Restaurant Els Tinars — Restaurant in Llagostera

I recently dined at Tinars, a highly acclaimed 1-star Michelin restaurant, unfortunately, my experience was extremely disappointing.

We were a party of two , we both had the degustation menu, five courses, plus 2 desserts and one of us took the wine pairing. The first three courses were very plesant however, it went downhill from there. The first problem arose when the 4th course of fresh fish was so oversalted that it was simply inedible. The plate had to be sent back, leaving my partner waiting as his own meal grew cold. It was frustrating to witness the lack of acknowledgement from the staff for this inconvience. The 5th course of turbot fillet was again oversalted but more edible, however, I left most of it. I had expected a sommelier to be available to guide us with the wine pairings. However, no such expertise was provided. The wine served with the tasting menu was at times unbalanced and failed to enhance the flavours. The staff had to be reminded to bring the appropriate wine.

The first dessert of pear sorbet with lemon and thyme was good however, the 2nd dessert which was basicly a poor vanilla ice-cream and hot chocolate sauce, was excessively sweet and fell far below my expectations. A lacklustre ending to an already disappointing meal.

Overall, my experience at Tinars was far from what I had anticipated from a...

I really wanted to love this place—especially since it's a favorite among many of our friends—but it didn’t quite stand out for me.

We came for the degustación menu after previously enjoying their à la carte. From the outside, the restaurant is charming and cozy, and the interior has a homey feel. However, the lighting was overly bright, and there was a surprising lack of connection to the story behind the chef or the menu. It felt like something personal was missing.

The sommelier greeted us but didn’t offer much explanation or warmth. While the wine list was rustic and interesting, the service felt rushed. We asked for a Spanish wine for a special occasion, but the initial suggestion didn’t match what we were looking for (non-aging and a bit underwhelming). Eventually, we chose a bottle he recommended, which was much better.

Some of our table did the wine pairing, while others had the bottle, and that worked well. Staff were attentive, but the service overall felt a bit rough around the edges—friendly but lacking finesse.

On the plus side, the food was generous in portion (which we appreciated), and they thoughtfully cleaned the tablecloth between courses. I just wish they’d share more about the concept, the chef, and the details behind the dishes and decor—it would make the experience much more engaging. That said, the food...

UNBELIEVABLY RUDE MAITRE!! I arrived here for lunch at 15h (after driving an hour and a half from Barcelona) to be told that the tasting menu not available after 15h. The reason we came to this Michelin start restaurant was for theIr famous tasting menu so i asked to speak to Maitre, to see if they can make an exception. I had not been told on the phone when booking and had no idea that the tasting menu was only available at certain times. When I explained the situation the Maitre immediately attacked me in a very aggressive and argumentative manner telling me that it was my fault for not having checked the website, that all Michelin star restaurants do not serve the tasting menu after 15h and I obviously had no experience with this kind of food, then told me that I was rude to suggest that they should have advised me about this on the phone because that would be a waste of their staff’s time. I have never so disrespected in a restaurant, not even in a McDonalds. This person’s attitude reflects this restaurant and it is completely unacceptable to treat guests in this manner. I can understand that the restaurant does not want to serve a lengthy tasting menu at that time of day, but there are ways you need to explain that to a customer but being rude and aggressive is not one of them, especially from the person who supposed to...