SALA DE DESPIECE 1 — Restaurant in Madrid

I don’t typically write reviews but i thought my experience at Sala de Despiece was worth writing one in detail. As soon as i walked in, i started gauging the atmosphere. This restaurant is going for a butcher/fish market concept. The atmosphere is industrial, chaotic, and not particularly clean. Also the seating is very limited, with primarily bar seating and feels very crowded. Not a great first impression, but it somewhat matched the expectation we had.

We sat down and looked through the wine list. The waitress asked us what we wanted to drink and immediately suggested a wine pairing, a bit pushy. We ordered water and two glasses of white wine while we glanced at the menu. The waitress then suggested we do the pre-fixe, again pushy. We politely declined and ordered a few items from the menu. She said she was surprised we didn’t order the “Rolex” one of the most popular dishes, and same with the Burrata Canolis. We told her we were not very hungry but she insisted on ordering them because it was not enough food, pushy again!

When the Rolex came out she took a torch and was cooking the pancetta in front of us. The torch wasn’t working properly so it would turn off, spraying gas all over the food. It took her several minutes to finish and at that point we were confused if we should even eat it….

Next comes the zucchini flowers. It came with a tray covered in sauces that the waitress then attempted to smear with a plexi glass. It kept getting caught on the edge of the tray which was really awkward. After many tries, we were left with an unpleasant messy melange of sauces all smeared on a sheet of paper.

Then finally, we got the tomato dish and burrata cannolis. Both of these dishes were extremely salty and hard to eat. I would even argue the cannolis were disgusting 🤮 they paired sardines with burrata which completely hid the flavor of the soft cheese.

Back to the atmosphere, the whole time we were having dinner, people kept bumping into us, waiters were shouting, and we were constantly worried that food was going to spill on us. The whole meal was extremely uncomfortable. The bathrooms too were dirty and there was no soap 🫥

After those few dishes, we decided it was enough. We paid quickly and left. This whole experience felt so performative with the waiters prepping at the table, but even that was poorly executed. The concept they’re trying to curate didn’t even make up for the mediocre food. The waitress was also pretty reluctant to speak english, even though 90% of customers were english speaking. Not to mention it was pretty expensive. All in all - not worth the hype. There are many great restaurants in madrid, but this is not...

Forced and disingenuous food preparation with unnecessary theatrics. Night prior to reservation I received an email that the 3 of us would be dining in a “private room with communal table” and a pdf attached of a strange misleading photo of a little room. I immediately emailed asking we be placed in main dining room as I booked 1 month in advance. No one replied or answered my calls. Upon arrival the gentleman checking us in barely looked at me, pointed to the word “full” on his clipboard, circled it and showed us into what seems to be a converted refrigerator / food storage cabinet outside the main restaurant. The smell inside of it was awful, staff was walking in and out grabbing ingredients and it was freezing. I politely explained this is not what I booked and asked they make an exception as it was my son’s birthday dinner. I flew 20 hours from LA to visit him while he studies abroad. They REFUSED to move us. Despite my better judgement and not wanting to ruin my son’s celebration who assured me he was fine with this- we stayed. Having read mixed reviews I gave this place a chance. What an utter disappointment. Half way through our very mediocre overpriced unnecessary meal- 3 women walked in to join our “communal” storage closet and stormed out when their request to dine in main room was denied. Much less politely than us- they stated and I quote “it smells terrible, they are freezing and can’t take off coats, and the restaurant better not think of charging them a cancelation fee on the card they used to book”. I truly regret not walking out. I fell victim to overhyped reviews in various food articles. Perhaps if we were not forced into this strange dining space maybe the food would have come across as better. Our server was the only positive - sweet guy who I suspect has to work hard to deal with the aftermath of serving diners in this awful private space. Madrid is a wonderful city with phenomenal dining - trust me this place is not it. I’m sad to have had this dining experience and regret staying for the meal. Strange dining space aside - we tried 8 items and only one, the artichoke was worth the hype. All else mediocre at best. Please don’t fall for the hype and opt for other amazing...

This was one of my favorite restaurants in Madrid, if not the world. I have sent countless individuals here when they are traveling to Madrid. Unfortunately, it has gone totally downhill since expanding to the bigger location. When I ate here most recently, the staff was clearly overworked and overwhelmed, leading to incredibly poor service. As a few examples, my server forgot about my wine order and forgot about one of the courses I ordered. Pricing has also become egregiously expensive since the last time I dined here.

While the food is still decent, nothing came out at the proper temperature, and the presentation lacked the excitement and showmanship courses previously had. There was no longer care in how courses were presented since the staff was running all over the place, which impacted my overall experience.

As I was leaving the restaurant, another staff member came over and asked me how it was. I was honest with him and let him know it was incredibly poor and that I wouldn’t be returning due to the poor service and mediocre food. Rather than apologize, the staff member had the audacity to tell me my poor experience was because I was sitting at a table near the bathroom and not at the counter. He told me service is much better at the counter and insinuated that it was my fault my experience was bad. Of course, I didn’t choose the table by the bathroom, and if the staff thinks service is only good at the counter, why bother having tables elsewhere? I had made the reservation months in advance and the restaurant wasn’t full during dinner, so I’m struggling to understand why we were placed at that table in the first place.

I don’t plan on returning as there are plenty of amazing restaurants at Madrid across a variety of price points. I felt ripped off after leaving the Sala de Despiece and am unbelievably disappointed with how poor the restaurant has become...