Saona Cartagena — Restaurant in Cartagena

When we arrived at the restaurant for lunch it was empty but we decided to try it because it looked clean, had good reviews and we were too hungry to find anything else. The waiters quickly took our drink orders. I wanted rosé but it they said it wasn't cold so I got a glass of white wine instead. So far so good. They recommended a tasting menu and we decided to try it. The problem was that the waiters didn't take the time to take our order. They didn't come to our table and seemed busy training staff or welcoming new guests arriving. We waited patiently and tried repeatedly to get their attention. The waiters were busy, or even after I made contact and hoped they would come they never arrived. We were all getting more and more tired and frustrated. After about an hour we were all frustrated and fed up. The kids who both behaved very well cried and asked when the food was coming, still the restaurant filled up and no one came to take our orders, being available or asking if we wanted anything.

We wanted to leave but we were naturally even hungrier than when we arrived, people around us were getting food and we had already been waiting a long time. When I finally was able to get a waitor I decided to order some starters just to get us something quick to eat. This turned out to be a bad decicion. After another 30 minutes, half a foccacia came to share. We hoped that the rest would come soon, but no. We shared a few pieces of bread as more time passed. I asked several times when the remaining food would come - no one knew, they would check etc, but no one came back to us. After sitting here for almost an hour and a half, 2 small croquettes came. It was almost ridiculous, but by then we had already ordered and were extremely hungry and frustrated. Our youngest child eventually was ao tired he felt asleep. I then decided to go up to the kitchen and cancel the last dish, and asked to pay immediately. They seemed apologetic and said that they were short on staff in the kitchen, said that we could get the potatoes for free, they would come in 3-4 minutes. Ok i once again gave them them some slack. After another 15 minutes of waiting, I went up again and said that we were tired and asked again to pay. One server had a plate of potatoes, said it was ready and asked if we wanted them "to go", I said okay and said I still wanted to pay imidiatly. I received the bill, which included wine I hadn't ordered. I got this corrected, paid for drinks, water and bread (nothing was complementary). The waitress and even gave herself full marks for service before I manage to press anything on the card machine. I was completely fed up and wanted to leave. I went to the table, still no food. We left and had to go straigt to a Mercadona and a Burger King after to get some food..

As the first guest to arrive at the restaurant we left after two hours with two small starters to share for 4 persons, no service, and an overall bad...

A very unique experience - for a good price!

FOOD:

We all ordered the “Night Menu” which costs 12,90€ including: Starter, Main Dish, and Dessert! All the food was great!

All the starters were amazing and unique, making for an interesting experience.

For the main dishes, most of them were also great, and only the pasta was kind of overcooked.

The Desserts wer all AMAZING! I especially enjoyed the “Lime Cheescake”

Service:

The waiters were all very kind competent. All tough the food took a while to arrive, i assume that it is part if the experience and it didn’t take absolute ages. Though be careful: this place is not for a quick snack! It’s meant to spend some time there!

What was new to me, were the menus. They have digital menus found on: https://www.gruposaona.com/carta/carta-levante-noche-domingo-a-miercoles-julio24/?restaurant=20765&qrcode

There you can choose your starter, main and dessert.

ATMOSPHERE:

The interior and design is just AMAZING! They did a great job making the interior feel cozy and professional!

SUMMARY:

I enjoyed the restaurant a lot and would definitely recommend it to everyone visiting Cartagena! Especially because you get to experience a full 3-dish meal for a good price!

The meals are a great fusion of different Mediterranean cuisines!

Here are some photos...

Anoche nos decidimos ir a cenar a uno de los locales de moda de Cartagena y la verdad fue un poco decepcionante, quizás porque por el aspecto que tiene desde fuera con su buena decoración, su cristalera, etc y por los buenos comentarios de la gente, me hice demasiadas expectativas. Intentaré ser lo más justo posible como siempre hago en mis reseñas. El local está muy bien decorado, con mucho gusto, lo que le da un toque de elegancia y modernidad. Es bastante espacioso con dos ambientes. No tiene terraza exterior. La carta aunque aparente tener muchísima variedad, no es para tanto. Funcionan con el método de menús degustación bien de medio día, bien de noche, en los cuales varían algunos platos según el tramo del día de la semana. Asimismo tienen algunos platos de picoteo fuera de los menús. Dentro de los menús, existen algunos platos principales con suplemento, normalmente los más contundentes. Los precios de los menús si los comparamos con otros restaurantes similares en apariencia son muy económicos. Antes de comentar lo peor de la noche, pasaré a comentar lo que comimos. Nosotros pedimos el menú degustación nocturno, compuesto por 5 entrantes, 4 de ellos individuales y 1 al centro, 1 principal a elegir y 1 postre. La bebida va aparte. Y también pedimos fuera del menú, pulpo y croquetas de pato. Con respecto a la cantidad está muy bien, la copa de vino más económica que en el resto de sitios. La ensaladilla rusa, bien, aceptable, las croquetas estaban buenas aunque muy similares a las que te pueden servir en otros sitios, el pulpo algo duro, el mini hotdog, no es de salchicha sino de longaniza, los trozos de atún del tataki bastante pequeños y pocos con respecto al acompañamiento, la dorada en tempura, trozos pequeños, parecía congelada e iba acompañada de una pasta similar a los gurullos, orzo que estaba insipida, faltándole sal. El costillar ibérico a baja temperatura estaba bien, y fue el plato más grande del menú. En cuanto al servicio, aún siendo siempre súper amables anoche estaban desbordados. Tardaron bastante en servirnos el primer plato, yo sugeriría poner unas olivas, unos frutos secos o algún detalle mientras sirven el primer entrante. A partir de ahí, vinieron todos los platos de golpe incluyendo los principales. Hubo un momento que se juntaron 3 entrantes con los 2 principales. Esperar más de 15 minutos por un copa de vino tampoco debe suceder en un sitio así. En resumen un suspenso al servicio o a la cocina en la distribución de la comanda y deberian preocuparse mucho más porque nunca falte bebida en la mesa. La atención personalizada y atenta, que antes de pedir ya te están sugiriendo algo, es característico de un restaurante con similares apariencias. Finalmente los postres nos los llevamos a casa. Por lo tanto, como comida, si buscas cantidad y platos con apariencia de cocina elaborada aunque no lo sean, y además bastante económicos, éste es tu sitio, pero te sugiero que vayas un día de entre semana, lejos del fin de semana mientras siga estando de moda...