El Viajero

I came here on my first night in Madrid based on a recommendation. I wish I hadn’t. Isn’t food supposed to bring joy? Well, this place certainly doesn’t. I ordered the artichokes with salsa, an okay dish if you don’t care about food, I suppose. Parts of the artichokes were nicely charred, while still remaining pretty much raw, and a challenge to chew through. The pico de gallo complimented them just fine. I then ordered a salmorejo, my favorite summer dish in Spain, a cold creamy tomato soup, traditionally served with jamón, eggs and extra virgin olive oil. Sadly, theirs was watered down to the point of being like tomato juice. They also didn’t serve me a spoon. This is where I found out just how attentive the staff is. It took about 6-7 minutes of trying, and failing, to wave any server down, until finally, the bartender noticed my weak attempts and brought me a spoon. Pretty hard to eat a soup with a knife and fork, isn’t it? In restaurants I’ve worked at, we bother to notice which way each plate is facing, so the restaurant logo faces the guest, and therefore each dish is plated to look the most attractive facing the person being served. Bringing a soup with no spoon is just complete lack of caring about your guests’ experience. I then ordered beef, “in the style of kebab”. Whatever you expect that means, you are mistaken. There are no chunks of beef, and most importantly no skewer, it’s served as mincemeat, in a paella-type pan, with pine nuts and hummus on the side. The flavors are strange and too sweet, unless you douse each bite with the hot sauce they provide on every single table. But surely, I haven’t come to eat bottled hot sauce. In order to hammer down the already miserable atmosphere from the food, they decided to play the most uplifting song perfect for any bar, that always sets a joyful drinking mood. R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts. I am not kidding. Without understanding a single lyric from that song, it is the most depressing thing I have ever heard played in any restaurant. Wow, was everything upsetting. The staff, as soon as done talking to a nearby table, have the strict tendency to make a 180° turn and walk right off, as you are politely waiting for them to be done talking/listening to get their attention. It’s like they have better things to do. The music choice, and service, understandably made the atmosphere as good as the food. Which is… ya know. 2/10