Contro Corrente — Restaurant in Calvià

Visited Contro Corrente last night, and I regret not taking the time to read the reviews beforehand. While there are quite a few positive ones, many of the negative reviews echo the same issues: poor service and a bad attitude from the staff.

From the outside, the restaurant looks fantastic and clearly appeals to tourists drawn in by its curb appeal. However, once inside, it felt more like a cattle market, with a conveyor belt approach to service. We were seated at the back (understandable, as we hadn’t booked), but the table and chairs were uncomfortable, with metal seating that forced you to sit at an awkward angle because you couldn’t get your feet under the table.

We started with drinks—an Espresso Martini for me and a beer for my husband. The Martini was quite good, and as someone who runs a cocktail company, I can appreciate a well-made drink. We ordered another round (a Mojito and another beer) along with our food—I chose the lamb, and my husband had the steak. The food arrived just 10 minutes later, which felt far too quick, especially since part of the dining experience is the atmosphere, not being rushed through your meal. My husband described his steak as nice, but not amazing. My lamb shank was a mistake—it was tasteless and lacked any substantial meat. The Mojito was weak, with barely any alcohol, leading me to think the spirit may have been left out in error, something that can happen when a bar is busy.

After we finished, the waiter asked if everything was alright. I politely said, "Not really," but he just looked at me and ignored my comment. Why ask if you don’t want feedback? When I mentioned the weak Mojito, his response was, "What do you want me to do? Do you want another one?" My husband, who is usually very laid back, suggested they take it off the bill, which annoyed him. The final bill was €88, and we certainly weren’t going to leave a tip. We paid with notes and coins and prepared to leave. A minute later, the waiter returned with the bill and money, loudly and abruptly saying, "You forgot the extra Euro." There are better ways to address customers.

Overall, not a disappointing bad experience. It seems that reviews for this restaurant are hit or miss, but with 139 reviews on TripAdvisor and 19 of them being 1-star, that’s over 15%. I’m sure if the restaurant will responds to this review with something like, "We’ll address these concerns with our team to ensure we improve," but given similar complaints dating back over the past year, I’m doubtful.

If you’re looking for something special, I wouldn’t bother with...

My partner and I visited here for her birthday mid-week. The night before we witnessed the restaurant was very busy and looked really nice so we decided to dine here for a special occasion.

The start of the evening didn't get off to a great start as there was no front of house available, albeit, every waiter was busy with customers, there was plenty of people outside the restaurant waiting to be attended to regarding eating in.

Eventually we were attended to and there was a table available for us to sit at. We ordered two cocktails, the Hugo and the Grench 75 with some table water. For food we ordered the cold meat and cheese platter (TAGLIERE MEDITERRANEO) and two pizza's , the Gordita and the Alpina.

The starter was amazing, really well presented and arrived in good time. The main's however wasn't so good. My pizza was fine, however, my partners pizza was burnt around the crust, which wasn't a major issue, but something we had noticed.

Once we had finished our mains I asked to see the dessert menu, after a bit of time waiting and for some bizarre reason I was given the bill instead of the dessert menu. When the waitress came over to take payment, I wasn't asked how our meal was and if everything was okay - which it wasn't really - I paid the bill with no additional service charge as the service wasn't the best.

Overall, Contro Corrente is set in a good spot and looks amazing, the only issue is not having any front of house staff and having improved floor with some additional training, and this place is bound to be really good - a bit of a shame and let down with the potential...

The restaurant is beautifully decorated and lovely cocktails. However, they are quick to clear tables and also like to take personal belongings. Whilst I was dining there, I had taken my braces out and put them in a napkin on my handbag (like I do in every restaurant). A waiter decided to take them without me realising and threw them in the bin. Upon realising, I made a member of staff aware and they told me they would look for them and asked me to take a seat as it would take a while. I sat down whilst the service continued wondering who was looking for them. I had several waiters/waitresses ask me what they look like as it was not the first time this had happened. 25 minutes later my braces were found, I thanked the lovely man that had spent that time looking for them. One blonde waitress then took it upon herself to follow me to my table and shout abuse at me and my boyfriend. She told me I had “almost killed the staff and the business” and that I had made them feel guilty and that’s the only reason they had looked for them. She continued to blame me for the braces ending up in the bin and tell me that everyone in the restaurant was watching me. She told me how they’re all professionals in the restaurant and that I shouldn’t put my belongings on my handbag as they would take it as trash. I will never return to the restaurant following her rudeness and how she was shouting at me in front of everyone in the restaurant for something that was their fault. The pasta is not fresh, it’s bought in and the pizzas come covered and swimming in grease. AVOID...