El Jardín del Califa — Restaurant in Vejer de la Frontera

Reading the reviews we were really excited for our visit but were extremely disappointed with the whole experience. All in all, overpriced, overhyped and poor service - would recommend finding somewhere else.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, three team members walked past us without acknowledgement (this was early in the evening so the restaurant only had a few tables seated and was not busy at this point). We made eye contact but no welcomes or smiles - our first impression was that staff seemed very stressed and morale was low. We were eventually pointed to where we should check in (it is not obvious) and we were seated.

We ordered the black garlic hummus and Halloumi for starters. The hummus was pretty substandard and no better than supermarket quality, which was poor considering it was €11. The Halloumi was nice, but grilling three bits of Halloumi and drizzling some date syrup over it hardly requires a high level of skill - again, not worth €10.

The mains were very disappointing. I ordered the Kuzu Tandir Tagine - underneath the pastry topping there were around five pieces of lamb, which were very bland and served in a very watery sauce - not worth €25 and so I asked for it to be returned to the kitchen and removed from the bill, which it was. I was offered the chance to choose another option from the menu but declined - in fairness, my complaint was dealt with politely and efficiently. My husband ordered the lamb kebab, which again was ok, but was served with only two slices of potato and some veg - not a big portion considering it was €18.

Finally when our bill came, although the tagine had been removed, we were charged for two beers that we didn’t order and we had to ask for these to be removed - again this was politely and efficiently dealt with but just another example of sloppy service, which given the price shouldn’t happen. Earlier we heard the table next to us complain that they hadn’t received their beers, so I guess this was the source of this issue.

Needless to say, giving the morale of the staff and the complaints from tables around us, the romantic atmosphere described by other reviewers was missing! Maybe it was a bad night but we won’t be giving...

Upon arrival we had high expectations purely due to the atmosphere and aesthetic of the hotel and restaurant. However, we got ignored at the door by 3 members of staff. Eventually spoke to someone who was very blunt towards us. I ordered chickpea soup and some hummus. I expected the soup to come with bread as it usually would, but it didn’t. I definitely expected the hummus to come with pitta or some sort of bread, for €10(!!) a portion, it was literally just a dinner sized plate of hummus. They gave us a basket of bread when we first sat down but that was virtually all finished before the meal arrived as is customary. My soup arrived (no bread with it) and it was the wrong soup, it had lentils in it and no chickpeas. It tasted fine though so I ate it. I used the half a pitta that was left over from the bread basket to scoop up my hummus. Don’t know if they expect you to eat it with a spoon?! But I have never been to a restaurant where they don’t give bread with hummus. The waiters didn’t once come over to ask us if everything was ok and they were so preoccupied with their other tables we couldn’t catch their attention. My brother didn’t like his meal and left half of it and when the waiter came over to take our plates he didn’t even ask if everything was ok at that point - seeing that the plate was still half full. We were in a rush to leave so couldn’t complain.

Would not recommend this place, looks amazing but as other reviews have stated, the staff are not at all friendly and the food is so expensive. Cannot believe a plate of hummus that could have been from the...

24th May 2021: 4 hours and a half of road travel from Portugal and we arrived slightly earlier to enjoy our Moroccan lunch experience. We had booked in advance for a table under the pergola and we were glad we did. The staff were very welcoming, helpful and attentive. Along with our first glass of Alhambra beer on tap we were given a small complimentary dish of what would probably be the best olives we have ever had. We shared the Mezze del Califa with 2 small baskets of scrumptious warm Moroccan flat bread and picos (traditional Spanish bite-size dried bread snacks). My partner chose the mixed-grill of barbecued meat available as a half portion and I went for the Monkfish and prawns barbecued skewer. Of course we shared all these delicious dishes. We decided to skip desert and coffee. Our bill totalled 57.80 euros including the breads and 4 glasses of beer. We would not normally pay so much for lunch but this was the opening of our short-break and we felt we needed a quality treat. The place is very popular for many obvious reasons and well located, The experience is full of charm and it is very relaxing. We parked for free a couple of terraces further down, under the shade of trees of a triangular shaped parking. Be mindful that this is an old village and streets are pretty narrow. We recommend that you check the restaurant's well appointed website for a mouth-watering preview. Their menu, wine and dessert list are there with prices, available also in English. So this is the end of another highly recommended address....