El Refectorium Malagueta — Restaurant in Málaga

This restaurant has been one of our favourites for several years and although it’s a hour drive to get there it’s always been worth it . Loved the experience of sitting at the bar eating & drinking great food & wine and fabulous service from Miguel , his wife & Marco and several more great staff over the years. However the last couple of visits have not been brilliant hence we haven’t been for ( there are lots & lots of other great restaurants in Malaga ! ) 6 months. So this evening we drove to Malaga in anticipation of a great evening at the bar . Wow were we disappointed. The place states it opens at 8pm and we arrived at 7-45 ( previously it’s never been a problem to be a few minutes early & always received a warm welcome & have seat at the bar until we are ready which for us is fine ) , there was a group of 4 sitting at the bar having drinks so thought it would not be a problem. However we were greeted by a waiter ( guy with thick beard ) whose manner was terrible, we are shut he stated , we explained we understood and were content to just sit & wait til they were ready but we got a even worse reaction ( we speak Spanish so fully understood what he was saying) at which point a guy in the group of 4 drinking at the suddenly said he was the owner & could we leave ( they were cleaning apparently) & return in 30 mins when maybe the offer to have a seat outside & take a drink would of been a good idea !! Now after 40 years of working at a high level of a service industry this is absolutely No way to treat clients, so we left , walked 30 metres around the corner to a different restaurant where the welcome was warm & friendly & the food utterly delicious, best turbot I’ve eaten . So to summarise, I’m not sure what has changed here , maybe a change of ownership but for us tonight , sorry El Refectorium you...

Okay... let's start by saying the place is considered posh and high end. However.... for God sakes... for the cost of the food, it should have a functioning toilet door. And the toilet sear itself should also be replaced. I do not go to a place where the entrees are around 30 euros for a shit toilet. The solomillo was delicous... however the plate of sauce was chipped. When you are considered posh... use better plates. Please look if the plate is clean... I had to return a plate because it was oily and clearly not washed properly.

The service could have been better though I understand since the place was packed... it's hard to serve everyone with the same energy.

Most of the plates were good. Though looking at cost... some are overpriced like the alcachofas which needed better seasoning. The croquettes were good,though I have had better.

The ensaladilla was not at all as good as you would expect. Hand made mayo good... the rest... we could just taste the mayo and potatoes. Zero carrots o anything else. We have tried truffle salt in ensaladillas with the same price tag in not posh places. You can see the absurd amount of mayo.

Would I return, yes, but to see if things improved, as I always do. Because I can't base my opinion on one time only. However there is a lot...

Disappointing. We ordered salads that were too salty, but decided to eat them anyway. So we kindly asked them not to add too much salt into the veg we'd ordered, and got our veg with no salt at all. Apart from that, my glass and my boyfriend's knife were dirty and there was a chip in my salad that obviously didn't belong to it. Overpriced, especially given the quality we received. However, the place looks decent and the people around seemed to be fine. We think we might have picked the wrong dishes, but then again, they should have told us. Definitely...