Restaurante Ispal | Grupo La Raza — Restaurant in Seville

this meal was underpar and i gave my opinion to the lovely wait staff who asked for it. yet i still feel compelled to leave a review because it was my first meal on my first ever day in Sevilla and it does not and should not represent this city.

food is complicated, subjective and we all have our biases/preferences - i did not enjoy the food at Ispal but the american couple at the table next to mine seemed to love it. so ill try to be objective.

first, the good stuff: the two servers working the dinner shift on 11 sept 2024 were AMAZING. super attentive, warm, and served my dishes quickly and efficiently as per my request. i think in terms of michelin-level service standard, both servers hit the mark.

second, the music playlist. it was loud and giving cheap karaoke pop song covers. after an hour in, the cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn played for the second time. its fun for a cheap and cheery diner, very jarring for a white tableclothed restaurant. but the food was so underpar i found myself lipsynching to Coldplay’s Fix You about 45mins in. also the trolley which was used to serve wine. its NOT a wine cart. its just a regular trolley, used in place of a serving tray, to serve a glass or two of wine. it was so loud id jump a lil cuz it sounded like a train was approaching from behind me.

finally. the food:

PLATING - its giving early 2000’s michelin. dry ice, sauce smears and spatters, gold dust… except for one duck dish which came adorned in pink feathers which my friend accurately said was “giving 1999 from the reduced section in a cheap teenage clothing store”. too many biscuit tuilles.. the dessert one didnt break so the mousse under it pushed thru like pus. plating is the first sign (to me) of whether a restaurant’s got originality or if its trying too hard. often times when the plating’s off, the food usually follows suit.

TASTE - simple dishes that any good tapas bar can churn out much better versions of. most disappointing was the 36hr slowcooked pig… tough for something thats slowcooked. but the worst was the trout roulade - dry trout with dry rubbery tasteless bits of lobster innit, served with vanilla sauce… i sent back 95% of that dish. overall: flavours were largely unbalanced and chef was heavy-handed on salt and acid.

finally, and this is my bias: im a discerning singaporean diner who just got off a long flight and wanted to treat herself to a nice degustation meal. i dont trust Michelin Guide so i turned to the Eater guide which pointed me to Ispal - the guide’s usually on point but in this one instance it failed me. i shouldve read the google reviews - esp the one from Euna Cho.

i hope the rest of my week in Sevilla would yield better meals but my hardcore foodie friends said Sevilla aint San...

Visited Dec. 14, 2024

I was having a terrible trip after getting pickpocketed in a different city, and Seville unfortunately hadn't picked up my mood. I wanted to cancel my reservation at Ispal but ended up going in case it helped and I am so glad I did.

SERVICE: excellent, not much to say—I was helped by two people who were friendly, warm, and professional.

ATMOSPHERE: I read a different comment criticizing the music and I honestly laughed a bit when Feliz Navidad came on for the third time, but I try to stay open-minded and found the familiar music actually somewhat inviting and less intimidating.

FOOD: where to begin. Many dishes had a slightly acidic tone to it, which I LOVED. It's not a palette I'm used to tasting as often and it made some dishes less predictable with a light, sour punch that suited Seville/Spain so well. The blue crab was startlingly good.

On the other hand, another good handful had a spicier tone (like the gyoza and nahm) which were more predictable in taste, but absolutely delicious.

The only dish I hated was the garden corn gazpacho soup—it was my favourite, plating-wise, but then they drowned it in soup and I had no idea what I was eating! The apples were SO sour, and I couldn't taste the bass at all between it being dunked in soup and the taste of the apples. I really wish the broth was clear or something to preserve the plating, and the soup was a bit more muted.

On the other hand, I could've had 10 plates of the rockfish—it was so smoky and sweet, and the fish was juicy and warm (I'm getting hungry thinking about it.) The onion base tasted really inviting and the fish felt hearty. The skin was crispy and sweet, reminding me a bit of Korean jwipo. Overall the tones were layered, making the dish just really warm and delicious.

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From the atmosphere, to the service, to the food, I feel that my experience at Ispal is similar to the food that it represents. It's inviting, offers variety, and nurtured my soul. Between restaurants gunning for Michelin stars, creating exclusive atmospheres, and making food feel the opposite of nurturing, I felt that my time at Ispal took me to the root of what dining is supposed to be: warm, inviting, and delicious. Writing this review almost half a year later, I...

I’d encourage anyone thinking of dining here to put aside their expectations of a Michelin star experience. To defend what may seem like harsh ratings for food, service, and atmosphere… Food - like other reviewers here, a virtual complete miss on balance and pleasure. Certainly, there were some beautiful presentations but that was where the fun ended. All of the seafood dishes were compromised and left me wondering what food related illness awaited, in particular, the tuna loin. I could go on to discuss beyond the “snack on leaf” of the gastronomic equivalent of a ball of hand soap marries a frozen, salted lemon wedge but, as the group who endured this wasn’t amused, there’s little value in a review of the remaining menu items. Service - we were only a group of two but shared our our experiences with another table as we were leaving. Collectively, we’re aligned on this entire review. We thought they were understaffed but other reviewers shared the experience we had. It often took three requests to get something met like additional water, ice, or a fresh napkin (after one of their dishes leaked all over my companion). The wine pairings were rarely presented in a timely manner to actually accompany the food. While kind in nature, the service was a complete miss. Atmosphere - very nice room but the rating is impacted by the music that never disappeared into the background. Imagine covers of your favorite American pop songs performed by monks who have just been sentenced to purgatory. Overall, like other reviewers, we felt hostage and kept waiting for it to turn around. Sadly, it didn’t but the highlight was.:: we...