Restaurante Mare Nostrum — Restaurant in l'Ametlla de Mar

The worst dining experience I have ever had in my life! First, we asked what time the restaraunt was open until as it was a bit late. Waiter told us about 12am. The time was 10pm so me and my family decided to eat here. Waiter tried to entertain us with small talk bravado but it just came across very strange? We asked if it was possible to do meat only paella with chicken and chorizo, the waiter asked the chef who said yes. We placed our orders and when the starters arrived was very surprised that my mother and father who had ordered the same as me - prawns fried in garlic, had different dishes. We asked the waiter why and he said "because you ordered of the set menu it's a higher quantity but less quality... and vice versa." This was when the waiter proclaimed "I've been barred from the kitchen but I make the best Irish coffee's - you can even see the whiskey at the bottom" (again, strange bravado & that is how Irish coffee is supposed to look) My brother in law ordered the asparagus, 5 asparagus tips arrived - which cost €8. My partner ordered the house salad, which turned up with Tuna & Asparagus on - but only cost €5.50!?!?!?

We were then told that we need to finish our starters because the paella is ready and we need to eat it now.

Luckily, the 3 of us who ordered paella had JUST finished our starters. They brought out paella and put it on the table, didnt offer to serve the portions. We dished up ourselves and found it tasted very poor and more like a rissoto than a paella. There was no chorizo and when we asked what meat was in it - the waiter said lamb and beef!? However, there was no lamb or beef! It was clearly pork!

My mother had ordered the sausage. What arrived was two undercooked frankfurters. Nothing like the pictures/description on the menu. She had to ask for it to be sent back and re cooked twice. Upon returning the second time the waiter proclaimed "I kicked the chef out of the kitchen and cooked this one myself" - (although he was barred from the kitchen?)

During this escapade of the back and forth sausage..... My father, who had not yet finished his starter was brought his main out. He was handed it across the table with his starter still infront of him. So there he was, with a plate of prawns on the table and a tuna steak in his hands.

My girlfriend had ordered the grilled hake. It arrived battered and deep fried. To be fair, the hake was okay. However, it was not what she ordered. My father said his tuna steaks were okay too. I was massively disappointed with my meal and the service and urged everyone not to spend a penny more. However, many people wanted a dessert. The waiter described the desserts on the menu..... bearing in mind the waiter was English he described: "Egg white cake with lemon" do you mean meringue - "Yeah" "Egg yolk with sugar on top" do you mean custard, crem bruleu - "Yeah" And my personal favourite: "Tiramasu" we have high standards for tiramisu- "Oh, well it's not home-made, it's just a slice from the shop"

We then tried to order the infamous Irish coffee we had heard so much about only to be told no. We must wait. The desserts must come first.

The desserts were just as bad as the rest of the food. Then something that I have never seen in my life: Whilst eating the desserts, one of the chefs walked through the Restaraunt, right past our table pushing a full wheelie bin to be emptied outside the restaurant! Absolutely disgusting.

We then had our chance to sample the Irish coffee which arrived nothing like described. At this point the waiter arrived and explained that the Irish coffee didn't look as good as he promised as his boss told him to hurry up as he wanted us to leave. This was at 11pm. No apology. Nothing. We pointed out that we asked what time they were open until when we arrived and that the whole night was unnaceptable. He said that he had a call from his wife and everyome had to leave. The staff then arrived with take out food from a kebab shop - they didn't even want to eat the food from their...

Nada especial...Los platos muy básicos y sosos... Por el precio de los menús se lo podrían currar bastante más (18 y 22€ respectivamente).

He leído otras opiniones, no sé si utilizan tomate Solís, pero no pidas Gazpacho, es de brick del supermercado (hemo visto como llenan los vasos de gazpacho debajo de la barra, ningún problema, pero qué vergüenza ajena he pasado, almenos que lo hagan en la cocina!!! Y lo juro, no es para hacer daño, es la pura verdad).

Los chipirones se salvan, pero los calamares a la romana no valen nada...Según la carta su especialidad es el arroz de galeras, si eso le llaman "su especialidad" no hace falta probar nada más (aceptable para comérselo, pero no por ser la especialidad de la casa y menos en un pueblo de tradición marinera. Soy aficionado a los arroces y paellas y sé de lo que hablo, esperaba un arroz mucho mejor)

Servicio MUY pero que MUY LENTO y poco simpático... El dueño (el que toma nota) amable y servicial, el único que se salva de todos. Se ve que intenta que las cosas vayan bien, pero no va por muy buen camino... Los camareros te intentan colar las cartas sin el menú del día para que pidamos carta...¡eso no se hace hombre, que no somos tontos los clientes! Si cuela cuela, no? Más de uno habrá picado! El mismo camarero lo admite y nos cambia las cartas por otras que sí tienen el menú... Vaya tela!

Más de dos horas en el restaurante (servicio lentísimo) para salir con mal sabor de boca... (por cierto, si llego a saber lo malo que está el postre ni lo pido!) Hay sitios mucho mejores, solo hace falta ir al primero del ránking de restaurantes de la Ametlla, eso sí que es un restaurante como Dios manda!

No repetiremos y por supuesto no lo recomendamos si quieres comer...

El menú de 19€ no sé ajusta a la realidad de los platos. Pedí unos langostinos al ajillo y éstos estaban pasados a la plancha y después puestos en una cazuela de barro con aceite y ajillo, donde el sabor no era para nada a lo que el plato realmente es... "langostinos al ajillo"... Posteriormente quisieron cobrar una botella de agua de más donde ésta supuestamente entraba dentro del menú y en ningún lugar de la carta decía que era una botella por pareja o cada 2 menús una botella de 1,25 cl... no llegaba ni a 1,5 lts. Dicha botella es insuficiente para 2 comensales. Al pedir explicaciones respecto al sistema de servicio de bebida, se limitaron a darme voces y decirme que en su casa las cosas se hacen así, sin tener en cuenta mi opinión respecto a que desconocía el servir una botella por pareja, porque en la carta no viene informado que la bebida se servía de esta forma. El trato nefasto y sobre todo las formas deja mucho que desear armando un escándalo delante del resto de clientes... En mi modesta opinión no es recomendable este restaurante para comer o cenar, existen otros sitios del lugar que por menos te dan más, incluso dando la información correcta de cómo pedir respecto al sistema de la bebida. No es grato que te sirvan como si estuvieras en un rancho dando voces y teniendo que ir detrás de los camareros para que te sirvan lo que habías pedido... La forma de tratar a los clientes el dueño no es la correcta, siendo muy prepotente y sin tener en cuenta nada de lo que...