Es Taller Valldemossa — Restaurant in Valldemossa

We dined here based on a recommendation as a small group. We arrived to a restaurant on a quiet residential street in what appeared to be a former garage - there’s a Michelin man sign above the entry. Perhaps the restaurant thought it was cheeky to call attention to itself by referencing the pre-eminent guide. If they should make it in to the Michelin guide in any capacity, I would stop trusting it.

Reading the menu we were truly intrigued by some of the combinations and suggestions. The dishes sounded inventive & unique. We ordered several smaller plates to try a bit of everything - to our disappointment it was all too much. This may the theme of the food ‘pointless excess’, not the quantity but the excess of flavours, influences, ingredients, sauces, garnishes etc. The recipes felt indecisive and confused.

We had endive salad with Roquefort, too much dressing, too much of the strong cheese, too much jam & fruit - garnished with radish & colourful petals. We asked for fresh plates to distinguish the next dish. We tried croquettes and chicken empanadas, both again smothered in sweet puré and fruit chutney with cumin, again garnished with radish & colourful flower petals & icing sugar??? Why?! We tried the crispy duck, swimming in coconut cream, flavoured with juniper berries, a mix of fresh green herbs, more fruit, more flower petals; the pork belly, much the same; the lamb with couscous in a pool of miso paste, flower petals, sugar, sugar, salt, a smorgasbord of spices & herbs to what end?

The dishes were neither subtle nor resolved - each one more bold and overpowering than the last. This is fusion cuisine to a nauseating excess. We really tried to find elements of something special, but finally agreed that this was the worst meal we had all week. We had a good laugh because all of us wanted to say something positive and finally gave up. We could not drink enough water to wash it down and try to forget the assault of flavours that left us craving for a simple piece of bread & butter.

Above all this, the staff, although efficient, was completely uninterested in presenting or discussing the food. They simply brought it over and dropped it on the table without care. They rushed around in self importance, making sure to clear the tables (in one case asking the couple next to us to pay their bill and leave, after they waited 20 min for their dessert). No genuine connection or interaction - a nail in the coffin. How 2000+ people have rated it so well is mind blowing… try it and see for yourself.

And for the chef, I admire your inventiveness and playfulness but please ask yourself these critical questions - why am I combining these ingredients? Do the proportions of each ingredient balance the meal or make it a battle of flavours? Can I distinguish each dish with subtlety and substance? And perhaps they don’t all need to be garnished with...

I dined here on my final night in Mallorca. I waited for 1.5 hours for a 9pm dinner (reservations recommended if you dare eat here — read onwards why) but assumed it would be worth the wait given the restaurant ratings, menu offerings, and the ambiance. It is a very energizing environment in the restaurant and is quite nice, so I was reasonably optimistic.

It took nearly 40 minutes for a waiter to come by and take my order, even though I requested it several times over. This seemed excessive for a 9pm dinner as many tables were open, but I understand having to wait as long as I did was likely not intentional. It seems wait times and service are generally much slower if you are dining alone in Spain. This is frustrating, but I will assume best intent and move on in the hopes that the meal will more than make up for it!

Onto the food…I ordered the sea bass, which came highly recommended to me by the waiter once he finally came to my table 40-minutes later. I was famished at this point (10pm when the dish was served). Unfortunately, the sea bass was far too buttery and fatty, lacked depth in flavor, and there were sad, bare scraps of broccoli stems as garnish. I didn’t think cooked fish could be so disappointing for a restaurant so close to the sea, and yet…

I’ll overlook the service and the dish, and chalk it up to bad night at the restaurant and bad luck that I chose this for my last meal in Mallorca. It gets worse. Much worse.

While I was waiting another 15 minutes for a server to come by with a check, I noticed something large scurrying on the floor…it was a cockroach coming my way. This was too much to bear for one night. I lost my appetite for dessert and swiftly walked up to the host to let them know about the unsanitary pest and request my check.

All said, this was the most disappointing meal I’ve had and it was a shame to end the trip here. I would not recommend the sea bass, service, value of the meal, or restaurant hygiene in good faith, and certainly don’t go out of your way to dine here for...

We made reservations well ahead and arrived as the first guests when they opened. We informed the host right away that a couple of our friends couldn’t join. The restaurant was completely empty. The girl went to seat us at the worst table tucked away in the corner of the empty room and then when we asked to have another option, the only table she said we could have was the one tucked on the other end next to the washroom, worse then the first option. There was plenty of options and she would was so rude that she actually told us we could just leave or go sit on the sofa, so we did. While we were waiting after being shamed, we discovered our last experiences at this same place was not worth the poor service so we left. We will not be back. Pretentious and overpriced nonsensical service. Find another - so many other amazing options!

— wow and if the reply doesn’t turn you off of this place and affirm our experience, I am not sure what would! Their response flat out accuses us of being liars when the whole experience was exactly as we have reviewed. And the fact that the reply reiterates the refusal of professionalism and blatant aggressiveness- only validates a negative review.

Our experience, in our opinion, went exactly as I described. They were correct only on one thing within their response, after we were told to sit on the sofa, which was so rude- we decided to eat somewhere else which was amazing! We were so happy to try one of the other many great places with perfect food and service on Mallorca. Shame on this place to treat people this way. We could have taken the table we reserved and our friends could have come sick and we would have received the same terrible treatment, I am sure of it. HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND.

— UPDATE: this restaurant replied (we have the screenshot) by making accusations and rude remarks. They have since deleted it and I am sure will try again and fail to make this experience anything less...