San Sebastián 57 — Restaurant in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

We had a lot to say on this one, so our high-level (abridged) takeaways below… OVERALL: food is fine but not worth the money, weird vibe (bad decor/ambiance) MENU HIGHLIGHTS: shrimp ceviche, all desserts on walking menu, local wine, aperitif SKIP: walking menu, bread to start

FULL THOUGHTS BELOW: While staying in La Laguna during our honeymoon, we went out of our way one night to go to San Sebastián 57, because we saw it on the Michelin Guide and were intrigued by the menu and wine selection. Unfortunately (despite a few menu and service highlights) we were largely disappointed. Nothing on the menu was bad, but it was also not special or interesting, and, in our opinion, certainly not worth the price.

Before we get into it, a few notable exceptions worth mentioning:

The service from the head waitress was exceptional. She was warm, welcoming, and clearly experienced. We got the chefs “Menú Caminar” and there was a nice, surprise starter course and surprise dessert/truffle course as well as a surprise aperitif at the end. Additionally, the local wine that was recommended to us was excellent and one of the best Canarian wines we had while on our travels. Small note: bathroom soaps and lotion smelled great.

Now onto the food: Each of the courses was completely fine, but not at the caliber we would have expected for such a restaurant. The oyster was a weird texture and I had a shell in my dish. The ceviche was excellent, but it was truly the only savory dish we will remember from the evening. The potato/egg dish and the meat dish were both fine but quite heavy and the bacalao dish in between did not balance them sufficiently.

About the ambiance: For a restaurant listed in the guide we expected a level of charm and/or sophistication (or at least some kind of design point of view) but frankly it was nowhere to be found. The decor was unintentional and uninspired and it made the vibe feel cold and impersonal.

Overall, I think our score was lower because we came in with high expectations. This place would benefit from a decor update as well as a fresh take on the menu (perhaps paring down the walking menu to a few less courses of...

A restaurant in 2 parts. 1 side is more of a wine bar lounge set off from their in house vinoteca. The other side houses the very minimalistic establishment. Please be aware there is no official madriaje of wines to pair with their tasting menu; however Melissa - is exceptionally knowledgable & will guide you at every step of the way. Furthermore listed on their menu is a corkage fee of €8. Despite watching their tasting menu change every few days I was informed  the price is actually €12 & for some reason they cannot edit that part. For a fine dining restaurant; I really disliked that the menu's were a small plastic QR square & not a physical hard copy. Furthermore it bewildered me I had to physically ask for my cava & champagne to be served in a flute instead of a wine glass. At the begining of my experience I was not amused to find my napkin already soiled with dirt. Tasting Menu : Amuse bouche - Salmorejo & A cherne pastel interesting pairing both tasty with wildly contrasting textures. Oyster in carrot marinade - exceptional!! Cerviche Gambon - nice flavours & zest but for such a high class place I was expecting large prawns not tiny shrimp. Broken eggs - bland, basic & boring a poor dish. Monkfish - beautiful dish. Beef rib - succulent serving, meat melted away. Mojito tex - a phenomenal hybrid of sobert & mousse to freshen the palate. Cheesecake with bien masabe ice cream - absolutely divine. Petit fois - homemade marshmellow, fabulous mini cookie, although the random Haribo candy spoiled the feel of this. Despite listing dessert wines its a shame you are not able to have any by the glass to pair with the sweets & I had to revert back to a previous wine. €55 for the tasting menu plus 3 white wines, 1 red, 1 cava, 1 champagne, bread & a baileys shot came to just €100. Good value...

This was our third visit, we have always enjoyed the excellent service and theatre which added up to a great atmosphere that made us feel like a valued customer. But this visit was different, the service started out well but as the place got busier the service really dropped. We order water and two glasses of wine with our starter which we had finished half way through the main course, we were not asked once if we wanted more water or wine. In a high end Restaurante I do not expect to be calling a member of the waiting staff over to do such a basic task. Finally 20minutes after finishing our main course we were asked if we wanted coffee, dessert etc, quite frankly by then I just wanted the bill and to leave. It took Another 10 minutes to get the bill, then as we got up the waitress called us back to give us complementary sweets. The restaurant is in two rooms which seems to be where the problem arises, almost all night the two waitresses were either at the hospitality station which can not be seen by the majority of tables or in the room within the wine bar/shop, leaving the rest of the customers alone. The staff are very friendly but the whole thing was so much less professional than our last two visits. I just don’t think this is acceptable considering the price and the many accolades this restaurant has. We will not return, it was a very disappointing dining experience. The menu seems far too bias towards cold ceviche/ tartar dishes leaving little choice if that is not your thing. The background music was far too random, choose a style and stick to it, but not the heavy base lounge, it does not go with the dining experience. For such a restaurant in a capital city the standard expected for such dining is...