La Caleta Beach Club — Restaurant in Torremolinos

Where do I begin? My first time abroad and was hoping to find some nice Spanish food on the last day of the trip. We walked past and noticed this restaurant and begun reading the signs when the man on the door basically ushered us in and made us wait as he 'cleared' a table for us (no cleaning just picked up dirty dishes and replaced them). We were then handed a free drinks card which I will say was very appreciated and the drinks were of a good standard. We then ordered the seafood paella which was labelled as 16€ for 2 (we were charged 32€, maybe a translation error on the menu). We had to wait about 30 minutes for the food to arrive and throughout this time we were handed stale bread and olives, none of which we asked for and all of which we were charged for. The atmosphere was pretty chaotic with shouting and what seemed to be no organisation whatsoever. When the paella eventually arrived it looked great! However this delight was short lived when i got a smell of it. I come from an area of the world that's heavily influenced by seafood and members of my family actually fish for prawns and other shellfish. Due to this, I can tell the smell of rotting seafood and this was it. I tasted a tiny bit of rice and the taste of rotting seafood was overwhelmingly strong. I'm not sure how the chef could even think of serving this. Whether the shrimps had been in the sun all day or if they were just plain rotted, it was not a nice smell/taste whatsoever. We decided against eating it as the risks with bad seafood are high, especially with a flight the next day! We got up and asked to pay so we could get out of there. This is where we were charged over 40€ before the cashier noticed our free drinks card. After a big sigh he amended the bill which came to 36.50€. We weren't to shocked to see the paella come to 32€ as it was most likely a misread on our part or a translation error. However, the 4.50€ 'service fee' for bread and olives which we did not ask for was not appreciated. Furthermore, the cashier then asked for a tip, which he did not receive. Despite the fact we maybe shouldn't have even paid, we did and exited the restaurant. This is where we thought our troubles would end but we were mistaken. We were shocked to see that the chef had run out of the kitchen after us and followed us out where, along with the man on the door, he begun to ask us why we didn't eat our food. Shocked by this, and not sure what to say we just said it wasn't for us and kept trying to walk away but this chef was persistent. He kept saying he'll make us another one (which i assume we would've had to pay for) and that we weren't very smart choosing something that we wouldn't like. Eventually I just thanked him for the drinks and walked away. I understand a chef wanting to see what was wrong and what could be better but chasing us out the restaurant in front of other customers didn't seem like the right option to me, especially after we had already paid. In hindsight, we should have just told him that it tasted and smelled rotten but in the moment we didn't want to further infuriate this already angry chef, we just wanted to find the exit and get out of there.

All in all a very shocking and at some points scary experience. I will not be returning to this restaurant if I am back...

We visited La Caleta Beach Club for dinner for the first time.

We were welcomed by a nice man who offered us a complimentary drink, which we appreciated.

I ordered a beef fillet and my wife had a flambéed squid salad. For our little daughter, there were spaghetti Bolognese.

The prices were fair, and there was nothing to complain about regarding the food. The beef fillet was very tasty and perfectly cooked. The only negative aspect was that the bread served at the table was very hard.

The location right by the beach is, of course, stunningly beautiful.

The staff was very friendly, and the service was prompt. However, we arrived relatively early, so there weren't many guests present yet.

We cannot comment on the negative reviews regarding the cleanliness of the restrooms, as we did not see them.

The €3 service charge is not strictly necessary, but that means there is no tip.

We would be happy to...

Caleta definitely dishes up some quality on their menu and if you’re a foodie, it won’t disappoint. The ingredients are fresh cooked perfectly and presented really well. The dining area is set right on the beach and its view is only interrupted by the tiki style sunbed parasols. How bad. The cocktails are well made and tasty but lack a little flare. Such as quality kitchen and back bar are sadly let down by the front of house team. Barely any interaction with the staff on each of our visits which would have made it a magical spot. Lots of empty tables (again, how bad!) But a little atmosphere would see customers queuing up like the do at Fragata next door. €20 gets you one lunch dish and 2beers/wines. €50 a head gets you a few cocktails, starter and...