Myself and my friend went to Bar La Tita yesterday in Santiago de Compostela. It being our last dinner together before returning to our respective homes, we thought some tapas would be a nice way to finish up. How wrong we were. In retrospect, we should really have upped and left after we received our drinks order. My friend asked the waiter for a glass and was told to calm down. She was calm. The waiter on the other hand, not so much. We discussed what he said and both reached the conclusion that he was having a bad day, which we all have at times, and it would be fine. We received our food quite quickly, the waiter rushing off. The salad we had ordered was missing but we decided to just leave it as he seemed under pressure. When we had nearly finished, a salad appeared but not the one we ordered. We pointed that out to him and he started arguing with us that it was indeed the salad we had ordered. There were things in the salad that I am allergic to so no, it was not correct. We said we didn't want it, he showed us on the menu where the salad was listed and I pointed to the one that I had actually ordered which was underneath it (we had gone through the order twice with him as he had come back to double-check and had got some things wrong). A few minutes later the correct salad appeared, he said he had got them mixed up. Again, we told him we no longer wanted it as we had nearly finished our meal, he proceeded to talk over us saying we could have it for takeaway, which was difficult for us to do as we did not have a fridge or the desire to eat the salad. I had lost my appetite at this point, probably down to the way he was speaking to us. I also tried to address the "calm down" comment with the waiter in a constructive way, he was unable to see what he had said that was so offensive. Every few minutes he reappeared, he saw that we hadn't eaten any of the salad and kept insisting we get it for takeaway or eat it. I tried to speak to the manager about the salad situation and he looked at me stony faced and said that since I had ordered it, I had to pay for it. We agreed to have it for takeaway, I asked if they had a takeaway fork and I was simply told no. Having reflected somewhat on the entire experience, I don't know if I'll ever indeed look at a salad the same way again. Luckily, we had some lovely experiences after this incident in Santiago which has redeemed my faith in humanity and common decency. I am proud of the fact that I stood up for my friend after she had been categorised as being a crazy woman having asked very politely for a glass. I also realise that in some situations, the customer may be right, but gaslighting and...
Read moreThis place was recommended by a tour guide. She said it was famous for its tortilla española (spanish potato omlette) which comes for free when you order a drink. She said that during the high season, the people line up down the street, so be careful. We showed up and went inside - we asked a waiter about getting a table and he said to go to the bar to put our names on the list. They will ask you if you want to sit inside, outside, or "egual" - we asked for a table inside because it was pretty chilly that day. As soon as we sat down and ordered our first drink, a vermouth, we were almost immediately served with a nice slice of tortilla with a little piece of bread in a little ceramic bowl. It was a good tortilla - it was made with caramelized onions, which is just how I like it. While it was great, I didn't feel like it was better than I had eaten elsewhere (I like the free one at Bar Caña Hueca better, and they have a great selection of vermouth to boot). Still, if you are hungry and on a budget, you could pop in here for a beer and satisfy your hunger for free. We saw one younger dude do just that - he came in solo, grabbed a beer, ate his tortilla and left. After the tapa, we wanted to try a couple of things. We ordered their fried calamari, which was served on a bed of french fries - that combination really worked. Their croquettes were amazing and basically as good as the ones we had tried at the Michelin starred Simpar (which won an award for best croquette in Spain). Highly recommend their croquettes - we got the jamon ones. Next we wanted to try something different and went with (I forget the name) breaded chicken cutlet which was pounded thin and friend that came with a salad. This wasn't anything unusual, but it was hearty. We finished our meal sharing a dessert. They had a coffee flan that day. One of them was more than big enough to share and it was also excellent. Overall good vermouth, good beer, good to great bar food and excellent dessert. Definitely worth a stop - just head to the front and put your name in. Then you can hang around outside until they come out and...
Read more5 stars for the tortilla / 0 for the service. Although their hours are posted as 8:30, I was brusquely told by the waiter with long curly grey hair that I could eat starting from 10. When I returned he made a big fuss about my covid vaccination pass, which has not presented a problem anywhere else in France or Spain, but it was apparently fine enough for me to be allowed service after his vague scolding. After I ate the indeed excellent and indeed very cheap tortilla I asked to buy another portion, and was told simply ‘no’, as I was when I subsequently asked for a glass of water. I was audibly and visibly mocked and insulted by this waiter to his coworkers behind the counter. I can only say the very good tortilla is only worth it if you have a thick skin for being treated like some kind of miscreant by such contemptuous staff.
—————————————————————
In response to the peevish comment made by the proprietor: Anyone can see based on your reviews that I am not the only person, Spanish or otherwise, who has been treated badly by the prima donna in grey pigtails working at your establishment. His unwelcoming persona pervades the place, and began with a properly Spanish inquisition regarding my perfectly fine covid pass, which no one else has found a problem with or for weeks and since elsewhere. The timing issue was no big deal, one understands. And again, I was refused water, not refused a tortilla I was perfectly ready to pay for because I only asked for a water. Language capabilities do not need to be excellent to observe being referred to...
Read more