Restaurante 34 — Restaurant in Nerja

I have walked past Restaurante 34 plenty of times on plenty of trips to Nerja because, I'll be honest, from the roadside, it looks appalling. Tourist-types in shorts and trainers scoffing tapas and gulping beer, all under what looks like an ancient wood awning. I am probably exaggerating - lets get past it. People kept telling me 34 was really swish inside, so I did some research, saw the photos and the portfolio and took the plunge.

What a difference it makes walking through the door and ignoring my misgivings. There is elegance and refinery dripping out of every pore of this place, accepting perhaps the staff who are kitted in black t-shirts and jeans / leggings - 34 seems to cry out for collars, blouses and trousers. Clientele understandably as equally casual - it was a hot September - but I like to keep the British end up and wore a jacket. You can keep really cool in a jacket... go on try it - you can also look cool. The chic looking lady diners on their finery were almost all let down by men in cheap looking holiday gear. I digress, but it makes a point about expectations, I suppose, and I dressed well because my expectations had been raised very high.

The setting is lovely, a wine bar, a salon, a lobby, all beautifully upholstered before you even get to the four tier light tinkled, flower bordered restaurant and the tumbling view into Nerja's coastal night. There's even a small swimming pool. Tables are hidden all over the place, offering discreet dining for those who want it. The lower terraces are more open plan, tighter packed but still private enough, although you do overhear those who can't keep thier voices down. Lovely place settings.

Service itself was good, but occasionally distracted - I noted one floor waiter quietly admonish another when he noticed I had not received a menu while people seated after me had - an incident with spilt wine [not mine!!] was not noticed at all and was too slowly dealt with, although it was eventually dealt with well - and everyone was very polite and appeared to be bi- or tri- lingual.

Food was excellent. A little amuse bouche, a fine starter of anchovies on a pulp tomato base, the salt from the fish tainting the sweet tomatoes just enough; a huge lamb rump which I asked for well done as I detest blood on my plate, with succulent vegetables. It perhaps needed a more robust sauce, but I couldn't fault what I ate.

Wine was a superb crianza from David Moreno, recommended by 34 and a good recommendation.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. 34 is busy and you must book - you must also bring a healthy appetite. Very good...

Good afternoon! We celebrated my boyfriend’s birthday. Unfortunately, I can’t say anything positive about this restaurant, because my impression completely changed just 30 minutes after we arrived — when a waiter came over and said: “We don’t have this, and we don’t have that either. Choose something else.”

We were very surprised because they gave us a printed sheet with the set menu of the day, and it turned out the main course wasn’t even available. My question is: why give out this menu at all then?

When my boyfriend asked if he could choose something from the regular menu, the waiter categorically said no. So I asked my boyfriend to call someone more competent — someone who could actually make decisions.

We selected our dishes a second time, and once again — the dish I chose was not available.

This is not acceptable to me. You present yourselves as a high-end, prestigious, luxurious restaurant. But unfortunately, apart from the interior and the sea view, I saw nothing impressive.

The peak of the disappointment was when I choked on a piece of meat — and not a single waiter reacted. Only after I raised my hand did someone bring a bottle of water (which I believe was added to the bill), and they poured water for my boyfriend first, not for me — while I was red-faced and in tears, coughing badly.

I think it’s basic knowledge for any waiter to understand who to serve first, and according to etiquette — ladies are always served first.

By the way, the meat — was undercooked. They took it back to cook it again only after my boyfriend had already eaten half of his meal. When they returned my plate, the meat still wasn’t much better, and I suspect they had just placed it on a hot plate — because while the potatoes stayed warm, the salad had wilted.

The waiters who served the dishes or cleared the table didn’t smile, didn’t greet us.

My boyfriend is a chef in France, and I’ve also worked in the hospitality industry. Even when I’m clearing dirty plates — I always greet guests and smile.

I believe this restaurant could have many more positive reviews if they worked on training their staff and improving communication with guests.

I do not recommend this restaurant for any special or...

Very disappointing, after all the reviews, I had really been expecting the best evening meal of my holiday in Nerja. Having booked a table days in advance and having been told which table we would have, we were seated at a different area which was between a walkway and a stone wall, quite isolated from the atmosphere of main restaurant with no view and only traffic of guests and waiting staff continually passing. This may have been an opportunity for better service. But that was not to be either. On two occasions when the head waiter was serving us he excused himself in the middle of serving to give orders to other staff and on one occasion excused himself to send someone else to serve our table. He also took the order for wine which had to be reordered half way through the starters. When there was an issue with the bill at the table next to ours the head waiter caused more disruption than the customer and was not taking any responsibility for his restaurants part in the difficulties. The food was not special, I have eaten in several restaurants in Nerja with the bills for two people varying from thirty euros to eighty euros and I felt all were really good value. I could not say the same for restaurant 34. Starters were over priced as were deserts. There was a good wine menu at decent prices, Mains were above average price with below average flavours. My mains was sole which had been cooked very nicely but had a huge amount of salt in the sauce which overpowered the fish. . Overall I would give this restaurant a miss and certainly advise not to aim at making this the dining experience of your...