Roostiq — Restaurant in Madrid

I have been many times to Roostiq in Madrid and while I do love the food, the overall experience has been getting worse and worse because of the attitude and rudeness of the staff. We visited last night after making a booking 1 month ago. When we walked in, the woman who greeted us seemed incredibly annoyed that she needed to help us and had a real attitude about seating us. When we booked we had requested to sit in the back of the restaurant, which is the nicest part of the restaurant. They were clear that they could not guarantee anything but would do their best to make it happen. They reiterated they would do their best when they called to confirm the day before. When we arrived though, the annoyed woman found our reservation and told us the only table available was one right next to the front door and in the complete opposite area of where we requested. Yet, we could see the back of the restaurant and there were multiple 4 top tables available that were already setup and ready to go. We protested about sitting in the front when there were other tables in the back available and finally after making a deal of it, she went back to talk to the manager. They finally offered us a table closer to where we requested in the back after 10 minutes of trying to get a seat. When we sat, the area was almost empty and once again there were other tables available. The woman who greeted us was even more annoyed at this point and walked away. From that point the evening started off not great, and it didn't help that it took them 30 minutes from our reservation time to finally take our food order, yet they were prompt to tell us they needed the table back after 1h45m. While we waited to order they were also brining a large bin of trash right past us out to the front of the restaurant. Fortunately the food was good, particularly the Torreznos and Pluma. Overall though, that was unfortunately my last visit to Roostiq as no matter how good the food is, the service and overall experience has deteriorated and there are MANY other amazing restaurants in Madrid...

I’m giving it 4 stars because the overall experience was decent and the service was truly excellent — but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.

First, the positives: the restaurant itself is beautiful and visually impressive, and our server, Gabriel, gave us some of the best service I’ve ever experienced — warm, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. He was definitely the highlight of the evening.

However, when it comes to the food, which is ultimately what I came for, it just didn’t deliver. We started with the torreznos, which were as incredible as they looked — crispy, flavorful, and a great opener. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there.

The anchovies were served on a bruschetta that was far too hard and didn’t pair well with the delicate anchovy flavor. We then tried two vegetarian dishes: the confit artichokes and the confit leeks. Both were okay but heavy and oily, and they lacked the brightness or freshness that could have balanced them out.

Then came the Roostiq pizza with truffle — this was the biggest letdown of the night. The truffle had absolutely no flavor. We were told it was off-season and the truffle was sourced from Chile. Fair enough, but if it doesn’t taste like truffle, why serve it? It felt misleading and disappointing.

The meal ended on a high note with the Basque cheesecake, which was delicious and well-executed.

In summary, the service was outstanding, the space was lovely, and a couple of dishes stood out — but overall, the food didn’t impress me enough to return. Everything was just okay, and in a place that clearly aims for more, “just okay”...

This was by far the worst experience I’ve ever had with a business. The level of disrespect I received from the staff was truly astonishing.

This happened on a Wednesday. I placed a reservation for 1 person at 7:00PM. They cancelled it a few hours later. I figured they must’ve been busy and accidentally overbooked, so I went ahead and booked for an hour later. I arrive at the time of my reservation and the place is empty, maybe 3 tables in the dining room are full and the whole bar area is open. The hostess asked if I had a reservation, which I thought was strange given the amount of open tables, but I said yes and gave her my name. She proceeded to roll her eyes at me and tell me I did not have a reservation. The tone with which she spoke to me was incredibly degrading and rude. She said she could put me on a waiting list. Again, the place was empty. When I expressed my confusion, she then decided she could seat me at a table near the bar. I obliged, sat down and ordered a beer. The waiter came over, gave me an English menu and then told me the prices were wrong and he’d tell me the prices after I ordered. How convenient. After he walked away, I checked my email and noticed that they had conveniently cancelled my 8PM reservation and notified me at 7:59PM. Never have I felt so unwelcome at an establishment, let alone one that clearly could’ve used some patronage at the time of my visit. I was less than excited to get absolutely scammed on the prices so I left...