Bunji - The Place — Restaurant in Madrid

When a restaurant opens offering cuisine that’s uncommon in the area (like Spanish tapas in Seattle or, say, fusion food in Madrid), locals may not have a strong reference point. So if the presentation is cool, the ambiance is good, and the flavors are bold, it gets praised—not because it’s authentic, but because it’s interesting and different.

That’s what’s happening here. They have a smash burger that really isn’t a smash burger and the cheese is like Kraft American cheese. The food is not good at all. Yet it’s still highly reviewed I think because it’s exotic to Spaniards but it’s not good at all.

Restaurants sometimes serve a stylized, Instagram-friendly version of a culture’s food. To someone from that culture, it feels off—flavors are wrong, techniques are sloppy, or ingredients are substituted poorly. But to outsiders, that disconnect might not even register. So I can see why this place is hyped up.

So today I got to experience the opposite where in Seattle I ate tapas that were horrible that the public rated high and here in Madrid I ate a burger that was horrible that locals thought were good lol.

Stay away and let the locals think they are having good burgers and go eat local food is the moral of my unfortunate decision. If only hermanos vinagre across the street didn’t close when...

We were walking around the area and stumbled upon this place. We had a look at the menu they have on the door and thought we'd go in and try a couple of things for a quick late lunch.

Once we sat down and looked at the QR menu, most of the plates that were advertised outside were not available! Including the Salmon Poke bowl we wanted to get. The prices were also all different, not much higher, but different.

The waiter was very nice when we asked him about it and apologized, saying that a lot of people had the same complaint.

We ended up staying and getting something different because we liked the vibes: Chicken Parma and Spicy Shrimp Noodles. The food was really good (can't judge how "Australian" it really was cause I've never been in Australia but it felt more international cuisine). The service was fast and excellent. They also have a very wide variety of local and imported craft beers.

Summary: food is good. Menu on the door is misleading (please take it down to avoid confused...

English to follow

Cita de mi amigo: "Hay pocos restaurantes en Madrid a los que no volveré nunca, y este es uno de ellos".

1. Comida: Es ese tipo de lugar que ofrece todo tipo de comida y sin embargo ninguna es buena. Aconsejo a los chefs que encuentren su enfoque y lo dominen. Probamos cuatro platos muy diferentes y todos mediocres y aburridos.

2. Servicio: horrible. Te entregan una tableta enorme y tosca para que tú mismo pidas tu comida y listo. El lugar estaba vacío, ¡podrías haber probado un poco más! Luego la tableta no funcionó varias veces y nos estábamos frustrando mucho. Después de pedir finalmente nuestra propia comida, todavía había muy mala comunicación entre los camareros. Obtenga un sistema que funcione y administre mejor a su equipo.

3. Ambiente: sorprendentemente la peor parte. ¡ES TAN BRILLANTE que sentimos como si estuviéramos comiendo en el quirófano de un hospital o en la superficie del sol! ¿Por qué necesitas más lúmenes que un faro? También apagaban accidentalmente las luces, creando una especie de efecto estroboscópico de bricolaje. La decoración "australiana" es vulgar y poco original, la música es house tropical. No sé qué vibra buscas pero no tiene ningún sentido. Te aconsejo convertirte en un bar de ambiente relajado y playero o hacer cambios drásticos si quieres ser considerado un restaurante serio.

Quote from my friend: "There are few restaurants in Madrid that I will never return to, and this is one of them."

1. Food: It's that kind of place that offers all kinds of food and yet none of it is good. I advise chefs to find their focus and master it. We tried four very different dishes and all of them were mediocre and boring.

2. Service: horrible. They hand you a huge, clunky tablet so you can order your food yourself and that's it. The place was empty, you could have tried a little more! Then the tablet didn't work several times and we were getting really frustrated. After finally ordering our own food, there was still very poor communication between the waiters. Get a system that works and manage your team better.

3. Atmosphere: surprisingly the worst part. IT'S SO BRIGHT that we feel like we're eating in a hospital operating room or on the surface of the sun! Why do you need more lumens than a lighthouse? They would also accidentally turn off the lights, creating a sort of DIY strobe effect. The "Australian" decoration is vulgar and unoriginal, the music is tropical house. I don't know what vibe you're going for but it doesn't make any sense. I advise you to become a bar with a relaxed and beachy atmosphere or make drastic changes if you want to be considered a...