Restaurante Real Balneario — Restaurant in Castrillón

We visited the Real Balneario during a weekday, so we assumed it would be quiet but it was surprising to be one of two tables that night.

The setting is stunning, right in the beach and even though, the decor could be more modern, it's really personal and has a lot of charm. The setting itself has delightful views and if you are lucky enough to have a clear day, you will enjoy a lovely sunset as you enjoy a glass of champagne. Unfortunately the views of the people in the beach can't be unpleasant, but there's no real control of the restaurant on that.

Something the restaurant could definitely do is to improve its service. It was, slow and had small knowledge of their menu. It was unpleasant enough to be the only table in the restaurant (as the others left quite early), as to feel observed my the manager, that was standing a few feet away from us, in a very obvious way listening to our conversations. We have been to enough restaurants to appreciate non intrusive waiting, where we are served and observed, without noticing anything.

We began our dinner with a bottle of Kripta, a lovely Cava that was at cellar temperature, so it took nearly the whole dinner to cool down to be enjoyed properly. I would expect an aperitif to be served at the right temperature straight away, without having to wait one hour for it to cool down. This was the reason why we didn't enjoy another bottle of wine, as we just felt it was a waste of money to leave our sparkling wine cooling down, when we wanted it with our canapes! In any case, the wine list was unimpressive, a very obvious and boring selection of the typical wines you could normally find in restaurants like this. I was expecting more on this front, a more subtle and independent wine list, with some big names but as well some curiosities from Spain.

There were some items unavailable, that was a bit upsetting, as we already had planned what we would eat, but there was plenty of choice to order from. The food was fine, and for Asturias, that's a really poor standard. We started with canapes, a small assiette of marinated mackerel served on top of a crisp of squid ink (I think), this was unfortunate, as the anchovy was more on the sushi or ceviche side, so it made the cracker soggy and there was no texture contrast.

We were really looking forward to enjoying the clams, but this weren't available so we ordered the foie-gras and the pork belly with squid. The Foie was simple, with a low temperature cooked egg, which added a lovely texture, as expected it was delicious, although I found a bit of vein in it. The pork and squid was an interesting combination of flavors, nicely presented the jus was delicious and I found it really impressive, it had an unusual asiatic touch to it which made the acidity of the dish rise (perhaps yuzu?). Overall the starters weren't what we wanted, but we enjoyed them a lot, the presentations were carefully crafted and the results were really good. It was disappointing that the waiters didn't know many of the ingredients or the details of the dish, like the name of the flowers used to decorate.

For the main courses once again, we were let down by the available items, so we had the red mullet and the grouper. The red mullet was cooked perfectly, but the presentation was ridiculous, it had an useless layer of thick cut potatoes, trying to imitate the fish scales, but it just looked like the chef didn't finish the dish. The garnishes were fine, but unexciting although the sauce was delicious. The grouper was fine, well cooked, but apart of the sauce the rest was quite plain and there were not texture contrasts in the dish.

After such disappointing dinner we hoped that the desserts would be something to make up for the rest. We were wrong, the choices were really poor and it didn't feel like the dessert menu of michelin starred restaurant, rather like that of a "menu del dia" in your local "meson". We had one pain perdu to share, it was fine.

Overall an overpriced experience, there are more humble restaurants around Asturias that offer...

Tuvimos la suerte de disfrutar de una comida de trabajo en el Real Balneario de Salinas, y la experiencia fue, simplemente, excelente. Éramos seis adultos y, desde nuestra llegada, todo estuvo a la altura de lo que uno espera en un restaurante con estrella Michelin (e incluso por encima en algunos aspectos).

El comedor es amplio, elegante, perfectamente decorado y aclimatado. Se respira serenidad y buen gusto. Desde nuestra mesa redonda, las vistas a la playa de Salinas eran espectaculares. Comer con el mar de fondo añadió un valor especial a la experiencia, reforzando esa sensación de estar en un lugar único.

