restaurante los caracoles — Restaurant in Orihuela

I read the customer reviews before dining there but kept an open mind. I think the restaurant decor and ambiance is very good, it’s tucked behind the very popular Banana Tree 2. The waiter we had was very friendly, great service, no issues there. I always worry about menus that try to span 2 or more cuisines, usually a bad sign and some of the bad reviews focused on the Asian/curry dishes, I therefore went for a steak, I’m not a big steak eater but was in the mood and my wife had a Chicken Biryani. I have to say it was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, really juicy and a generous size, the fries and veg were modest and some might be upset by a lack of sauce but a salsa is available if required, my view on steak is that it is the ‘main event’ an if the meat is good nothing else really matters. The wife’s biryani was excellent, generous amounts of chicken pieces which isn’t always the case, rice and spices were ‘ creamy’ and not the traditional “dry” baked style but I thought was really tasty and no issues. To sum up, i concur with other reviews that portion sizes were generous, it’s definitely not a “ fine-dining“ experience as such, but I’m not one for micro portions or cheffy experiments, really great value for money and would definitely recommend this restaurant and look forward to going again, probably next time I’ll try the lunchtime service and the menu de diá... definitely on my top list of restaurants in the area, please check it out, I don’t think you’ll...

I normally never give reviews. But I just had to this time. We visited 7th of august 2022. I swear to god this is THE worst meal I've been served in my entire life, even included home cooking.

We wanted indian food this day. We were a bit sceptical since there is nothing this restuaruant don't offer: Indian, tapas, BBQ, paella and so on... I guess as a general rule you should not go to a restaurant that tries to do any kind of dish.

Now... after ordering we got the starters: Papadam, mint sause, yelly etc. This was actually good, so my guess is this is something they've bought pre-made.

For the rest: Papadam Cebolla bhaji Pakora de pollo Tikka de pollo Tandoori de pollo Gambas biryani Pollo saag Pollo tikka

When receiving this dishes we could do nothing but laugh... it all just looked ridicilous. And they were all basically the same: Dry, tasteless chicken.

The cook apparently has never been to an indian restaurant. Nothing looked or tasted like indian (regret not taking pics). Even the nan bread was burnt and dry.

None of us were able to finish any of the dishes.

The service was...

On arrival, the staff were cold and unwelcoming. I asked for a drinks menu and I received a confused look and was given a wine menu that only had wine on it. Nowhere did it list other drinks so I had to play the game of guess the drinks they serve.

The starters (garlic prawns and octopus), in fairness, came promptly and looked promising but tasted of nothing. We ate them in the hopes of a better main dish (fish and seafood zarzuella) but that was even worse. The fish tasted like it had been left out in heat for a week and the rest was again tasteless. I don’t usually leave reviews but this experience is possibly the worst I have had in a restaurant. The table did not have basic things like salt, pepper and extra napkins and we were not asked at any point if we want anything extra, how the food was etc.

I have never rushed out of a restaurant this quick and will never be returning. My money is better...