Cañabota — Restaurant in Seville

TLDR - over priced, fresh seafood place with poor cooking skills. Having dined at Michelin starred restaurants in NYC, SF, Paris.. I have decent reference points..

We stumbled upon in the neighborhood and walked in at 7:30pm when it just opened for dinner. Had no idea this was a Michelin one star.

Service- server was friendly & explained a lot. The staff always starts by showing their catch / seafood available before the order. Most of seafood are priced by weight and they get pricey. (See photo of clams, I believe each plate was 20 something euros. )

We had potato salad, langoustines, two diff types of clams, a whole fish - which they said they will split into two, debone and serve one loin / side for each of us. We also had beer and wine. The server got the second beer from the wrong tab and when we pointed out, she smiled and just gave us. Didn’t want to make a fuss so we took that beer. (Any restaurant that is truly focused on client experience, they would prob apologize and give you the beer you wanted..)

Food - razor clams had so much sand / debris that I mentioned to the server. She said it is how they cook and is normal. (We were just in mallorca and I did not encounter sandy razor clams there.. )

Fish - they brought out fish which looked rather soft..a man started halving the fish in front of us and midway cutting thru, he took it back to kitchen staff saying it needs to be cooked more. What kind of Michelin star place brings out uncooked fish to only take it back.. it still felt too soft and soggy, with lots of bones when we ate.

Service charge - they handed us the check and verbally asked if it’s possible for us to leave gratuity. Made us feel that it’s just another American tourist trap in a high end form. *during our meal, all the diners who came / left seemed to be Americans. (By their American accents) Our meal I think was about 180 euros?

Lastly, It was completely empty except for one diner at the counter at 7:30pm when we walked in. Sure, we were a walk-in, but dinners in Seville don’t fill up until later. They were really unwelcoming (read: attitude); said they could seat us at a tiny corner facing the wall. Well, we didn’t need that much time to eat so we said hey your counter facing the kitchen /bar is all empty…okay they agreed and gave us 1 hr 15 mins to dine. (Btw, when we left , the restaurant was still empty. One back room was occupied for a group but main dining area was completely empty except two diners at the counter next to us. Btw we spent and ate way more than a couple that had a reservation - who came in mid way our meal and left early. Lesson - Treat all your prospective guests well, you never know who...

This is the worst high end restaurant I have ever been both on taste and the service and the hygiene. I was told in the beginning the Alaska would be bigger option than taste menu, as I knew which ones I like so I chose Alaka rather than 12 course taste menu. Then when they bring the plate , no only two of them are the same size , but they denied it said the tickness is different but it’s a lie. Also The clams they served is full of the sands both me and my friend tasted it and ask him to change . He changed another kind of clams , more expensive one I guess , but insisted that there is no sands in it. He even bring another boiled one to the table , then again I can felt the sands even using my hands. But I saw he obviously did not want to admit anything . So I just kept quiet. Then again my friend had been served the same scarlet course again same with me but it served with a bigger prawn and a prawn head. Then I asked the waitress again why this one served with head and my one did not which I was told the alaka would be bigger size. Then the boss come up to me and shouting at me , this is what you wanted for Alaka, we serve how we want to serve , next time you can order the taste menu then. He was giving me the look I don’t care what ever you say. This made me really angry. Then I go to the loo, found the toilet even has been flushed. So disgusting, the chef actually is the owner , no wonder the waiter will not say any sorry as their boss are so ignorant and such bad attitude and horrible cooking skills compare to other high end of restaurant. The sauce are always milky and white. Not much difference . The lobster soup is not even matching a good no start french restaurant in Zurich . I will definitely not recommend this restaurant if you do not want to ruin a nice evening during your travel. I also will complain to Michelin star committee as well , I can not believe I will receive such a horrible attitude in a Michelin star restaurant. What a awuful...

I don’t normally review places, but I felt like I had to for this one because I left feeling disheartened and ignored.

I’m not sure if it was because I was a solo diner, didn’t speak Spanish, or because I didn’t look like the other diners (I think I was the only non-white person at the lunch service), but I was extremely disappointed in the service I got when compared to the diners around me. It wasn’t that it was terrible service, just that everyone else got so much more attention.

Other tables were getting extra courses, conversation, their serviettes were being changed by the chef, their water was constantly being refilled, etc., but for me, it felt like people were mostly doing their best to avoid eye contact, or staring at me. When I smiled at one of the people behind the counter who was staring at me, they quickly looked down, which was extremely awkward.

When I entered, people seemed friendly, but then it quickly went downhill, and I’m not sure why.

The food was good, and it came more or less on time, but once i had finished eating, it’s like I turned invisible to the entire team. I tried asking for water and the cheque, and there was no response for about 20 minutes. Diners that finished after me got their cheques, and even some complimentary stuff.

Finally, I got the attention of one of the waiters who eventually brought my the bill, and gave me my change. And as I left, I tried catching someone’s eye to thank them, but nobody would meet my gaze. I just walked out, and someone half heartedly called out as I left.

It was a very weird experience, but because the food came on time, and tasted good (although I thought the desserts felt slightly discordant… the pre-dessert was great) I have given the place 2 stars. I just hope other solo diners get treated a bit better.

I’m not really hoping for anything to come out of this review, except maybe that I...