Sakale — Restaurant in Madrid

Where to start... First off, customer service is not something Spain is generally known for, especially in restaurants and bars. But our experience in Sakale was definitely one for the books and not in a good way. The rating of two stars instead of one is because the food itself is good but the drink service and the service from the waiters/bartenders was the worst.

The waiters' friends were in the bar and were receiving the majority of their attention all night. They took on average 30 minutes to serve our drinks (and on one occasion it was 45m) and then the drinks were terrible and they're supposed to be a cocktail bar as well as a restaurant! Twice we had to ask them to add more liquor to our drinks as they tasted like pure juice. In the meantime the bartenders were chatting with their friends and posting on Instagram.

As for when we ordered our food, the sushi took one hour and a half while some of us got our food in less time. Other tables in the vicinity were getting their food just fine...

Not only was the service bad but the waiters seemed unbothered that we were having a bad experience. At some point they tried to appease us by asking us to play dj and giving us one round of shots... but at that point we were over it and ready to leave.

Want to celebrate a birthday here.... don't, there are...

Doesn’t even deserve the 1 star. We had a table booked for 14 at 9. The only people around downstairs were the friends of the staff who were acting very strangely (going into the bathroom in groups and being drunk and rowdy) which made us feel uncomfortable. We ordered cocktails at the bar some of which took 20 minutes. We sat down and they didn’t even bring us food menus. We ordered more drinks which again took about 20 minutes to come. I had to get the food menus myself. We had tequeños and nachos to share as a starter which came quite quickly. We then ordered the mains some of which took over an hour to come. When the fried dumplings came they were frozen in the middle, the waiter informed us that they were understaffed and that he had had to make them himself. Very unprofessional. Some food also came which we didn’t order. They were quite apologetic but also felt that they could justify their lack off staff because they were busier than expected. Not how to run a restaurant properly They gave us a free shot each and took 15% off the bill. They shouldn’t offer such elaborate cocktails if they don’t have sufficient equipment and staff to make them. We won’t be going back. Avoid...

Conceptually this place is great. Mexican and Japanese fusion. I wouldn't have enjoyed some more prominent flavors particularly for the Mexican end of things it all seemed very tame. The food came out quickly and was nicely prepared and presented. When we were seated there was a QR code on the table that let you hook to the Wi-Fi but nothing about a digital menu. The waitress came over and asked if we were ready and I looked at her confused and asked about a menu. She just stared at us and walked away. My husband finally figured out that you have to use the menu on their website but then order through the wait staff. Maybe this is popular in Spain but it's not something I've encountered other places without explicit instructions from the staff or a QR code that links directly to their menu. Similar confusion with paying as to whether we needed to go to the register or request a check. The music they had playing appeared to be some sort of Spotify list designed for breakups definitely not vibing with the general decor. It was a far more stressful meal than it needed to be but overall the...