Arabesca — Restaurant in Seville

We have unequivocally negative impressions of this place.

We went in there (4 people) encouraged by good reviews in the media, and our opinion is unanimous and unequivocally negative.

Service is lousy - the waiter handed the cards to the men first whereas the women received their cards at the end (OK, such arabian "culture"), the dry wine he described as sweet, after handing the cards before a good dozen minutes no interest in taking the order, long wait for drinks (despite the small number of guests in the establishment). But OK, you can still get over that, especially if you are on vacation and not in a hurry to go anywhere.

To be honest I have to say the vegetable starters were very good (ba, even excellent).

However, main courses - a tragedy! We ordered two 2-person sets - the leg of lamb turned out to be underdone, tasteless and, above all, undercooked, tough, while the set of various grilled meats was not only unpalatable, but the meat was obviously spoiled - quite simply, it stank! When the waiter smelled them, he nodded his head in understanding, said he was sorry, then brought us, as an "apology", four unsightly pieces of baklava (cold, straight from the refrigerator, so inedible). In a word - main courses and that baklava was an abomination.

You'll probably think that the stinky meat was deducted from the bill! And where would that be! The bill, of course, included everything. Never,...

I don’t usually leave bad reviews and I choose to review only good places I go to, but this has especially left me disappointed. For one the staff is friendly but they still took a solid 30 mins just to take our order which should be unacceptable with 7 waiters and less than half the restaurant occupied. Second is that the food is MID at best. If you know how authentic arab food should taste like, I recommend not going there. All their meats (besides the chicken) were Sahara dry which might explain why they call themselves an authentic arab restaurant because the taste ain’t it. When the waiter came to take our plates (another 20mins after we were done eating) he didn’t even bother to ask if the food was good, even though more than half the food was still on the plate, which is nowhere near the politeness and hospitality you find in arab culture. I am half Lebanese, but I spoke in English the whole time. Needless to say that the people around us speaking Arabic didn’t get the same treatment and attention ;). All in all a big disappointment, but if all you know about arab food is a shawarma, you might enjoy some of their dishes. To end on a positive note(only one I got), the inside of the restaurant is nicely decorated to...

As is often the case when traveling in foreign countries, some of the best dining experiences happen totally by chance. On a rather chilly day in Seville, I was hankering for a hot spiced wine. We had inquired at a number of bars and cafes without any luck, but the "greeter" outside Arabesca Restaurant smiled, nodded and directed us inside. After describing what I wanted to the manager, we were promptly seated with menus in hand. Our waiter then politely asked me what kind of wine I wanted him to heat??? What? I asked. In the microwave, he responded! OK, I would have to forego the hot spiced wine, and we ordered Moorish tea and glasses of vino Rioja.

They now had us for dinner by default. What an incredible surprise and gastronomic experience. Our orders of Baked Casserole (Tajin) of boneless suckling lamb, apricots, plums, nuts and sesame and my Castaleta - Charcoal-grilled lamb chops with vegetables were scrumptuous. We even favorably recalled a number of our meals from a recent extended trip to Morocco. Arabesca Restaurant was a complete delight...food, service,...