El Chamizo — Restaurant in Teulada

So I will start with the one positive from this restaurant, the setting; it's simply stunning, so we started the evening with very positive connotations, however these feelings only lasted until the food arrived.

For the starters, our group ordered garlic prawns, calamari, beef carpaccio & octopus. The garlic prawns were the worst I have tried in my life, totally inedible (chewy and flavourless). The beef carpaccio was dry and very very sweet, I have never come across a sweet carpaccio in my life and hope not to again, it tasted disgusting. The octopus was not cooked properly at all, and was burnt, however the calamari was actually reasonable. At this point the waitress noticed that we hadn't eaten the prawns, so she asked if we didn't like it to which of course told her that we didn't. She seemed very annoyed at us for having the audacity to not like them (to repeat, they were inedible) and to her credit did offer us something else. However she was very much in a mood with us for the remained of the night. Later in the evening it was confirmed to us that the prawns were brought in frozen which is such a shame, because the restaurant right on the beach, near where all the fishermen bring in fresh prawns every day, it would be so easy to just get some lovely fresh ones and make a nice starter, however they didn't which showed how they care more about it being east to prepare than the quality of their food, and it's just a shame. It also made me doubt what else of their food is fresh.

Anyway, moving on, we decided to go into the main course with an open mind, and hopefully these would be much nicer; our optimism was misplaced. The magret of duck was shockingly bad, it was unrecognisable as duck, honestly if I had a blind taste test I would guess it is beef from a cheap Chinese restaurant, when you picture a magret of duck, you imagine some big juicy, flavoursome slices of duck; instead I received 7 1mm thin strips of "duck" with all the flavour totally removed. I'm certain it had been cooked and reheated, just terrible. Spanish sausage selection - poor. Mussels were served cold. Salmon - undercooked (but we daren't send it back because the waitress was already stroppy with us). The hake was chewy and had minimal flavour (what I imagine chewing one of Gandhi's sandals would have tasted). Cuttlefiish - rank and not edible. The tuna tasted nice, but those who ate it currently have upset stomachs. EVERY main course was served with 3 new potatoes which were all overcooked.

We (probably wisely) decided not to stay for dessert. We then received the bill which came to ~€40 per head (we also had a glass of wine each), we just paid it and got out of there as quickly as we could. Terrible value.

I also want to add that when I phoned to book the restaurant (4 days before) they asked me if I wanted paella. Normally when a restaurant asks this, it is because if you want paella, they have to go and get it from another restaurant and bring it to you... What kind of Spanish restaurant can't even make their own paella? The answer is an embarrassing, lazy one, who doesn't care about the quality of their food. It is not difficult to make it to order.

We are not a difficult family, we just want fresh food and nice service. To have this disappointing food, rude service (apart from a young Swedish waiter who was very pleasant), and a hefty bill amounts to this being the WORST RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. In fact, I've never used trip advisor before, but last night has inspired me to join just to warn people not to go here. You will be disappointed (and possibly ill...

Slecht, we waren vroeg en we moesten in 2 uur klaar zijn want er waren andere die gereserveerd hadden. Die vrouw kwam met de kaart, gaat ze rustig alle tafeltjes na op reserveringen! Dus wij vragen mogen we wat te drinken bestellen, toen zei ze dat ze kwam nadat ze alle reserveringen had geregeld. Wij dus weer wachten en na 10 minuten opgestapt, omdat ze absoluut geen haast had om onze drankjes op te nemen. SLECHT!

Too bad, we were early and we had to be ready in 2 hours because there were others who had booked. That woman came with the card, she goes quiet after all tables on reservations! So we ask what we can to order a drink when she said she came after she had arranged all reservations. So we wait again and after 10 minutes quit because she had absolutely no hurry to take our drinks. BAD!

Dommage, nous étions en avance et nous avons dû être prêt en 2 heures car il y avait d'autres personnes qui avaient réservé. Cette femme est venue avec la carte, elle se tait après toutes les tables sur les réserves! Donc, nous demandons ce que nous pouvons commander un verre quand elle a dit qu'elle est venue après avoir arrangé toutes les réservations. Donc, nous attendons encore et après 10 minutes quitter parce qu'elle n'avait absolument pas pressé de prendre nos boissons. BAD!

Zu schlecht, wir waren früh und wir hatten bereit in 2 Stunden zu sein, denn es gab andere, die gebucht hatten. Die Frau kam mit der Karte, geht sie ruhig, nachdem alle Tabellen auf Reservierungen! So bitten wir, was wir können, um ein Getränk zu bestellen, wenn sie sagte, sie kam, nachdem sie alle Reservierungen angeordnet hatte. Also wieder warten wir und nach 10 Minuten zu beenden, da sie hatte absolut keine Eile, um unsere Getränke zu nehmen. BAD!

Жаль, что мы были ранними, и мы должны были быть готовы в течение 2 часов, потому что были другие, которые заказали. Эта женщина пришла с картой, она успокаивается после всех таблиц на бронировании! Поэтому мы просим, что мы можем, чтобы заказать напиток, когда она сказала, что пришла после того как она устроила все оговорки. Таким образом, мы ждать снова и через 10 минут ушел, потому что у нее не было абсолютно никакого спешит принять наши напитки. ПЛОХО!

Lástima, llegamos temprano y tuvimos que estar listo en 2 horas porque había otros que habían reservado. Esa mujer viene con la tarjeta, que se queda en silencio después de todas las tablas sobre las reservas! Así que nos preguntamos qué podemos pedir una copa cuando dijo que se produjo después de que ella había dispuesto todas las reservas. Así que esperar otra vez y después de 10 minutos salir porque tenía absolutamente ninguna prisa para tomar nuestras...

Fantastic location. But booking in advance is advised. One morning we popped in on our way back to the villa we were staying in and the really helpful chap we spoke with managed to squeeze the three of us in for the next evening but only by opting to eat at 19:30.

On the night itself, we arrived and were greeted by quite a brash and very rude young lady, who was adamant we had no reservation. My daughter speaks fluent Spanish, so there was no misunderstanding, this actually seemed to annoy this woman further. Fortunately the guy we had seen the previous day intervened and we were seated at the table that had a card upon it with out name clearly on it.

After that things went well (the young woman was greeting other customers, mostly with the same rudeness and bad attitude, she was downright obnoxious to a Dutch couple, who also had booked but asked if it was possible to have another table).

The waiter dealing with us was a delight and our order taken promptly. The food was very good. My wife and I both ordered different types of fish and my daughter a steak. All delicious, although my daughter said her steak was not quite as good as El Gaucho (a little way up the road).

Price was reasonable and comparable with prices at other restaurants we ate at during our three weeks in Spain. Shame the young lady greeter does not seem to like people and her customer service skills were clearly leant watching episodes of...