El Espejo - Sanlúcar — Restaurant in Sanlúcar de Barrameda

I had booked the restaurant to celebrate my 50th after a good lunch with my too young kids. I had liked the natural elegant setting, quality food and wine. The restaurant was given ample warning of our reservation; I had asked whether they could help and make a cake for the occasion. I only found only on the way to the venue that they had refused to do so. My wife’s hotel instead had made the highlight of the evening - a delicious chocolate tart for post main food celebration.

Having been in hospitality for 20 years El Espejo is an example of success going to their heads and a lack of maturity to bring the arrogance down a few notches.

Our close friends, my wife and I were unimpressed by the cold welcome, our table location (away in the corner), the total absence of vodka and or any basic cocktail for what was meant to be a proper celebration. We never had the attention of the waiting staff - at one point had to leave the table to ask for services

Service was bereft of any consistency or warmth - our wine for our main course arrived 10 minutes after we received the food, and the quality of the food reinforced the total lack of welcoming - average.

My 50th birthday evening will only be remembered for the warmth and love of friends, not for anything to do with an arrogant and very average restaurant evening.

Will never return and DO NOT recommend to any foodie who is looking for quality beyond the simple pretense of an original setting in the old town of San Lucar. These guys are in it above their heads, which, for local custom might well be sufficient. However for clients willing to spend 100 € / per head, El Espejo certainly did not want to join the party and enable...

It is hard to compete with classical tapas places in San Lucar on the main squares (in general places to avoid except in San Lucar) where great traditional food is still a bargain (although prices raised a lot according to local standards). But Espejo is doing a really good job at taking respected ingredients to a more sophisticated level of gastronomy combined with a accordingly level of wine service. Ensaladilla comes in many varieties but I tend to like the the ones with a little twist better, standing out with your potatoe salad makes a diffrence, the salad here with some pickled veggies and high acidity flavor in the potatoes itself makes it a slightly lighter dish which doesn’t need the huge amount of mayonnaise it sometimes comes with. Tuna tartar seasoned with soy sauces feels like a huge flirt with Japan in this region of Europe but for the more ‘Japanese seasoned’ areas of Europa this is a great taste for a long time and what’s not to like about tuna with soy sauce? Combined with a local ajo blanco it makes a very nice dish. In general it’s dishes with deep flavor in a very cosy atmosphere. The only tip from is to prevent using the same components on different dishes, fried onions is an example. Thanks for the...

Decepcionante. Llegamos a este restaurante con las expectivas muy altas. El local es manífico y el servicio bien. Hasta aquí todo bien. Pedimos cuatro platos de la carta, cocina imaginativa y diferente a lo que habíamos visto en Sanlúcar hasta el momento. Al rato el maitre nos informa de que uno de los platos no le quedaba. No pasa nada. Pedimos otro. Transcurridos otros 5 minutos nos dice que lo siente mucho, que tampoco le queda, que se le ha olvidado actualizar la carta. Bueno, rectificamos por tercera vez. 1h y 15 minutos después solo nos habían traído las croquetas de puchero (muy buenas). Pregunto al camarero si hay algún problema (el local no estaba lleno ni mucho menos, habría unas 5 o 6 mesas más). Me dice que sí, que han cambiado a la cocinera (!!!), y que claro, que habíamos pedido platos de entrantes calientes y no fríos (!!!!). Le digo que hemos pedido lo que hay en carta y que estamos en plan degustación, en fin, que traiga las cosas según las tenga y listo. Llega el calamar relleno de morcilla (rico pero escaso y medio frío el plato), el canelón de retinto (ni fú ni fa) y la costilla glaseada (bien para el que le guste el sabor a "pig" no a "pork"), yo me entiendo. A todo esto el pan lo sirven de rebanada en rebanada. Tuve que pedir tres veces y se hace un poco molesto, la verdad. Finalmente nos dice el camarero que la casa nos invita al postre. Declinamos la invitación y pedimos la cuenta. ¡Ojo! Durante la comida pedí 2 copas de manzanilla y veo para mi sorpresa que cada copa salía por 5,8 €. Increíble. Nos dice que nos la ha servido de una botella que tienen a 90 €. En fin, no es de recibo pedir una manzanilla sin especificar y que te sirvan de la botella más cara sin avisar. Pagamos y nos fuimos. Muy mala experiencia y muy...