it was small but he's just greedy. He really enjoyed it but he'd probably go for the 'big boy' breakfast next time. We split the desserts, the cheesecake was divine but I didn't enjoy the banana bread & wouldn't order it again. The coffee was great, I like how they support other local businesses too. It's a very quirky place, loads of little touches. I took some pictures of the ones that I noticed. It's different to the norm in Benidorm & I liked it! Definitely not a cheap place but a nice place to go for an occasional treat.

We've been back a couple of times, the Oreo cheesecake was delicious. I've also had the fried chicken with french toast & waffles. My man had a big boy breakfast & loved it. My friend got pancakes & apple pie which looked great the last time after I recommended we go for brunch here.

We'll be back, I like that you can get the brunch all day in winter & it's more relaxed...

I've gone twice now in the past month. First time, I felt the service wasn't too good but the food was perfect. Just what I wanted and I left very satisfied, left a good tip too. Normally I would abstain from ever mentioning having done such a thing, however I find it relevant because the second time I went the service was unjustifiably lacking. I'm a solo diner, so I get it if I don't always get the best service, it's cool, it's restaurant business, you're a waiter; you're gonna prioritize bigger tables, I have no quarrels about this and I try to be as tolerant as possible. The first time I went to the Brunch Box, it was rush hour, so I held no resentments, all I could think of was how great the food was. The second time around, it was not nearly as busy and yet I was neglected almost entirely. Now, I can't help but think to myself; if I wanna eat pancakes, I can just make some at home, so why am I spending far more than I'd spend at the supermarket and going out of my way to reach this restaurant that's half an hour away from where I live? Well, because I want to receive a service. I want to have a dining experience and I think that is precisely what my money is paying for. I don't know, maybe I just had bad luck, maybe it was just the wrong place at the wrong time, could be. The staff clearly works very hard, they seem to be focused and well paced, I admire the precision they display, and I thus apologize if this review causes anyone any sort of...