Essenza — Restaurant in Calp

Unfortunately after coming back here for a second visit I have to now give a very poor rating due to the appalling service from one of the waiters who essentially forced us to have to get up and leave the restaurant. To be clear to the owner the first time we visited which is when the photos were taken was excellent and the service was fantastic as was the food and so we recommended it to my parents to come with us the next time. We arrived on a Sunday and admittedly it was very busy however that doesn't excuse rude behavior. We took a seat and waited but we were there for a while and nobody had come to even offer a drink order so we started to look around to signal someone which we finally ended up doing but he clearly wasn't happy with this. He came over and took our drink order but from the moment he came it was clear he was in a mood. We asked if they do sangria Blanco and he just simply replied no. There was no explanation of anything else they might offer that was similar. Then we asked for agua de Valencia and he left. However after a very short discussion on the table we decided that we wanted something slightly different and he was now serving the table directly next to us so I turned to wait for him to finish and try to get his attention just before he walked off again to change the order. The lady on the table he was serving was Spanish and it was very clear as we understand some Spanish that he was complaining about us to the couple on that table after she pointed out that I was trying to get his attention. Before I could signal him he walked away with his back to me knowing full well that I needed him so we signaled him with ola and he visibly sighed and then turned around and forcibly put his hand up to me and said wait. Since the moment we sat down he was unlike any other waiter you would expect in a restaurant and had zero customer service ability. As a note to the owner you can look across my reviews on Google and you will notice most of them are good which will let you know I am not a serial negative reviewer. At the moment he signaled with his hand very rudely for us to stop and wait, considering we simply wanted to change our order before he brought the wrong drink, we instantly got up off the table and walked out which he was fully aware of and again made negative faces and mumbled some things to the people he was now serving. This was a huge shame as like I say the food was very good the first time as was the service so unfortunately this restaurant is let down by an employee with a complete lack of respect for the customers or possibly as it seemed given the conversation he had with the Spanish couple that he has a lack of respect for English customers and assumes they don't understand Spanish. Unfortunately with experiences like this it means I cannot return, as well as a negative review on here, as well as no more recommendations to many friends we have in Spain, both Spanish and English. In the end we went a few doors down and had a very lovely meal with very pleasant staff at the family...

The only bad meal of our 2 weeks in Costa Blanca (we went to many towns and beaches). The seafood was super salty (though the octopus was tender), the pasta tasted like sawdust - but luckily my 5 year old daughter liked it. To top it off, the waitstaff made us feel super unwelcomed (there was not a single thank you, they threw the bill at us on the table (weird), when we told them that a dish we ordered didn’t come, the response was, “there was a misunderstanding but anyway, kitchen is closed”). Who knows, maybe they just didn’t want us there bc they were closing soon? In any case, it was not a good experience and I wouldn’t want any other family to waste one of their holiday meals...

Nice place, I just wasn’t impressed. The barbecue chicken wings were great and the calamari was fresh. I wish the fried croquettes were label as the assortments were confusing for the kids? The establishment was only moderately busy, however it seemed the staff kept forgetting about us in the corner. After completing our meal, it took 10+ minutes to get our check, and we only got it because we walked up to a waitress and asked for it. With all that said, they did have Belgian beer served in the appropriate beer glass, so it was a good...