Restaurante La Castafiore — Restaurant in Madrid

I merely wanted to post this review so as to avoid you going in with the wrong idea, which is fine dining and opera. It is rather, I would say, opera and dining of some sort, but boy, does it come at a price.

Indeed the opera singers are absolutely great, and, in that sense, the atmosphere is outstanding.

The food however, I found outrageously overpriced. In addition to that, the online menu wasn’t updated, funnily enough, they had removed the basic 35€ menu, and left only its 40€, 45€, and 50€ counterparts. That, I believe, they ought to keep updated at all times, particularly in my case, as I was inviting a party of four, and it makes quite a difference if you find out right there and then, that it’s all suddenly boosting up 5€ per person

That, however, is not the main issue, but the fact that the Puccini menu has only two starters and two mains. A menu at that price ought to at least offer you three alternatives of each. Furthermore, the rations and food quality are way below for that price range. I opted for the salad starter and duck confit main, and indeed they were nice, but worth 20€ tops, and that’s bearing in mind you have the singers, but certainly not for 40€ which matches the price of some really fine restaurants in Madrid, like Horcher, La Gamella, and even surpasses Cafe de Paris (which, by the way, offers a superb menu at 25€), to name but a few. Charging a basic salad and a scarce duck ration at that range is ludicrous, in my opinion.

In addition, a Kobe burger we ordered individually for my son, cost almost 20€. That is absolutely outrageous, it may be Kobe or dodo, for all I care, but a burguer’s just a burguer, particularly when accompanied by a very basic side of potatoes, and no cheese, lettuce, onions, or anything at al for that matter. Just a patty inside a bun. I honestly felt most cheated there.

Deserts were fine and were included, but the fact that a menu that expensive doesn’t even include a basic drink of glass of wine or even water, seems utterly cheap and quite the rip-off in my opinion.

Finally, we come to the waiting on tables. The time they took to serve, initially, I’d ballpark it at 15 mins. Quite the wait in my opinion, without so much as a glass of wine, beer or water, for we literally hadn’t been waited on even for drinks. The times between dish servings is really very long as well, and the etiquette when pouring wine or just waiting is not finely observed (waitress leaning on the table when asked a question, or just holding the wine bottle any way she found are but examples of this).

We basically ate over the course or three hours (from 21:30-00:30). I find it extremely long to be eating over this time. Much better would’ve been to serve quicker, and then allow customers to order a bottle of something while they stay at their leisure enjoying the show. But not waiting an hour to have the salad served, almost 45 minutes to have the main served, and again another 20-30 minutes until dessert comes.

Thus, to conclude, the opera is a really nice touch which makes this place original and enjoyable. Albeit, customers beware, the more reasonable menu is not on offer anymore, despite what the website states (perhaps on account they recently reopened), it’s definitely overpriced for the food and service you’ll be getting, and you’re in for a bit of a wait. If these aspects matter not to you, then by all means I encourage you to try it for yourselves and I do hope you’ll come to enjoy it. Unfortunately, for us, there’ll...

What a magnificent experience! I bought a ticket through Viator before I left home. The space is intimate and really customer oriented; I was asked on more than two occasions was everything ok and was I fine. Excellent service. Before I received my first course I had jamon bruschetta, then a tortilla. My first course was pasta bows stuffed with ham in a champignon and caviar sauce. Yes it was a little salty but it was delectable. I had a beer & asked for red wine and a bottle of Monticello Rioja Cranza 2020 was brought to the table along with a bottle of water. Main course was steak & potatoes. This is not Argentina but the steak was great. Finally came the lemon sorbet with champagne, absolutely yum. All the while the waiters would sing to us. How bloody fabulous is that? One woman Suzy, Susie was astounding; her powerful voice was beautiful to hear. Everyone who performed was great. I really appreciated being included; as was everyone. Congratulations you did a magnificent job at feeding me good food and entertaining me so that I will talk about it for years to come....

La actuación es una actuación agradable, pero sin más florituras y la cena no nos ha gustado nada.

El comedor pasable, pero el resto del local, muy descuidado.

Fuimos mi mujer y yo animados por los comentarios de Civitatis, pero todo más lejos de la realidad, adquirimos la cena por esta plataforma de excursiones y tours turísticos donde anuncian tres tipos de menús de 40, 45 y 50€ donde se incluye café, postre y copa de cava para brindar al final de la cena y la bebida aparte. Pues bien, nos inclinamos por el Espectáculo + Menú Puccini de 40 € donde incluyen lo siguiente:

Menú Puccini Primer plato • Ensalada de salmón y langostinos • Salmorejo con jamón y huevo • Crema de puerros con virutas de salmón • Bichette rellenos de gorgonzola y pera con champiñones a la crema Segundo plato • Brocheta de langostinos al curry con arroz blanco • Confit de pato con cebolla caramelizada y compota de pera • Hamburguesa de Kobe con escalivada de verduras Postre, café y copa de cava para brindar

Pues de este menú Puccini se quedó en este otro en el restaurante:

Menú Rossini Primer plato • Salmorejo con jamón y huevo • Crema de puerros con virutas de salmón Segundo plato • Brocheta de langostinos al curry con arroz blanco • Lomo ibérico al cava con frutos secos y arroz blanco Postre, y copa de cava para brindar.

Después de hablar con el camarero y exponer nuestro malestar por no ofrecer en la carta lo realmente contratado nos dice que el menú es el de la carta ósea menú Rossini. De primero un salmorejo que parecía más comprado que elaborado por ellos. De segundo lomo ibérico, vamos unas finas lonchas de jamón seco con albaricoque y una ciruela con un montoncito de arroz blanco tipo al que se prepara en el microondas.

Llegamos a los postres: Helado de menta con chocolate, un sabor a Pipermín, muy fuerte y el chocolate inapreciable no me gusto y no lo pude comer. Mi mujer pidió crema de yogur al limón con frutas del bosque, y lo que llego a la mesa fue yogur batido con ralladura de limón y sirope de frutos del bosque. El café brillo por su ausencia y el cava un espumoso corriente y moliente.

Lo mejor fue la actuación durante la cena, pero sin más.

Los camareros podrían ir más uniformados para la ocasión y no vestidos uno de cada manera.

Con relación al Local le tendrían que hacerle un lavado de cara y ponerse las pilas ya que la calidad de la comida debería mejorar.

Leyendo los comentarios de la gente que ha estado, parece que hablan de otro local y que no se refieren a este restaurante y todo más lejos de la realidad.

Después de esta experiencia yo no volvería. Conclusión, nos hemos sentido engañados por Civitatis ya que ofrecen algo que al final no es y deberían aclarar con el restaurante las condiciones de la reserva ya que te sientes un poco violento reclamando algo por lo que ya has pagado y...