Marisquería La Chalana — Restaurant in Madrid

We had a family lunch at this restaurant, 6 people in total. We were seated inside on a nice table. The waiter that managed our table changed his behavior, from the moment we started to talk with him in English. He brought another colleague to handle our group, a female waiter. She had a negative attitude towards our group, from the beginning. Whatever we asked for, she answered with negation. Two of us were considering a seafood stew (for 2 person), and we asked more information about it: is it coming with any side dish? She answered: NO. As the stew comes with a juicy soup, we didn't wanted go lose that, so based on our experience we asked if we can get some rice with it? The answer was: NO. Some toasted bread? NO. Some potatoes? NO. She had a No for everything. Mom and my sister wanted to share a dish (they both said they cannot eat a full portion of anything), but the waiter said the food cannot be shared at the table, they forbid that. She insisted that we should order some drinks. We said: let's first decide about the food, and than match the drinks with the food. She didn't like that... She started to discuss in Spanish language with the other waiter, and she was bad mouthing us for being Romanians (guess what, both Spanish and Romanian language share a common root: Latin language, so we understood their conversation). At this point, we were considering to leave the restaurant, as they crossed many lines, but as we were against the clock, with a plane to catch, we decided to stay and see what's going to happen next. We placed our order, and one of the 2 salads was something we didn't ordered. We asked them to change it, and we got the right one. After the food was served, the initial waiter took over again, and he changed his attitude, he was more friendly. He did some mistakes: for the seafood stew they didn't provided any bowls for the sheels, and no spoon for the juicy soup. When we asked for, he realized and he immediately brought us bowls and spoons. Rest of the lunch went normal, the food was good, but it was hard for us to pass over the behavior they had toward us, and we had to penalize by not ordering anything else (no more drinks, no deserts, no coffee, etc), and NO TIPS. We always tip on restaurants, but this time, we couldn't do it. So, in conclusion: the food is great, but if you want to be well served speak Spanish, and don't be a Romanian. The...

Two of my spanish friends and I went to Restaurant La Chalana in Madrid this week. The place had been recomended to us. We had not made any reservation but were bid welcome by a friendly waiter. We got at table in one corner with a nice view over the entire restaurant. The waiter came very quickly with the menus and asked if I would like to have one in english. We discussed the menu - it serves Asturian specialities - the restaurant both serves veal but especially fish and seafood. We ordered one of their specialities a plate of seafood and fish - and a very dry Möet et Chandon to drink and a wonderful combination. This restaurant is also well known for their "Sidra" apple cider i learned. By each table a machine is installed onto the wall. This machine distributes cider just by a touch on a button. For starters we tasted fantastic clamps - and then for the main course a huge plate of fish and seafood came on the table. It was fantastico. The flavours of the fish were underlined by frish lemon and a salsa of olive oil and garlic lightly fried. For desserts coffee and brandy and a ice dessert for one of my friends. The waiter this night at our table was attentive to our needs and gave us new plates during the meal it was very exelent service. I can - if you like fish and seafood highly recomend this restaurant and also the ambiance...

A spanish friend recommended this restaurant in Madrid to me. We came all the way from Germany to Madrid, and wanted to have a try.

Positive: The food tasted good. Most of the staff are extremely friendly and helpful - helping us to find a table even without a reservation, warmly offering a high chair for our little kid.

Negative: The way we were treated by one particular waiter (middle-age, slightly grey hair, with glasses) was miserable, who seemed to come because he could speak English. We asked if he could recommend some dishes, his answer was full of impatience, scorn, arrogance and negligence. Before he came, we were communicating pretty well with other Spanish speaking waiters by Google translation - it'd be better off if he didn't come at all. What really pissed me is that he even rudely asked if we needed the bread which the other waiter placed on every guest's table beforehand when we arrived. Out of disappointment I replied "we don't need it if it's not free".

We won't consider this restaurant anymore in Madrid. There are tons of restaurants out there in Madrid where the waiters don't understand English but still treat us extremely patiently and friendly. It's a perfect example that one bad hiring could ruin the efforts of all the other colleagues in a company, especially in a highly competitive...