Bambero — Restaurant in Calp

A Masterclass in How Not to Treat Customers

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be an unwelcome guest at a restaurant you voluntarily chose and paid for… this is the place for you. The greeting we received from the woman at the door.. a remarkably rude Russian lady… was nothing short of astonishing. She has seemingly mastered the ability to make guests feel like intruders. Politeness? Optional. Basic courtesy? Apparently, a foreign concept.

From the very first moment, we were met with the kind of cold, disinterested demeanor usually reserved for bureaucratic waiting rooms. If there were an award for “Most Unpleasant Employee of the Month,” she’d take it hands down possibly every month.

Now, regarding an unfortunate but minor incident: my friend’s small dog accidentally nipped one of the servers. It was not serious, and we immediately expressed concern and offered to resolve it as responsible adults including offering insurance coverage for any required treatment. We asked to see a photo of the supposed injury, but were denied… a curious response if there was any real damage.

Instead of calmly resolving the matter, the woman at the door and a female manager began demanding private medical details and proof of the dog’s vaccinations. To make matters worse, a man, clearly known to the staff… inserted himself into the situation, became verbally aggressive toward me,… and even flashed what was clearly a fake police badge. When I asked them to call the actual police, and the guy even want to fight me they of course refused to call the police. Makes you wonder why…

The consistency in their rudeness was honestly impressive. Not a trace of professionalism, no willingness to de-escalate.. just an ensemble performance of arrogance and hostility.

To management: service is part of the experience. And this one was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. If your goal is to make guests feel unwelcome, unheard, and insulted… congratulations, mission accomplished. The manager Emilio would have handled this with way more professionalism. I will not attend this restaurant anymore if those 2 rude ladies are...

I’ve read many nice reviews about this restaurant - and I do agree with most of them - the ambiance is very nice and service is outstanding, from the very accommodating host Christina to the waiters. I guess I got very unlucky with the most expensive item on the menu - wagyu beef. I just had an excellent experience with this choice back in London few days ago and, after sampling local seafood since my arrival to Calpe, I decided to have some meat. What a disappointment was awaiting me here though! The steak was sliced thin and blue in the middle also I asked it to be medium. It was soooo greasy and chewy - I couldn’t force myself to swallow that roll of fatty grizzle… and it supposed to be something you should not request chewing on almost at all! I called the waiter and asked him to replace it with fillet Mignon they didn’t have, since you can rarely mess up this cut of the meat, so I ended up with quite mediocre lamb chops. And I got lectured on different grades of wagyu beef when it comes to fat distribution - well they failed to advise that what they had had more fat than lean meat. Where I am coming from, if you turn the meal away after the first bite (USA), you would never get charged for it and usually end up with a free desert! Not here. I got charged full price for every precious gram of this 210g greaseball “delicacy” at the rate of €47 per 100g. I just paid and left, don’t think I’ll be back. I can see that since they are indeed located right on a bustling touristy promenade, they would not care of returning customers, unlike some other places...

Very nice restaurant, clearly upper class for Spain, most likely having 90%+ tourists as guests. Low level music, decent lighting, big mirrors and some fire places create a very cozy, warm atmosphere. Wine selection huge, but also pricey, sommelier included. Food: starters were mixed: while Greek meatballs with yoghurt sauce were good, but not mindblowing (7 of 10 points) the octopus salad was more potato than octopus and all of it packed into a thick, taste-dominating red bellpepper sauce, which is a no-go for a delicate meat like octopus... clearly not a recommendation (2-3 of 10). Mains: Argentinian entrecote was ordered medium, came medium-rare (more rare than medium), but quality of meat was undoubtedly good (8 of 10)! Mashed potatoes were in 3 spoon-sized heaps, turning cold rather quickly ("fancy", but useless); fish was good, but same problem as with octopus for starter: why kill a delicate dish with a strong, dominating sauce?!? Pepper sauce way to heavy for the fish (6 of 10), sides ok. Service overall ok, but for a restaurant aspiring to be top-class rather minimalistic: friendly, but no questions like "was everything to your satisfaction?" or the like. The bill included the most expensive pan y alioli ever found in Spain: Eur 5.--!!! for a rather minuscule bit of 'sauces on the side' Conclusion: an nice, very pricey, but not great experience. Will we be back? Not in the near future,...