I've been 20+ countries and this was the second biggest let down to date. I'm not sure what I expected of the "oldest restaurant in the world" other than to be a total tourist trap. Tldr: horrible service, mediocre food, prepared to be bumped into and elbowed through the meal.

I showed up on a Sunday at open, 8pm, during a solo motorcycle trip. The line was probably 10m long - I asked the door man whether I had a chance to get in without a reservation (reservations at the time were 3+ weeks out), he blew me off to wrangle some other customers (reasonable) then said possibly, just wait in line. The line fortunately moved relatively quick, maybe 10-15 mins. The host was nice enough and sounded apologetic, suggesting to come back at 9:30. At this point, I was already feeling a bit skeptical that it was going to be a good experience, and was strongly contemplating just going elsewhere after putting in 6 hours on the motorcycle from San Sebastian (amazing place for food and in general). However, I decided that I came all this way and had this pinned for so long that I need to try it.

I showed up later and was told to wait by the front counter. After about 5 mins of dodging other customers and wait staff I asked the host if I should just come back another day, he said no stay right there. Then maybe another 5 mins later or so, he told me to go upstairs. The place was packed - like they fit the absolute most amount of tables possible to maximize seating for good and bad.

I must have just had bad luck and got the old surly waiter that hated his job. He said the absolute minimum amount possible, just staring at you over his glasses. I tried to greet him and he just cuts me off and says "English menu" and hands me the folded paper menu. I begin ordering in English and he doesn't understand so I repeat myself in Spanish to clarify, to which he ignores and repeats the question in English. He then slams every plate, glass, and bottle on the table without a word. He upturns the bottles when pouring, chugging wine and water over the edges of the glasses - not to be seen again at my table until I'm finished eating. I ask for a clarification to the bill and now he chooses to go off in Spanish, too bad I speak enough Spanish to counter, to which he reverts back to English!

The food was okay, but nothing special. The mushrooms were good, I would definitely recommend that if you must eat here. Of course I had the suckling pig pig too - which came as a rib piece and the last bit of the hind leg. The skin on both pieces are still crispy, but definitely starting to be borderline soggy. Bone fragments throughout. The rib meat was tender and juicy but tiny tiny - after a bunch of cutting and scraping maybe three bites of meat. The leg meat was dry and stringy, bad for something even 1/3 of the price. I've had 40 peso chuletas on the streets of Oaxaca better than that. Total for one person came out to 60 euros and I walked away hungry and disappointed.

During the meal, I was elbowed and walked into by wait staff multiple times - not their fault, the restaurant is just cramming so many tables in at the expense of customer experience. That being said, the food came out relatively quick, mine was noticeably quicker than everyone else's in the room. I was in and out in under 45 mins - towards the end I couldn't wait to leave. Total waste of time and calories.

I had absolutely loved every bit of my culinary experience in Spain thus far (and the rest of Europe for that matter) until dining at Botin.