Restaurant Cafè Balear — Restaurant in Ciutadella

What an odd, rude experience we had at Cafe Balear last night. We reserved a table for 8 of us. The guy taking the reservation on the phone was rude, abruptly hanging up when he’d taken the details, but these things can sometimes be brisk so we went hopeful that recent bad reviews were anomalies.

We were barely greeted and told we couldn’t sit inside though that’s what we had reserved. We were told the inside was full. When I went to the toilet the inside was only full of empty tables. We were put outside far away from anyone else. My husband and I work in hospitality in England and our policy on children in our venues is that they’re welcome if they’re well-behaved and sitting down. Our own children eat out with us regularly and know how to behave in restaurants. When we booked, we said there would be two children and one would need a high chair. They didn't provide the highchair, but I wonder if they put us far away from the action and didn’t engage with us because they don’t want children at Cafe Balear. For the time we were there our girls were sat on their chairs quietly, no devices, and asking for nothing but a drink.

We sat down and had to ask for menus. We were pointed to a QR code. Obviously this is more common now but usually places make an effort for menus to be device friendly. This was 26 pages of small writing that you had to scroll through to find your language. We looked around and other tables had been given paper menus.

No one came to talk to us or take a drink order, but the waiters were engaging with other tables.

We have one vegetarian in our group who is very relaxed and appreciative that it’s a seafood restaurant so she would expect to have whatever the vegetarian option was - but there was none! Literally no vegetarian option other than bread.

In the end, as we really felt they didn’t want us as customers, we stood to leave and go somewhere else. I looked to see if any of the waiters were concerned that a large group who had booked to spend their evening there should be leaving, but no one appeared bothered. Perhaps their rudeness has that affect often. I should have given more credit to the recent one star review that said how rude the staff were to customers with a pram. I gave the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, imagining it had been a very busy service, but having seen the way they treated us automatically for having kids in our party - with no screeching or crying or running around from our children - I have to conclude that they just really don’t want children in their restaurant. Perhaps they should make that their official policy instead of just being horrible to people until they leave.

I would also say for anyone seeking a restaurant with a view in Ciutadella, Cafe Balear’s actually...

Went here whilst on holiday, had very high expectations, as this place had so many good reviews online and was suppose to be one of the best restaurants to eat at on the Cuitadella harbour front!

Well what a big mistake that meal out was… Was the only thing that was awful on our trip

Firstly we was placed on a table which was next to a table they were using for dirty plates I assume as they kept placing them next to us..Starters come, my boyfriend had the clams and I had the croquettes which wasn’t too bad wasn’t anything fancy, then the mains come… Well what a disappointment they were

My boyfriend had the Lobster with potatoes and eggs, which was actually a plate full oil with greasy oily chips, two undercooked eggs, and literally not even half the lobster was on the plate… there was hardly anything of it, even this small portion of lobster he struggled to eat it was just like rubber and was horrible! To top it off don’t let them catch you out, all the lobster dishes on the menu are about €50 however they will charge you more depending on the weight of the lobster which is in Spanish on the menu, however we were nearly charged €100 for literally not even half of a lobster with a plate of oil and chips… what an absolute joke!

I had the steak, it was the smallest bit of steak I’ve ever seen, and it was burnt on the outside and still raw on the inside, also with a super tiny side of super oily greasy chips! Yum

I would most definitely not recommend this restaurant horrendously over priced for awful food… the food looks nothing like the photos they advertise. This was the most expensive meal on our holiday and the most disappointing! Such a shame when it’s in such a pretty location directly on...

Had lunch here in the terraza overlooking the start of the old port, without reservation (inside tables are reservable). Decided to “push out the boat” with a lobster rice (arroz caldoso de langosta) which was delicious and worth the €62 per person charge. The broth could have been more “reduced” (ie less watery) but was very tasty and the lobster for two was huge, accompanied by the special tool (pliers cum scissors cum spike) to get the meat out of the trickier parts. There was enough in the tureen for two full helpings each so you dont really need a starter. We had a tomato and bonito salad for starters and ended with a crunchy chocolate dessert. Service was attentive and flowed well. The view is entertaining watching the rented motorised tubs from Iguana Boats opposite (no license required to rent) with their 15hp engines coming and going with families enjoying the ride on the water. The harbour is very picturesque. Parking was not a problem high above the port on the north side off the Cami de Sa Farola, with staircase access down to...