Mesón Cumbres Mayores — Restaurant in Cádiz

After reading all the positive reviews my wife and I decided to reserve a table for dinner. We got placed in a back, enclosed room that was so noisy we could not hear each other speak. Then the waiter was in such a hurry for us to place an order, he did not take any time to help us order what we wanted, being our first time there. We felt pressured from the first moment to hurry up and order and even when I tried my best to describe what we wanted (the cut and cooking style of the Iberian pork) and he seemed to understand and agree, we got just the opposite. The meat was grilled but in thin pieces that in minutes were no longer hot and were getting drier by the moment. He took no time to talk to us about our order, and would bring dishes in quick succession, and practically slam dishes and drinks onto our table and rush away, in a hurry. I have to admit that the pulpo a la Gallega was delicious, but both of our dishes were served with too many potatoes. We were so disappointed in both the meal, the noise, and the service, that when he asked if everything was good, I felt obligated to tell him and quickly realized he did not care and he quickly asked if we wanted postres or coffee to which I responded no! Even if I wanted some, we were in more of a hurry to leave, and felt he wanted the same so he could quickly get the next customers to take the table to generate more money. If we return, I would make sure not to get seated in that back room, make sure I plan ahead regarding what to order, and would likely try to eat at the bar, tapas style. We were so relieved to exit the restaurant, that we realized how tense our experience was, the opposite of what we were looking and hoping for. We might try again, but if we do, we will make sure it is on a week day, and in one of the front room tables, of which there were many available, or eat at the bar for a tapas style dinner. VERY...

This place was supposed to be one of the top spots for dinner in Cadiz. Maybe it is, but to me it was down right average. The service was extremely poor: the waiter was almost rude to us, we could not get a glass of wine (we had to buy a whole bottle) he could not be bothered to help us choose a wine and when we ordered the second mineral water he dropped it on the table and left. Not to mention that we had to recycle the cutlery of the entrees to eat the main!! The olives we got with the bread was the best part of the meal, as far as food is concerned. My entree was not too bad, but my wife's Salmorejo was average. The Cod cooked Vizcaya style that my wife ordered was pretty good, but my pork ribs went straight back. Please note: I never send food back, but this time the dish was so ugly I could not eat, including the extremely soggy and greasy chips. I only ate the huge tomato slice. There is no way I can recommend this place for eating! Very bad dining experience, something...

Empezaré diciendo que me parece un buen restaurante, con buen producto y mucha historia, pero esto no vale nada si no se acompaña de un servicio adecuado al volumen de clientes que tienen, ya que un servicio lento hace que toda la experiencia, que podría ser fabulosa, se convierta en desastrosa.

Y eso fue lo que nos pasó este domingo, cuando, por primera vez en mi vida, me levanté del sitio para irme, harto de tanto esperar los platos que faltaban.

Éramos 2 adultos y 3 niños y pedimos 2 entrantes y 5 platos. El camarero no apuntó nada, todo de memoria:

Primero sirvieron un entrante (bien), al poco rato sirvieron 2 platos de los niños (uhm);

Después de que casi terminaran los 2 niños y finiquitado el primer entrante, pongamos 10 minutos, reclamamos el plato del tercer niño (porque era salmorejo- plato frío- literalmente se olvidaron de pedirlo…cosas de no apuntar la comanda)

Al cabo de unos 10 minutos (25min desde que pedimos) llegó el 2º entrante. Los dos niños que ya se habían terminado su plato apenas lo probaron, ya no les apetecía.

10 minutos más tarde (35min total) llegó el salmorejo.

10 minutos más tarde (45 en total) ya no quedaba nada en la mesa y seguían faltando los platos de los 2 adultos. Los reclamamos.

5 minutos después vimos como servían a las mesas de alrededor platos como los que habíamos pedido. Volvimos a reclamar. En este punto los dos primeros niños ya habían terminado hacía casi media hora.

5 minutos más (55 en total), volvimos a reclamar, obviamente ya enfadados. El camarero nos dijo que no había ordenado los platos hasta que no habíamos terminado el segundo entrante (esto es algo que se supone hay que hacer un poco antes para que la espera entre plato y plato sea la mínima, no 20 minutos). Conclusión, íbamos a comer cuando al camarero le pareciera bien.

5-7 minutos más de espera y decidimos levantarnos sin haber probado 2 de los platos que pedimos. En ese mismo momento llegaba solo uno de los dos platos que faltaban. El otro…a saber.

Los camareros se justificaban diciendo que tienen por costumbre no servir todos los platos a la vez, algo que parece estupendo y lógico, pero una cosa es eso y otra tener que esperar de 15’-20’ entre plato y plato, y que sea de forma completamente desordenada.

En resumen, mal servicio, supongo que, por saturación de local, que abarca más de lo que puede dar. Al final, cliente descontento, camareros desbordados, y supongo que también frustrados por esta situación. Es lo que tiene priorizar la cantidad a la calidad.  Una pena porque como dije al principio, es un buen...