El Pòsit — Restaurant in Cambrils

Four of us had lunch at this restaurant last Sunday. The overall experience was positive, despite some criticisms, which I think are justifiable.

Before the restaurant opened at 1pm there were a lot of people milling around outside. When the doors opened, we formed an orderly queue. Reservations were checked and then people were shown to their respective tables, which had been designated beforehand. It was all well organised.

The four people in my group (all adults) were shown to a table at the back of the restaurant. We had asked for a quiet place, but the table itself was not big enough for four people. It had obviously just been put in that space against a wall, hoping that the people who were seated there wouldn’t complain. For two people, it would have been fine. We didn’t say anything. The much larger table next to us was occupied by three adults and a small child of about five years old. This child screamed his head off for most of the time we were there. Why didn’t the adults who he was with say anything? His whiny voice was deafening, making normal conversation at our table impossible.

The menu is a QR code, which is also annoying. It’s always a great experience to hold a real menu in your hand as you look at the various dishes and decide what you’re going to order. I understand that real physical menus are available on request, but we weren’t told that.

The staff there are very friendly and appear interested in their work. However, the service was slower than we had expected, having been there several times before. It took a long time for the starters which we had ordered to appear, along with the wine. Maybe the chefs were trying to cope with so many people ordering at once. The starters were fine, although they were nothing to write home about - fried squid, mussels and prawns. The accompanying alioli and romesco sauces were good, as you would expect in a restaurant with a long history.

We ordered paella for the four of us. Once again, it took a long time to appear and finally, when it was brought to our table, it was totally missing the “WOW” factor. It looked uninspired, with the bare minimum of shell fish and other ingredients, other than rice.

The chilled white wine we ordered was fine and was reasonably priced. After finishing the food, we asked for two “chupitos” which were good and we were not charged for them. Once again, I have to say that the staff were professional and friendly.

However, someone should check the men’s bathroom frequently, to see if there are enough paper towels for drying your hands. They ran out before our starters had arrived. Also, paper napkins are fine in a fast-food place, but, honestly, do they have a place in a restaurant like this?

The bill was 168 euros, including two beers and a bottle of water. Not cheap, but not outrageous. Was the paella (pictured) worth half of that amount (21 euros per person)?...

Unfortunate that the owner is extremely rude and obviously doesn’t like tourists!

We made a reservation online which was confirmed for an outdoor table and when we arrived were escorted to an indoor table. I asked if we could sit outside and was told quite aggressively IT’S CLOSED!

We should have left then, but decided to stay as the kids were hungry.

The female waiter was very nice and even apologetic. We asked for our seafood platter, bravas and salad to be served together to share.

We hadn’t even ordered the wine when the kids food arrived along with bravas and salad, no sign of the seafood platter. Waited a long time for the wine and even longer for the platter, advertised as having lobster, which were actually langoustines. The mussels on the ‘warm’ platter were freezing. The bravas tasted like they had been reheated.

They must have been short staffed, as we barely saw our waiter at all.

We observed the owner warmly welcoming anyone I assume was local, and being rude to other tourists, who promptly left.

Definitely will not be visiting here again, with so many other fantastic restaurants in Cambrils where you receive a warm welcome and excellent food and service. If you’re a tourist and don’t speak Catalan or Spanish then don’t...

Such a pity about the terrible service - the food was very good but without a doubt the worst dining service we’ve had.

Waited 50 minutes for 1 starter to arrive - at this stage still no drinks had arrived. Water eventually arrived, waited another 10 minutes for glasses (we had to ask). We started eating 1 hour after ordering.

One main course arrived in the middle of eating the starters. Food itself was very good.

No cutlery arrived for steak, we had to ask. No salt pepper etc on table, we didn’t ask as we gave up on the meal at this point. Had to ask for the starter plates to be removed long after mains arrived. Nobody came over to ask did we want more wine, and probably for the best as it took almost an hour for our 1st glass (and only!) to arrive.

We left before dessert, which is a pity as we had been looking forward to it, but the service totally ruined the meal.

Don’t waste your time, patience or money coming here! a real pity for the chef as the...