La Mar de Bien — Restaurant in Torrevieja

Will not return. We arrived at the restaurant late last Sunday afternoon (Dec 24), as per our booking. Restaurant is beautifully located with lovely views over the sea and well laid out. It was half empty at the time we arrived The waiter showed us to our table and came to take our drinks order, which were served promptly, and we were given the menu. We asked for the Menu del Dia/Menu and were told it was only available on Mon, Tue and Wed. The meal went downhill from there. Within a very short space of time, the waiter came back and asked us if we had chosen from the menu yet. We told him we had not. He came back enquiring again after another couple of minutes, but we were still talking and looking at the different dishes available and we again told him that we had not decided yet. We felt that we were being rushed into ordering our food, rather than out enjoying a nice leisurly meal with old friends, that we had planned. The waitress then came and told us that the kitchen was closing in 5 minutes. I have no idea why couldn’t we have been told what time the kitchen was closing at, when we initially sat down, rather than just announcing it with 5 minutes to go. Attitude of waiters throughout our entire visit was curt, sullen, dismissive and disinterested. We ordered a cheeseboard as a starter for sharing. Selection of cheeses itself was fine, but there were no crackers accompanying it, nor was there anything with which to lift the cheese off the board it was served on, onto our plates. One of my friends asked the waiter for crackers, but none were forthcoming. When our plates were taken away, the waiter snatched the knives and forks off our plates, and rather rudely banged them down on the table scowling and not making any comment. Main course was fine. We didn’t order desert and asked for 1 coffee after the meal, which never came We eventually re-ordered coffee. Trying to get the waiters attention to ask for the bill was difficult. One of my friends waived at a waiter to attract him. He looked at her, definitely seen her, turned and walked away. Eventually we got the bill and examined it. At least they hadn’t charged us for the coffee that we had ordered, which never came. They did, however, charge for bread for 3 people which had not been served. They took the charge for the bread off the bill when this was pointed out. As I said earlier, the location of the restaurant is marvellous, but the staff’s attitude will stop us from ever revisiting again. There are other nice restaurants in the area that welcome diners rather than treating them with distain, like a nuisance...

Oh dear, what a disappointment, we had a table of 4 for lunch today, the attitude of the waiter left a lot to be disired, however my salad was just awful; grilled avocado (when ordering I thought this is different) with a soft cheese flavourless mess on the top and no grill marks on the advacado, just a warm slush, far too much mayonaise, the pine nuts were nice but there was no green salad (it looks as though this is new to the menu), I asked for some bread to try to scoop up the warm slimy food, but gave up, I could not eat it. The hommus was blanned and runny with a very few piece of naan bread. I think a spoon was supplied. The platter for a starter was fine and two of the meals were OK, but I suggest grilled advacado is removed...

We came for dinner, looking for a restaurant with a sea view, and our local friends recommended La Mar de Bien — it turned out to be a great suggestion. We tried a variety of tapas, the duck confit was very tender, and the fish dishes tasted exceptionally fresh. Our server, a friendly Romanian waiter, made the experience even better.

Desserts really stood out — especially the homemade cheesecake with raspberry ice cream. I’m definitely coming back to try their signature La Mata dessert. We were celebrating my sister’s birthday, and they kindly brought a dessert with a candle — a nice touch. The sea view made the evening even more special. Thank you, La...