Malatesta di San Gines — Restaurant in Madrid

Was MISLEDED by OVERRATED rating on Google while choosing this place.

Ordered two veggie spinach salads €11 each. Miserable small portion for this price. Normally I take photos of my food, but this time it was so ridiculously small so I just laughed and decided not to complain as we were in the rush and on vacation.

My partner's salad had UNWASHED spinach, which we pointed out to the waiter and he offered us a replacement or something else from the menu. While he was choosing what to have the other waiter brought a new salad which was remade and the portion looked three times bigger when it was at the first order. We rejected it, as it was miscommunication between the two waiters (lack of English I suppose) and at this point he lost the appetite. And then we got the bill with 2 salads on them.

Service also could be faster, we had to ask for attention every time.

TOILETS. Need a deep clean and have a poor ventilation. OMG. THE SMELL ONCE YOU WALK DOWNSTAIRS.... MOULD. couldn't stand the smell and gotta move upstairs, as first we were seated downstairs.

I have passed all of my feedback to one of the waiters, very...

I know it’s weird to have Italian while in Spain but we were hungry and the reviews looked good. My wife had the Tagliatelle Bolognesa which was super salty and I had a gnocchi with mushrooms in a cream sauce which was good just heavy. The caprese salad was good.

Our real complaint comes from the waiter who was either really dumb or hates tourists. My wife is fluent in Spanish and I know enough to get by especially how to order drinks. I asked for a glass of red wine and a bottle of water for my wife. The waiter brought a bottle of water with two glasses. After a few minutes of him standing around I asked for my glass of wine. He played dumb (or is) and poured me a glass maybe 20 percent full. The bottle had maybe a swallow left in it and he stopped pouring and walked away. My wife had a picture of what she wanted and specifically asked him what it was, he literally told her yet ordered...

October 2024: We came back to try the weekday lunch menu (you have to ask for it!): It had gone up from 16€ before the summer to 18€ but was still good value. Really enjoyed the provolone al forno, the tagliatelli ragú and the tiramisu to finish off with.

June 2024: We went à la carte as we didn't realise there was a set weekday lunch menu and no one told us. The waiter was not happy in his work or was just having an off day!

We spent a lot more than we normally would on a weekday lunch but the food was good: tagliatelli della casa and a summer risotto stivo. We shared an insalata caprese and a hazelnut icecream dessert from nextdoor Chocolatería San Ginés.

PD A group of 11 from our Italian class at the nearby Istituto di Cultura came a week later and had the set lunch on the terrace which was not only excellent but also...