Varela Café — Restaurant in Madrid

The atmosphere attracted us. Wait staff wore classic uniforms and it seemed to be a popular restaurant. But it turned out to be the worst meal during our 10 day visit to Spain.

I got the sea bass. It was just ok. By 3 am I started having digestive issues that continued for 24 hrs. My wife got the veal. It was simply an unseasoned slab of what appeared to be pan seared meat. I sampled it when I saw how much she was not eating and agreed it was the most bland tasting piece of veal I have ever had.

We dined with another couple who each ordered different shrimp dishes. One featured a shallow dish of tiny shrimp in garlic butter which on the menu says, “Garlic Prawns”. Prawns are normally large. He said it was bland. The other had an artichoke dish with shrimp. The shrimp were much larger - which raised the question why both did not feature large shrimp.

The food was so underwhelming there was no chance we were going to stick around for dessert.

We had to ask for the check several times. I got the impression the wait staff had no incentive to keep customers happy or to get new diners into the restaurant. They seemed content keeping diners in the restaurant- less...

The staff is amazing!! The food was amazing! We started off with a small group of Americans who found ourselves in town for Thanksgiving and decided to go out and find a snack at 10:30. The restaurant across the street turned their nose up at us and sent us away when it was just five people. Our group quickly grew to 13 and several hours later , and many plates of food and wine and desserts later. We left with our bellies and hearts full. If you have the opportunity, stop by it is an amazing place. The staff is more than happy to share the details of the and origin stories behind it all an expansive bar, impressive wine list and specialty items such as Jamon Imberico, blonde beef (vaca rojo), galatian seafood and fish, lamb and more round out the dinner menu. Highly recommend. ...

I went to this restaurant with my colleagues, we were about 10 people. The food was amazing, especially the meat honestly one of the best I’ve ever had. We shared some Spanish-style starters and fish dishes that were excellent, and the meat with fries was fantastic (though the portion of fries could have been bigger for the table).

On the downside, the dessert was disappointing my tiramisu wasn’t good at all. The service was just okay; communication was a bit difficult since our waiter didn’t really speak English. Also, at the end of the evening the smell of trash from the street next to the restaurant took away from the atmosphere, which was a shame.

That said, if you love great meat, this is a place I highly recommend. The food itself...