EL PESCADOR — Restaurant in es Mercadal

⭐ 1 Star – Disappointing Experience, Likely Discriminated for Having Children

We had a very disappointing experience at this restaurant on July 10th. We arrived as a family of four (two adults and two small children) around 1pm. The restaurant was completely empty at the time, and although a few tables had "reserved" signs, there were still many free. A gentleman waiter kindly began to seat us.

However, as we were being led to our table, a woman suddenly came from the inside, looked at us, and abruptly told us they were "fully booked" — despite the fact that no reservations had been mentioned until that moment. We left feeling confused and uncomfortable.

We ended up having a wonderful meal at the restaurant right next door, which gave us a direct view into the original restaurant for over an hour (from 12:30 to 2pm). It never filled up — not even close. Tables remained empty throughout.

It felt very clear to us that the rejection was not about reservations, but rather because we had children with us. If that’s the case, it’s incredibly disappointing and discriminatory. Families deserve the same respect as any other diners.

Definitely not an establishment I would recommend...

This restaurant would be OK for lunch, but as they have NO canopy, enclosed area, or internal seating. NO GOOD in the evening, or if it is raining. Cold sitting at table and food quickly gets cold, so a complete waste of money & not a pleasant experience. Food OK, but expensive. Simple meal for 2, with NO drinks, starter, bread, or water, just Sole (not properly cooked) not cooked enough to be able to easily remove skin, mush of fried potato & 4 small green peppers, more decoration than vegetable for myself & sirloin steak, (very good) with fries & same peppers for my wife. Bottle of cheapest Rose E21.50 total bill E78.00. Very poor value for money. We have used this restaurant for the last 30 years, but will not be returning. It has gone "Upmarket" to cater for the expensive motor yachts they are obviously expecting as a result of the very expensive upgrade to the town & harbour facilities, which are taking place. Fornells harbour front is a building site. They have spoilt what was a lovely fishing harbour....

It started off well as we went for a reasonably cheap three course meal. The proportions were decent but the food was quite average and the meat in paella was particularly dry. As we got to the dessert, we were given the cutlery but the dessert never came. We waited for quite a long time before flagging down a waiter to remind them and they had to ask us what dessert we wanted again. The dessert was brought out a few mins later.. After getting the bill, we realised they added in the dessert on top of the set menu so we had to tell the waiter. The waiter (or manager) just took the receipt without saying a word and the correct bill was handed back to us. We waited for the waiter to come back with the card machine to settle the bill. As he approached our table, he let out a noticeably huge sigh and he did not say a word or even a thank you! In the end we decided not to leave a tip because the service was so disappointing. We did not have a great customer service experience and for that reason would not recommend...