El Gusto de la Cala — Restaurant in Mijas

First time here with my husband & daughter to celebrate my birthday yesterday at lunchtime & many people I know have rated it highly so was keen to try it. We arrived without a reservation about 3pm so it was past lunchtime rush hour & only 3 or 4 tables occupied inside & a couple outside. We chose the 2 course set menu & my daughter chose the 3 course set menu. Both my husband & daughter ordered the prawn pil pil starter but were disappointed with the measly 5 prawns per dish serving & the texture was slightly squishy & the black vein hadnt been removed. My chicken liver pate was very good & more than sufficient for a starter portion. My daughter & I tried the salmon main & whilst the fish was cooked perfectly, the one side of mashed potato was over peppered & looked & tasted like it had been prepared awhile ago & reheated. Service throughout was very slow with our plates not being removed for long periods inbetween courses & we had to summon a waiter to bring us our mains after a long interval. The final disappointment was the bill being incorrect as they charged for the dessert for my daughter separately instead of it being included in the 3 course menu tariff so just as well we checked! Also surprised to see who we took to be the manager standung at the bar drinking a glass of wine! Not the most professional conduct & not sure we would return...

Been here 3 times this was the third. First two could not fault. This time was the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant. Caos is the only word. 6 different waiters. Delayed wine that we ordered to table. We were also wedged in between tables with little room to move although booked. Very uncomfortable. Starters came and were very good but then the mains. Fish pies like lava so hot could not touch it for 15 mins. Pork belly was good no real complaints. The Sirloin steak was worse than any Weatherspoons ever experienced. Sent it back got another eventually and it was worse. Complained. Alex the "manager" said they tried off our plate and it was fine..... dirty and disgusting to say the least that they are eating customers food and I have managed restaurants. He then went on to tell us very aggressively that we were wrong ...and bye then .. absolutely awful for any restaurant at any price point... never again...what a nose dive after the last visit 3 years ago. I HIGHLY do not recommended this restaurant...oh they tried to charge us for one extra bottle of wine too.. get a grip you...

My first experience here with my family we had the Carvery on a Sunday and didn't really know what to do. We waited 45 minutes before we were told our table could go up and get food; they didn't bring enough veg/mash for our table; the waiters seemed very disorganised, and the manager/door man made us feel in the way of his friendly chatter to other customers coming in to be seated (this happened when he was giving us our menus and handed them out to us without looking or saying a word to the table he was serving - which was us - and was trying to talk to the people who just came in who were being seated by another waiter). By the time we went up to get the food, which was lovely, and sat back down at our table, which was outside, the food was cold. As nice as it was cold, I would have ratcheted a hot roast. When my family go on holiday, we try to avoid British restaurants as much as possible, but this place was highly recommended to us by many friends so we gave it a shot. Wouldn't recommend if you like to eat at restaurants with good service and those who seem to have...