Vermuteria La Clasica — Restaurant in Málaga

NO GO ZONE !! I often come to Malaga but for the first time I was confronted to such a unprofessional welcome. Arriving at this place two Spanish musicians where playing close by. The stopped for a while to collect some coins so I decided to stop and eat at this place. And what a "luck" I found a table with only 1 chair. On the table close to mine there was a table with 3 young woman. I could hear them talking in English with a French accent. In a friendly and polite manner I've asked them where they came from. One lady was from the UK, another from Czechoslovakia and the third from France. We had a friendly small talk about all countries that I've visited and lived in. AT NO MOMENT THE 3 LADIES COMPLAINED ABOUT MY PRESENCE OR OUR CONVERSATION TO THE STUFF.* Suddenly a waitress came close to me, yelled something in Spanish and give me sign to leave the place. That surprised me and the 3 young ladies und of course also a few other clients. I wanted to know the reason why but she continued to yelling at me. Other (Spanish) clients turned in with her. I found another waiter who understands a little English but he couldn't help me. I ASKED TO SEE SEE MANAGER BUT WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAD NO MANAGER. I returned to the young ladies and asked them if I could invite them for this dinner but they politely refused thanked me and had to leave (very shocked). So I invited the 2 musicians** to sit and eat with me. Both accepted and took a seat with me. BUT than the English speaking waiter came back and was sorry to tell us, without giving any explication, that we are NOT ALLOWED to eat at this place. I live in France, birthplace of RESTAURANTS, and the French law didn't allow a restaurant owner to refuse the service to a customer, it is considered like an act of pure and simple DISCRIMINATION.  This was a pure and simple DISCRIMINATION against me based on a wrong perception of a waitress who even didn't understand one word of what I was talking to the ladies. It was a DISCRIMINATION against humans (musicians) who tried to bring some life back after a long period of Covid. I would like to add that I was not drunken at all, polite, well dressed and always open minded. This waitress is unprofessional from all points of view. I would fire her or teach her how to talk to clients. @restaurant owner and kitchen chief I'm sorry couldn't try your dishes, maybe next time....no....I'm kidding....NEVER. Malaga is full of Restaurants, I would choose another one. One with friendly staff.

By the way, how could it be possible that I bother these ladies ( not girls ) if they told me in a respectfull conversation her origins (Cornwall.UK, Prague and Rouen.France) and purpose of travel ? ** Why was the 2 musicians not allowed to stay and eat and drink ?

• I was standing at a seperated table and talking with the ladies for about 5 minutes. Not one waiter and not the "Funny Paola" came and took my order...not even a welcome as a client, but a total hysterical charge. I use this possible of comment section because the personal refuse to take my complain. I have absolutely no reasons to lie. I travel a lot, but this was...

Please do not go here. Actually, if you'd like soggy, cold fries, microwaved meatballs and over salted food, this is just the place for you.

Food I'm always a fan of trying new cuisine, this place was no different. But when the meatballs were served mildly warmed with a cold center, I questioned the staff if this was how the dish was supposed to be. They apologised and took the dish away, only for it to arrive a couple minutes later clearly the same plate, and showing clear signs of having been in the microwave. In relation to this we were later explicitly told that the kitchen could not have an extra stove just to heat up some meatballs, and thus we should expect it to be microwaved. I do not agree. Anyway - the other dishes were either bad or just okay. The lamb skewers lacked flavour, the chicken skewers were dry. Oh, and the fries they served with every single dish was always soggy, and at times cold. I guess the asparagus were alright?

Service After having had the microwaved meatballs and being served with yet another dish with soggy, cold fries, I wished to pay the bill and leave and not have any of the other dishes we had ordered. I approached the server about cancelling the rest of the fold, and seemed to get an acknowledgement and that it would be no problem. I was wrong. Honestly, if the server had been open about it not being possible, that's okay, bu the absolute dread I felt when seeing 3 more dishes with soggy fries make their way to our table is a feeling I can't say I've ever had. When I explained to the server that I had asked for these dishes to be cancelled, we were approached by another server who told us this was not possible as these dishes are served fresh and made to order. The cold and soggy fries would suggest otherwise, but thats beside the point. We agreed to take the leftover dishes to-go, paid for our stuff and left. (these dishes were also not great. The oxtail was over-salted, the sauce tastesd bland, a bit like baby food, etc...)

Needless to say, we had the worst time on our entire vacation here. Few tears were...

We visited La Clásica in November 2021 and absolutely loved it. Authentic, fresh food with good service and a lovely atmosphere. The tapas were classic - no great innovation here - but freshly-made and using great ingredients.

Visiting La Clásica two years later, however, was a great disappointment. Slow, lackadaisical waiters who only showed themselves to take our order and drop the tapas with a total lack of enthusiasm.

The menu has not changed since 2021, which isn't necessarily a bad thing given that classic tapas can be winners... if made properly. However, the quality of the ingredients and the cooking has dropped dramatically since 2021. The patatas bravas we were served had clearly been fried hours before and then reheated for us, the artichokes were cooked and presented with no passion whatsoever and lacked flavour... I don't know, maybe this is good enough to please many tourists. But not a Spaniard like myself who knows what tapas should taste like.

Our first visit deserved a 4 or 5 out of 5; our second visit only a 2 out of 5 at most... I'll be nice and give it a 3 as an average over our two visits, but I really hope they up their game before our next visit because the drop in quality has been extremely...