Restaurante CRUCINA — Restaurant in Madrid

We arrived, the restaurant was full and suddenly the personnel took two foldable chairs and a table for us to sit in the middle. Many people continued coming and they had to wait outside, even though they had a reservation. It seemed like a comedy to see the owner taking wine and beers out of the restaurant for the people waiting outside. Then, to our surprise half the menu wasn't available because, in the owner's words "the provider had closed for the pandemic". We ended up ordering nachos, quiche, lasagna, and bread (which never came so i think they didn't even have it). The owner warned us that the quiche would take thirty minutes, however, the earliest dish we got (nachos) was after 45 minutes. Also worth mentioning, he first served nachos to another couple that came after us. Then, we got the lasagna that came immediately after the nachos, but the owner forgot about our quiche. Then, 15-20 minutes later, we got the quiche, so it wasn't going to take half an hour, like he initially said, but 1h 15 mins. Finally, he said that to make up for all this, also considering it was his birthday, he was going to reward us with a dessert. That's a good detail, but it doesn't make up for the horrible service. Also, why does the restaurant take so many reservations? To leave people outside, drinking wine on the pavement? This is a summary of 40€ spent, good and healthy food but not filling at all. I am writing this review from a cafe where we went to fill our stomachs. In conclusion: there's a lot to improve here and you wouldn't expect this from such a good...

New Year's Eve dinner at Crucina was hands down one of my best restaurant experiences. We got the New Year's Eve menu, which included a juice, a glass of champagne, a salad, TWO entrees, and TWO desserts. Then we got a "surprise" smoothie on the house. We came for an 8:30 reservation and didn't anticipate staying until midnight, but it was just such a beautiful atmosphere that I wouldn't want to experience the turning of the New Year anywhere else. The owner was SO nice and brought us the twelve traditional grapes and another glass of champagne at midnight, and gave us fresh zucchini flatbread to go (again, all of this on the house). He explained all the dishes in detail; they were so fascinating and creative! Everything was out-of-the-park delicious. It somehow tasted both indulgent and healthy at the same time. My particular favorites were the salad, zucchini noodle pasta, and tiramisu. Including pictures so you can see how gorgeous everything was. The quality of the food was on par with the very best restaurants in LA (where I'm from), but of course at a fourth of the price. The interior was beautiful too. I am never visiting Madrid without going to this restaurant, and you...

Lo más sorprendente de este local han sido sin duda los largos intervalos de tiempo en los que las cinco o seis mesas ocupadas esperábamos pacientemente nuestra comida delante de platos vacíos. Hemos pedido tres platos y esperado una media de 40 minutos entre cada uno de ellos, es decir, dos horas en total. Para los postres ya no hemos tenido paciencia y nos hemos ido, compartiendo la sensación onírica de haber estado en un lugar que no es de este mundo.

Pero vayamos por partes. Pedimos tres platos y pan (que nunca llegará), y al cabo de dos minutos viene un camarero para preguntarnos cuán introducidos estamos en el mundo del crudismo. Le respondemos que hemos comido varias veces este tipo de comida, aunque no somos crudívoros sino vegetarianos, y nos responde que mejor que desistamos de dos de los tres platos, puesto que son sabores muy especiales... Le hacemos caso a medias y desistimos de uno de ellos.

Llega primero la Quiche otoñal, maravillosa como el resto de la comida que la seguirá. La comemos en 10 minutos. Esperamos otros 30. Llega el Saag hindú con falso arroz de coliflor y piñones, de nuevo espectacular, aunque no es ni lo extraño que nos habían advertido ni vemos el falso arroz por ninguna parte. Esperamos otros 30 minutos. Llega la Ensalada italiana, que lleva por descripción: Rúcola, bolitas de "mozzarella" de macadamia y coco, tomate seco y cereza, aceite de oliva eco. El camarero nos había comentado que la habían modificado, pero es que todo parecido con la original será pura casualidad, porque de ingredientes, si trae el aceite de oliva, ya es mucho. De nuevo, es un plato de una elaboración fantástica y lo disfrutamos, pero se incrementa aún más si cabe nuestra sensación de extrañeza...

No nos sorprende descubrir, tras hacer una búsqueda de comentarios sobre el Crucina en internet, la queja común de que a menudo faltan platos, hecho que nos parece una explicación plausible de los mencionados despropósitos: de haber tenido que desistir a uno de los platos por indicación del chef, de haber recibido el saag hindú sin su correspondiente falso arroz y de haber sido sorprendidos por una ensalada absolutamente fuera de lo previsible. Dejando de lado las esperas, claro, queja que parece ser más habitual todavía.

En resumen, comida exquisita, pero la imposición de una experiencia demasiado lejana de las expectativas en todos los...