LOS MAÑICOS — Restaurant in Torredembarra

edited 2023 Finally went back to this spot 4 years later and I'm afraid it was an absolute disaster. I would never return.

Prices were very expensive and everything we ordered was a miss. We were lucky enough to get a table for two during dinner time and the place was packed. Since I was previously recommended this place and had been here before, also thoroughly enjoyed the d'tapa submissions they had over the years I was not expecting things to go so wrong.

Once we sat we got some very dry olives and stale potato crisps (not crispy) that were previously prepared on the bar inside for god knows how long. The place was swamped and they were understaffed with what I counted to be only 4 or 5 wait staff for all the tables. From what I could hear, all the tables around all had something missing (one a jar of sangria, cutlery for the other). Food around us smelled pretty good (eg. prawns) so I was excited.

First up was some bravas which seemed a bit too oily. Sauce was nice but did not appreciate the potato texture. Portion was small for 6,80€ not worth it 2/5

Next, grilled vegetable with romescu and some sweet sauce. Nothing to ring home about. I did not have this but my vegan partner gives it 3/5. No currently was provided and I had to go in where we were offered only 1 set.

I had a dish of fried battered baby squid, which was quite a healthy portion but certainly not worth 13€. It looks way better than it tastes. A greyish alioli type sauce was on the side but did not taste much. The squid itself was completely devoid of any taste at all other than "fritanga". Seems like the kitchen ran out of all spices because it literally tasted like nothing. Never had any seafood dish this bad in my life, quite a sad waste of good seafood. 0/5!

To make matters worse, we tried to get the wait staff to give us cutlery 3 times but it never happened. I just used the skewers from the bravas.

Service overall was bad, the staff were very very very busy and flustered, I think they could be more patient. However I do not blame them as they clearly needed more help. While we were eating a queue started to form and the staff got more flustered.

All in all, terrible experience, I will not be back. I'm so sad to have to update this from 3 stars to 1 star. After telling my friend who previously recommended this place, they also revealed that they have stopped going to Los Mañicos because it is simply not worth it. Truly a pity.

2019 I went to have lunch today and had the menu for 14€, strangely we were not allowed to browse the a la carte menu and the menu options were recited to us by the waitress. I had the creamy rice with cuttlefish and some shellfish. The peach mousse tasted nothing like peach and was way too sour I had to switch it with a friend's flan which was decent. I feel like I'll have to go back to try this place again as I've heard it's pretty good, but the decent and the size of the portions were too small and I was still hungry. That being said, the food tasted good. Good enough for...

ACTUALIZACIÓN 30/06/2025, ya que no se puede escribir una reseña nueva y bajo a 1 estrella. Voy a compartir mi experiencia en base a mis dos últimas visitas en los mañicos. El 14 de junio de 2022 fui con una amiga. La comida correcta. La sorpresa es con la cuenta, donde nos cobran 1€ más del precio del menú. Le preguntamos al camarero de dónde viene el euro extra por menú, nos dice que es el iva. Le digo que en el cartel del menú pone que IVA incluído y nos dice que es por haber pedido cocacola. En ningún momento nos dice que la cocacola tiene suplemento y en el cartel pone claramente "1 consumición". Si algo tiene suplemento debería poner en el cartel qué entra sin suplemento en el menú. Prefiero no discutir y pago. Hoy he vuelto a ir al restaurante porque a mi pareja le gusta mucho. La comida, buena, ninguna queja. Mi queja es que, nos apuntan los platos que queremos (postre incluído) y cuando llegan los postres resulta que no queda pastel borracho. Pero, a la mesa de al lado le llegan 3 pasteles borrachos. La camarera dice que han llegado antes, yo no estoy segura.Lo que sí estoy segura es que es una mesa amiga del bar porque les invitan a chupitos. No puedo asegurar si vinieron antes o después, pero pienso que, ya que apuntan por avanzado el postre, te avisen que ya no queda, no cundo ya has acabado de comer. Otra cosa que no me parece bien es que ANTES, cada 2 personas tenías 1 botella de vino y ahora resulta que es cada 3. El agua, de osmosis, te la cobran a más de 2 euros. En resumen, la comida está buena pero veo que es un restaurante pesetero y que diferencia a los clientes en VIP (postre y chupito) y normales.

Lunes 30 de junio de 2025. Venimos de comida de final de curso, nos ofrecen un menú de 23 euros con consumición incluída (vino cada 3, agua, cerveza o refresco). Nos cobran extra por la cocacola, que supuestamente estaba incluída en el menú de 23 euros (no especifica nada de suplemento). El camarero de polo azul marino sudamericano MUY DESAGRADABLE, incluso con sus compañeros. Le pregunto qué fruta lleva el postre de fruta variada y me responde "no sé chica, lo que tenga el pastelero". Vigilad porque la carta es secreta y está prohibida fotografiarla y os van a reñir si te ven haciendo foto (no vi el dibujo de prohibido en una equina a la derecha, ya que es la primera vez que me encuentro un restaurante que no deja fotografiar la carta). Yo fotografiaba la carta para mandársela a mi pareja y poder volver otro día, pero visto el trato NO volveré. Una de la mesa decidió cambiar de postre al momento (30 segundos después), le dijeron que no había problema y cuando llegaron los postes resulta que tuvo que quedarse con el primer postre elegido porque una mesa que llego después (incluso después de haber cambiado el postre y recibir el sí del camarero) lo había pedido también. Tampoco os dejéis engañar por el nombre de los platos; carpaccio aragonesa no es un carpaccio de carne sino de ensalada con atún, sí, el atún es muy aragonés. La comida del menú correcta, los postres muy sencillos para tener a un pastelero. Cuidado que te cobran el agua de osmosi. Tampoco te dejan para pagar, partir la cuenta, resulta que una persona debe pagar por 13 y luego hacernos bizums.

En resumen, repetí unos años después para dar otra oportunidad pero me ha servido para decidir que NO voy a volver más ni voy a recomendárselo a nadie. De hecho, escribiré a consumo por el tema de no especificar el suplemento, que llevan años cobrando de manera ilegal, con el tema del refresco, ya que todo debe estar indicado...

Saw all the negative reviews online and I had to comment on my experience which was nothing but 5 star positive. My wife has celiac so we chose this place specifically for her to enjoy a meal. We showed up late on Sunday afternoon, with no reservations and the place was busy. Staff arranged for a table within 5 minutes and offered apps as well. Despite knowing very little Spanish, 3 staff members took the time to explain the menu and offered suggestions of their personal favorites. Our meal was delicious and staff checked on us throughout. The staff made it a very welcoming experience. As far as the food goes, I'm not celiac and am forced to sit through many underwhelming meals in order for my wife to dine out. Everything we ate was fine with no grittiness associated with gluten free and no bad aftertaste as well. Looking at the other tables around it appeared to be full of locals who all seemed to be enjoying their meals as well. Overall I can't rave enough about the quality of food, and the...