El servicio fue de diez. Atentos, profesionales, y siempre disponibles para aconsejar con criterio, sin invadir ni forzar. El equipo transmite seguridad y demuestra una gran pasión por lo que hace. El trato fue impecable, cercano pero respetuoso, demostrando el nivel del restaurante en cada detalle.

Comenzamos con una emulsión de bogavante de sabor fino y elegante, perfecta como apertura. Las almejas fueron uno de los platos que más nos impresionó por su calidad: carnosas, sabrosas y con una textura impecable. También compartimos una papada con fabas y caviar imperial que nos pareció una auténtica maravilla. Una combinación atrevida, bien medida y muy bien ejecutada.

En los principales, cada uno pidió el que más le apetecía, lo que nos permitió probar una buena variedad de platos. Entre ellos, destacaron la lubina al champagne, delicada y perfectamente equilibrada; la merluza fuera de carta, con una frescura y punto de cocción excepcionales (mis felicitaciones a la cocina) y un salmonete impecable, con todo su sabor concentrado, sin una sola espina, lo que permitió disfrutarlo plenamente de principio a fin. Un detalle que demuestra el cuidado extremo en la preparación y el respeto por el comensal.

Para rematar, compartimos seis de los ocho postres de la carta. La repostería está a la altura del resto de la experiencia: sabores definidos, texturas trabajadas y un cierre dulce que no empalaga, sino que deja un recuerdo duradero.

La estrella Michelin que ostenta este restaurante no solo está justificada: se confirma con cada paso del servicio y cada bocado del menú. El Real Balneario de Salinas ofrece una experiencia gastronómica integral, donde la cocina, el entorno y la atención forman un todo coherente y sobresaliente. Sin duda, un lugar al...

¡No recomiendo este restaurante! Os voy a describir mi experiencia, decidí celebrar un cumpleaños y el camarero me ofreció pescado que habían pescado por la mañana, pregunté cuánto costaría ya que no estaba en la carta y la respuesta fue 56 euros por persona, pedimos dos raciones. Es importante señalar que hablo español promedio y estoy seguro de que el camarero aprovechó esta oportunidad. Me trajeron una langosta, pensé, bueno, eso es lo que quiso decir, comimos la langosta y luego nos trajeron pescado, lo cual ya no era apropiado. Incluso antes de esto el camarero me recomendó insistentemente un determinado vino para acompañar el pescado, tuve que negarme tres veces, ¡simplemente insistió! Supongo que el precio también acabaría siendo diferente al anunciado. ¡Lo que quiero decir es que la factura final simplemente me sorprendió! ¡No había forma de que llegara ni siquiera a los 56 euros por plato! ¡La estrategia es que si no eres español te pueden engañar para que te atiborren de platos muy caros y no tendrás elección! También me gustaría recalcar que no sé cómo consiguieron una estrella Michelin, al parecer el inspector no entró al baño de hombres y no cayó en el truco (foto adjunta).

I do not recommend this restaurant!!! I will describe my experience, I decided to celebrate a birthday and the waiter offered me fish that was caught in the morning, I asked how much it would cost since it was not on the menu and the answer was 56 euros per person, we ordered two portions. It is important to note that I speak average Spanish and I am sure the waiter meanly took advantage of this opportunity. They brought me lobster, I thought well that means he meant it, we ate the lobster and then they brought us fish that was no longer appropriate. Also, before this, the waiter persistently recommended a certain wine to go with the fish, I had to refuse three times, he just insisted! I assume the price would also have been different from what was announced. I mean, the final bill just shocked me! There was no 56 euros for a dish, not even close! The strategy is that if you are not Spanish, then you can be tricked into eating very expensive dishes and you will not be able to get away from it! I would also like to emphasize that I don’t know how they got a Michelin star, apparently the inspector didn’t go into the men’s room and didn’t fall for this trick...